An underlying assumption for this essay is that a wide range of items designed today are already implicitly following minimalist values or are designed specificallywith reduction as a creative motive. In 2009, Obendorf observed that current mature electronic products were being targeted with a rise of ‘simplicity’ and a corresponding increased stress on ‘usability’ as opposed to ‘abilities’. Some support to his statement is lent by modern day slogans such as ‘sense and simplicity’ as in designs from Phillips, or new brands such as “SIMply” a German network provider that advertises simplicity as being a key ‘feature’ of its products (Obendorf, 2009). Software companies, such as Microsoft, use the principle of simplicity heavily. Searching Microsoft.com for simplicity produced more than 100,000 hits. It is the technology that does not make the user feel inadequate. As a response, the company ‘Apple’ develops uncomplicated designs and interfaces, in which the latter tends to be an inspiration in the market today. Would we be more attracted to pure aesthetics? How does it operate?

The term Minimalism is used in this essay in order to differentiate between several possible meanings of simplicity. This is done in the case of design products, where the minimal qualities of an identified design match with one of the proposed four principal concepts of Minimalism. The application of the developed categories of Minimalism being used as an example of products demonstrates how useful Minimalism is as a standpoint for criticism and analysis. It also helps to enhance the theoretical framework as the abstract ideas are made to connect with the qualities of examples. Consumers need to feel at ease with the tools: a clear design gives a feeling of understanding the object; hence, we see the importance of Minimalism as a support of usability, but beyond that very concept, we see it as a significantreason to make a difference.

Conclusion

Minimalism can therefore be interpreted as a meaning farbeyond the world of art where it was first used. It means a user-centric approach to all things, whether painting a canvas, designing a car or producing a piece of computer software. It attempts to support users as they attempt to accomplish their task. Such support is only required where the user does not reach their set goal with the tools available to them. Minimalism therefore attempts to make help available whenever breakdowns are apparent. In practice, this means an emphasis upon meeting theuser in his work, instead of conveying the designer’s ideas of the application. Further to what Minimalism can represent, it conveys a very contemporary view on our culture. According to the Tandem Verlag book, minimal art was born as the modernist period came to a close, in a society experiencing an economic boom and a profound moral crisis:

Minimalism has also a dark side. Indeed, it has spread to a variety of fields to influence our life, but it has also been overused. Looking back to the multitude of artwork (design, music, fashion, painting and installation) that take their source in Minimalism, it could be hard to understand when one says - as many have: "Minimalism is dead". To a certain extent, this is a fact, in the sense that no purely minimalist artwork is produced anymore. If it is, it is nourished, hybridized and derived from other influences. In terms of communicating a message, Minimalism became an instrument. Dwelling up new approaches would betray the original core. What is left of Minimalism is the remains of the forms, more than the ideology. The principles are still alive, but they are senile. What we have left today instead is a multiple stream of artwork that fished various aspects of minimalism as their starting points. Minimalism is not an answer to itself, but more a path to contentment.

极简主义在艺术和设计中：概念、影响以及含义

极简一词经常被认为是简单到极致为追求，是一种设计风格，感官上简约整洁，品和思想上更为优雅。它有它的起源与艺术评论家形容的他所看到的，但也被用来作为剧作者，如塞缪尔·贝克特，电影导演罗伯特·布列松（雷蒙德·卡佛的叙述）表现出的题材的多样，简单的音乐作品如作曲家菲利普·格拉斯（索尔·勒维特的艺术装置），德国包豪斯艺术运动，甚至由科林·查普曼设计的汽车，其中包括约翰·卡罗尔的教育方针。本文认为，为什么对概念的理解，不仅是必要的，同时也是有用的。极简主义的原则，提出作为一个有用的理论工具，它支持更多差异化的理解，减少，从而创建了一个简单的定义来解释其各个方面的立场。 极简主义在艺术和设计英文文献和中文翻译(4):http://www.751com.cn/fanyi/lunwen_54049.html