Minimalism isn't about purchasing minimalist products.
Minimalism isn't about purchasing minimalist products.
Mastodon post transcription:
kasran, fourier transfemme @typhlosion@awoo.space
minimalism is a scam invented by big small to sell more less
October 29, 2023 at 10:23 PM · 13 replies · 290 reblogs · 425 favorites
Yes, but sometimes it's designers masturbating over their own genius. Like why does UI have to be so flattened that it's confusing to determine what is interactive and what isn't (among other issues)?
31Lol as someone who does mostly UI dev and works w/ designers daily, this one hits home. Some of em really get it. And when they do it right, it can be amazing. Others... Not so much. Minimalism in UI should emphasize simplicity and ease of access, but like anything else, people go overboard and bring the worst out of it.
4What, you need a fat UI framework?
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The problem with things like minimalism is that what it's about is ambiguous enough that it can be turned into a kind of status symbol thing where wealth and privilege can buy higher status. So what about money-bad-ism? Just try to earn and spend less money. The lower your personal GDP, the better. Hard to turn that into a roundabout form of consumerism.
18Nothing more minimalist than ripping out an entire kitchen because the cabinets were from the 90's. The cabinets can work perfectly and there could be no reason other than aesthetics.
4
Yall got any more of those lesses?
16Had to clear them out to make room for less of the mores.
12
2That's trickle down lessonomics bwoi
2
As a minimalist myself, yeah but it depends what you mean by minimalism. To me, minimalism is buying the bare minimum, nothing too fancy and saving money that way instead of indulging in luxuries or unnecessary treats or whatever. It's basically just owning less and saving money while doing it.
Companies being like "yes we are gonna sell you minimalism" using aesthetics or specific "minimalist" marketing is not minimalism, it's just a trap for trend chasers.
12I have trust issues when it comes to minimalism. Are you telling me you have no nicknacks? Am I going to get thrown in the trash if I place a coaster on your table?
Just create some organized chaos on a shelf or something so I feel sane.
Also seems to stem from a lack of knowledge on Color theory
5Minimalism is the antithesis to clutter.
A coaster does not necessarily violate minimalism, but true minimalism would not need a coaster because surfaces would not be harmed by a drink with condensation. So if your coffee table was wood, a coaster is compliant but a glass/concrete/polymer coffee table or putting a glass pane on top of the wood coffee table is better. The coaster is unnecessary because the entire table is a coaster.
People who use knickknacks as decoration have a need to fill space just for the sake of having something there. Minimalism does not create an unnecessary space to be filled. Putting tables/shelves/bookcases with no purpose but to fill a space is not minimalism. Having a table to put a lamp on, a shelf to hold plants, or a bookcase filled with books can be minimalist. Buying a table to put in a "vacant" space next to the bookcase so you have a place to put a ceramic chicken you saw at a resale shop is clutter and not minimalist.
Lack of color is a "minimalist" interior design concept trend. Minimalism is not inherently nothing but white, black, and grey. You can have a minimalist space that has every color of the rainbow. Purple walls, blue area rug, red coffe table, yellow lamps, orange couch, and green plants would all fall under minimalism but the indigo sign that says "family" violates the core concept of minimalism.
0People who use knickknacks as decoration have a need to fill space just for the sake of having something there.
This is a conflict of idea, you're suggesting buying nick nack's to fill space whereas my suggestion for buying nick nacks is because I like them. There is a difference between finding objects to fill space and finding space to hold objects.
Obviously to extremes this can be seen as hoarding nature so it's not without its issues but in general many minimalist styles I've seen don't truly follow this philosophy. Often you find a coffee table that holds one item, but the item is not needed for the room, a coffee table is just a staple of living room design. On another side you will often see throw cushions and rugs in these design but they hold no intrinsic value other then pulling a room together
2A coaster does not necessarily violate minimalism, but true minimalism would not need a coaster because surfaces would not be harmed by a drink with condensation.
Your variety of minimalism means people don't buy nice things, which is bad because nice things last longer. Plastic chemically decays, sometimes in harmful ways, whereas wood is a long-term investment if you maintain it properly.
1
Obsession over minimalism has always frustrated me. Minimalism is for people with lots of disposable cash and encourages buying things for single use or very short term use and discarding them.
Need something done but don't have the tools to do it? You either buy the tools and then get rid of them after the project is done or you hire someone to do it for you. That is not something you can afford to do if you don't have plenty of expendable money.
To me, it feels like how people fawn over ridiculously lavish things like mansions and yachts.
-2Buying things and throwing them away isn't minimalism
26Minimalism is for people who can afford to not be equipped to do anything outside of their specific day to day tasks. I can't afford to not have 12 different tool totes for different job types because I can't afford to hire someone to do a job that I could do, so while the space and upkeep costs are higher long term, it allows me to now have to plan for single high cost occurrences. Minimalism is a lifestyle of privilege.
6It shouldn't be but to a lot of people it is.
0I didn't say that it was necessarily, but it does encourage that under many normal circumstances.
When you have a project that you are not equipped to handle, you need to acquire more things. Those things need to be stored somewhere or be discarded. In order to maintain minimalism how does one store more things? You can't. It then needs to be discarded.
The alternative would be to rent those things or hire someone, but that is often far more costly. Particularly if that need comes up again in the future.
I had to fix some drywall in my house. I bought the resources necessary to do that. Now what do I do with them? I store them. That is the antithesis of minimalism. My only alternative would have been to hire someone else to fix it, or throw the tools and remaining drywall away. Hiring someone would have been far more costly, and throwing away the stuff I bought would be a waste particularly considering things happen and I may need to fix drywall again in the future.
This is just one small example out of many things that can happen that would require someone to acquire more things. How is minimalism compatible with that?
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encourages buying things for single use or very short term use and discarding them.
No, that's the opposite of minimalism. Don't buy it if you don't need it. If you do need it, then don't waste money or effort.
What you're describing is a form of capitalism, which has nothing to do with minimalism.
Also, what's wrong with renting or borrowing tools? 🤦
6I think the disagreement comes down to the difference between being a "minimalist" and the "minimalism" form of aesthetics. I'm speaking towards the latter, which is a style that is perpetuated via social media. While being a minimalist means you have a goal of using or acquiring less. A goal like that does not have a hard line of what is and isn't 'minimalism' in that sense. While "minimalism" as an aesthetic form of design has to portray a look and feel that doesn't care about what you need.
Also, what's wrong with renting or borrowing tools? 🤦
Because renting can be more costly, and borrowing may not even be an option.
1
I don't get the downvotes, you're not wrong. I have 3 broken microwaves in the shed. Because they're the same model as the one I have and I might need parts from them. Not very minimalist. Bunch of random computer parts, cause never known when I might need them. Etc.
Would I like to have no microwaves in my shed and just send my Microwave to get fixed when it breaks? Of course. That's expensive though.
2You can have both.
Breakimg down the microwaves to harvest out specifically the parts that you would expect to have to replace, then organizing them into a couple small well labeled bins, which go into a shelf of other such small bins that hold all your other repair parts, and thus keeping clutter contained and organized, would be minimalist.
Having 3 half assembled microwaves stacked on top of each other on the floor to be tripped over, or on top of a workspace raking up precious space, would not be.
You can have your cake and eat it too, it just takes work is the downside.
3People use downvotes to disagree instead of participating in the conversation.
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