Guide How to make: Minimalistic designs!

For those of you who don't know, my activity has been decreasing due to various reasons I explained in my outro. I've halted my War activity, and my forums activity will suffer from the same faith very soon. I've received a lot of positive feedback on my graphics, and I want someone to continue it while I'm gone. This is the reason I made this guide, and who knows, you might even excell me!

What is minimalism?
Minimalism is a term for any design that can be described as showing absence of depth and gloss, emphasizes on certain features left out on others such as font and shape, and in some cases is unaffected by the device which it is seen with. It also contains a lot of subcategories such as "Shadow" and "Abstract", but I will go over those later on.

Let's get started!



1. Open your software of choice.
I will be using Google Drawings for this tutorial since it is one of the most affordable yet complex of the freebies. All it takes is to go to the "Apps" section in the top right corner of your homepage to get in, a click to "Drive" and a "Create a new drawing".


2. Start with color, shape it later.
One of the main features of minimalism is the choice of colors. The colors tend to avoid excessive saturation like neon, or anything that hurts your eyes. Try to find a lighter shade if you wanted to use a "hot pink" color. I like to use these two websites this one and this one. The first one provides some excellent examples of flat colors, and the other one features options such as finding shades of a color, the opposite of it, and even a hex code to paste on "Custom colors" on Drawings. Once you find your tones, create a shape!



3. Let your imagination begin!
The shape you created will be your "base" for you to continue on from. Use the available shapes in Drawings to design your graphic. From this step now on, you will be in charge in how will your graphic look like. Make yourself a fancy signature, or a flat version of your in-game skin. Starting a Youtube channel? Create a cool logo!



Extras
Like Electronic music, minimalism has tons of subcategories which add to the beauty of your graphic. Try these to see what creation you will make next!


Add "Flat" depth!
Huh? Even though absence of depth is what differentiates minimalism, you can still add a "Flat" depth in it. To make one, simply copy your shape, and change the copied shape's color to a more darker one. Simply do "Send to back", and make it 'peek' a little from the bottom or a lot depending on your likings.


Add a shadow!
Shadows are a great way to enhance your fresh graphic and text! These tend to be very tricky, but can be excellent if done right. To make a shadow, you have to find the shadow color of the part you want to add a shadow to. To make things simple, use the "Transparent" option available under "Custom colors" and change the transparency to your likings.
After you found your match, create a new "Parallelogram" ( or any other shape you want) and switch it to that color. Angle it from either left or right starting at the respective corners of the shape. It won't always work the first time, so you might have to move it behind the shape with the "Send to backward" option. For floating effects, simply create a copy of that shape, adjust it to a certain length, add a shade color, send it back of it and finish.

Creations!
Found this guide helpful and made your own graphic? Post it below! Comments or edits? Leave them down below!



Secret project?

A neat little website I made featuring minimalism!


Hope this guide helped you!

 

Thanks!

 

Thanks! Glad I could help, and eager to see what you can make

 

The more you mess around with it, the better they look

 

Oh yes, wish it was real though :/