In the face of the economic plight, it is our task to become pioneers of simplicity, that is, to find a simple form for all of life’s necessities, which is at the same time respectable and genuine.
– Oskar Schlemmer
The best ideas are quite often the simple ones. And the most important among these is simplicity itself. Simplicity has always been appreciated and understood best in the applied arts, such as design. “Less is more” (Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) has been followed by many designers but it does not tell what exactly should be less, and how much less is still more.
Minimalism emerged in New York in the early 1960s among artists who were self-consciously renouncing recent art they thought had become stale and academic. The new art favored the cool over the “dramatic”.
The most accurate quote about minimalist design came from Nicholas Burroughs: “Minimalism is not a lack of something. It is simply the perfect amount of something.”
Beyond the design movement, lies a philosophy for life that requires you to reassess your priorities so that you can strip away the excess stuff – the possessions and ideas and relationships and activities – that don’t bring value to your life.
The same principles applies to our workflow: the less projects you take on, the less likely you are to make mistakes and the more likely you are to be creative and focused. Similarly, we’ve come to realize across the years that the more people are working together in a company, the more rules need to be set to organize the workflow. With a more minimalist team, we are able to create a more productive and balanced flow that allows us to get things done and have fun while doing it.
