On Phenomenological Aspects of Minimalism in the Field of Graphic Design

With the motto “Less Is More”, minimalism is a view and style whose main characteristic is to express the essence of phenomena while being concise. This view, which is made possible by the motto “Zu Den Sachen Selbst (to the Things Themselves)” through epoché and phenomenological reduction (bracketing) is in harmony with Edmund Husserl's philosophy of “Essences of Things” in phenomenology; perhaps most representatives of this philosophy in the arts can be found in the essence of graphic design. Advertising design works as one of the most important sub-branches of graphic design can be a suitable ground to examine this view. Accordingly, some questions can be raised: what is the relationship between the phenomenological aspects of minimalism and the design and understanding of works in graphic design? And how can brevity in minimal expressions connect with the method of “Wesenseinsicht (Seeing Essences)” in Husserl's phenomenology? The present article is based on the key concepts in Husserl's phenomenological thought, following the way they appear and emerge in creating minimal works in graphic design. In this regard, first, the main of Husserl's phenomenological concepts, such as epoché, phenomenological reduction, and seeing essences are briefly discussed, and then their manifestations in creating, experiencing images, and receiving graphic design works were explained and described. Examples of graphic works were selected through an intensity sampling, as a strategy of purposeful sampling method in the current qualitative research based on the inclusion criteria and presented via a descriptive-analytical method. The results indicated that minimal expressions in graphic design can be considered as phenomenological expressions that make design and accompanies the audience up to the image experience through “seeing essences” and “essential structures” of phenomena, especially concerning the component of essential necessity.