Inspiration from Japan: why it makes sense in digital design

There’s a quote by Japanese author and minimalist Fumio Sasaki that resonates with us here at Genieology: “If you ask me what minimalism is really about, I would say that it's the altering of values - enter the small doors of minimalism and come out on the other side with big ideas.”

This can’t be any truer when it comes to designing. Design needs to inform, excite and meet the user’s expectations, address their challenges and provide solutions. A minimalist approach is essential to achieving functional design with a pleasing aesthetic quality that creates a seamless and satisfying user journey, be it within a physical retail space, website interface, an app or their interactions in the metaverse.?

Here's where the Japanese have had it right all along. Since the Middle Ages, the Japanese have considered simple and clear design as a powerful source of beauty, luxury and sophistication. Japanese design, which has been a mainstay in every field of design, from fashion and architecture to product and now digital design, since the 1980s, is rich with minimalist organic forms. Drawing from nature, geometric shapes, symbols and typography, their approach to art and design exemplifies simplicity.?

We’ve been inspired by the creativity of Japanese design, which allows us to bring harmony between the products and services we develop and the end users. By setting our minds free, especially of past assumptions and set ways of problem-solving, we can implement bold design thinking.

There are some of the elements from that Japanese culture that we incorporate for simplicity and functionality in our design:?

Minimalism?

It’s the idea of breaking down the basics and building it up to be a seamless experience. Applying the concept of minimalism, we can create design that brings a dualism of power and calmness to the user.?

Emptiness?

One of the go-to aesthetics in Japan is derived from emptiness, a celebration of the space between things. This makes design devoid of assumptions and the dogmatic ways of thinking about a problem. It gives us the capacity to be more compassionate towards our users and design with empathy.??

Organic Forms and Nature?

Japanese art and design are heavily influenced by nature – floral designs, soft pastel gradients and geometric shapes that resemble elements of land, sea and animals. We too look to the natural world and our surroundings as a starting-place for open-ended design. This observation, curiosity and wonder opens us avenues to solving human problems.?

?Wabi-sabi

Wabi-sabi is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. People are at the heart of the design process. The human-centric approach is built on the concept of imperfection, which means that we must allow for emotions, which are not always perfect. Our process begins with different iterations, which means we are constantly striving for improvement. The final product is also fluid in a way that it is a tool that empowers users and enables ongoing interaction.?

Genieology is a human experience company where magic meets science. We embark on our clients’ digital maturity and transformation journey with a determined curiosity, creativity and human-centric culture that is backed by research and data. Get to know our team and how we can support your digital transformation goals on genieology.com?