Minimalism Prevents Creativity

The distinctive characteristics of minimalist design are precisely what stifle our innovative minds. We have evolved to fabricate complex stories and come up with unconventional ideas that stem from the creativity inside us. Our minds require a stimulative influence to grow beyond logic, developing into this output of inventiveness that is extremely threatened in a minimalist designed environment due to its simplicity. This interior design, commonly found in homes or workplaces, can be identified by its color scheme, clean lines, materials. 

Color theory demonstrates the feelings evoked by certain wavelengths of light. FZE in The Psychology of Color says “…the retina focuses on colors as rays of light which have varying lengths and degrees of refraction, reflection, absorption depending on the hue. The eye’s sensing of each color induces fast reactions in the brain and autonomic nervous system.” Longer wavelengths like red are closer to infrared light, also giving off an intense feeling that calls your attention. Shorter wavelengths like blues and purples enter our eyes easier, making them appear calmer and more relaxing. We also tend to associate colors like green to nature as that color is prominently found there, and yellow to happiness or joy because of its brightness and vibrancy. Color scheme is one of the most important aspects in interior design, used as a foundation for the “feel” of the room. Minimalist design tends to use muted neutral colors that aren’t saturated. These colors psychologically do nothing more than make you calmer and more focused, killing any creative thoughts. This use of color directly changes the way our brains think, confining our minds to a simple state. Image 1 on the right shows this wonderfully, the stone and beige tones bring out the peace of the room. It can also be seen in the image on the right how there are no other colors in any decoration that would bring up any emotions other than serenity. The image on the left on the other hand is overflowing with color, vibrancy, and creativity. The color scheme is not chaotic, yet harmonious. It gives a really complete look to the room, along with a bit of biophilic design as can be seen on the wall and the plants all along the room. The addition of this foliage allows an inspiration from nature to also seep into our wonderful minds.

As humans we are drawn to order, and make this order appear in everything around us. This manufactured carpentered environment repeats the same straight lines and forces our perspective to see everything identically, in some type of rectangle. While our perspective changes and objects appear to be angled and somewhat trapezoidal, our eyes strictly believe it is still rectangular, showing us how it is always the same thing. This type of repetition embedded itself in our brains making any other type of structured environment out of the ordinary. These straight lines are the staple of minimalist design, like the image 2, on the right side, providing comfort in relaying the environment we already have around us in our everyday life. This does not engage with our minds in any creative type of way as creativity is inspired into our minds by environments, like the image on the left, that challenges our boundaries and breaks them. Creativity has no limits to what it can accomplish, but in a minimalist designed room? It is hard to see anything groundbreaking come out of that. This can also be seen in image 1, as these right angles make up the image on the right side, while the left has a much more complex ceiling. This complexity stimulates our brain to think beyond 90 degrees, and gives us something new to look at.

Specific textures and materials are also definitive of minimalist design. They often use these materials that don’t really engage with one of our most important 5 senses, touch. This sense allows our minds to perceive the texture and temperatures that different materials have. It is important that there is a variety of materials that allow our minds new levels of thinking. Image 2 is beautifully intricate and symmetrical with its wood design on its left side. This texture allows us to have something special like in the left side of Image 1. Both Image 1 and 2 on the right show the little material used in minimalist design, giving it that smooth feel, directly impacting the freedom one feels to be creative in that setting.

            References 

FZE, B. B. C. (2024, September 20). The psychology of Color. UKEssays. https://www.ukessays.com/essays/arts/the-psychology-of-color.php

Kansal, S., & Rana, D. P. (n.d.). International Journal of Architecture and Infrastructure Planning. http://architecture.journalspub.info/index.php?journal=JAIP&page=index 

Mahmoud, H. M. (2023). (PDF) form and structure in Interior Architecture. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328256439_Form_and_Structure_in_Interior_Architecture  

Mahmoud, Dr. H.-T. H. (n.d.). Minimalism as concept in interior architecture design Case study North coast villa. https://jsos.journals.ekb.eg/article_225753_b862f35afd09da34e21df0f09c701d79.pdf