The Last Word on Minimalist Blogging

Having once been a litigator I learned how to argue both sides of an argument. You could also say that I was a minimalist.

Whereas some of my colleagues would drone on and on in court, I could sum up in just a few sentences (much to the appreciation of the judges and is probably also a reason for my success).

So after becoming a blogger I’ve continued with that skill, and now I’m known as a contrarian blogger.

That is not to say I’m necessarily snarky (although my tongue-in-cheek humor can sometimes be misunderstood and I’ve been accused of that on one occasion … or two … or … ).Anyhow, much has been said about so-called minimalist blogging. This can also include matters such as posting less and brevity amongst other things, but for the purpose of this article I will be primarily discussing blog design.

After studying various minimalist designs I’ve been able to simplify their rhetoric into a basic formula.Minimalists like to use little or no borders between their sidebars and menu items. They also like lots of white space around objects and for background colour for best contrast and separation of content.

Now using a white background makes sense because it is the easiest to read, and I do it myself with this blog. Lots of white space in and around elements is also a good idea for making it easier to read the content.

But a problem that I have with minimalist preachers is they can be quite snobby because they seem to enjoy lording it over us so much.They take great pleasure in telling us that if our design is not minimal then the obvious conclusion is ours is cluttered. They enjoy rubbing our nose in it like the snobby neighbours down the road who look down on our messy homes and our messy kids, our messy cars, our…

But what I find most interesting about minimalist preachers like Leo Babauta is that they still “clutter” their posts with huge splashy pictures and ads in their sidebar. Hmm… now that I find very interesting (and contradictory in my opinion).

Of course there’s a very good reason for that. Take away all those pics and you would be left with a very boring looking blog wouldn’t you.

I’ve often joked that minimalists promote their mantra because they are lacking in coding skills. Of course I had my tongue in my cheek when I said that, but I think there is also some truth to it.

For example, I use rounded corners on this blog. I got tired of looking at all those square blogs out there, and round was also the fad at the time. So I thought I would modernize the look of my blog so to speak and go round.

But admittedly I would probably never do it again because it is a very difficult design to maintain. Just to stretch the blog wider I have to fire up Photoshop and resize the border frames, and if I use blockquotes or put a large picture in my post it can blow the margins apart.

In my case I’ve tried to find a balance between minimal and also to clutter it just enough to keep it interesting. I’m not sure if I’ve succeed but I am trying.Next time around I will probably go more minimal, but the moral of this story is beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and fads come and they go.

Nobody really has the final say on best design. What one person might consider minimal, another might consider it sterile, boring and lacking in character.

So the next time when some minimalist bully tries to make you feel bad about your blog, just tell him or her to go stuff it and that you’re ahead of the game (and to come back in a year from now when clutter is in again).

The bottom line is — as always, the best answer to any extremeist position is probably a compromise somewhere in between.

P.s.: I hear the 60s are back again — or is it the 70s. I knew I shouldn’t have thrown out those bell-bottoms.