Best Minimalist Web Design - Inspiration for Website Designers

Minimalist designed websites have been one of the most popular designs for websites – especially portfolios. A minimal design is simple and clean, with good use of negative space. These sites do away with all the needless and extraneous graphics. Minimalist template designs also have other advantages – they load fast, and are cheaper and faster to create. For websites based on photography, graphics and art, they provide an emphasis on the images, instead of the overall design.

Minimalist designs are on the comeback in a big way. The viewing of websites on mobile devices has increased the need for clean, simple responsive websites. The emphasis is shifting to typography more than graphics.

For businesses, minimalist designs have been mainly used for landing pages. These are pages used in advertising campaigns. These pages have traditionally been simple to attract attention to the ad copy and call to action. Designers are seeing the value of this simplicity in providing simple, easy to follow websites for their clients.

You may also be interested in: Hot Web Design Trends for 2014

We have collected some of the best minimalist designs on the web. We would love to hear what you think of them! Please leave your insights and opinions at the end of this post.

David Choe Portfolio

The front page of David Choe’s portfolio website features an exhibition advertisement. Click an X up in the corner to view his simple home page with a photograph of the artist.
Banksy’s Website

The website of prolific street artist Banksy has a simple spray painted “Banksy”. Click on this to see the same logo, with a simple menu at the left.
Allison Reese Fine Art

Allison Reese’s site features large gaps and use of negative space.
Amanda Krantz

Amanda Krantz’s web site is simplistic in nature, featuring rock like shapes. Notice that some of the shapes lead to different pages on her site.
Amelie Gagne

Amelie Gagne’s portfolio site has a minimalist design, with one featured image. Click this to enter her main website.
Antony Gormley

Antony Gormley’s website has his name and a simple menu at the top. Below this is a very large slideshow.
Ashira Siegel

Ashira Siegel’s website has a simple grey header with a menu, and a grid based portfolio beneath it.
Blu

I love this original minimalist website by Blu. All that sits on the front page is a sketchbook. Hover over this to reveal a menu. Click the sketchbook to open it. The entire website appears within the sketchbook!
Carolee Schneemann

This minimalist designed website from Carolee Schneemann features a collage at the top, with events and link to her biography at the bottom.
CG and Me

Last but not least is CG and Me, a website from artist David Collins. The entire minimalist design focuses on imagery, negative space and typography. Take a look at the cool portfolio on the front. Move the slider to the right to view more of the portfolio.