I start every website build with a project kick-off call to talk with authors about their vision for the site. On his call, author and theologian A.J. Swoboda told me his main objective was to keep things minimal and simple. He wanted a website that showcased past work and published books, was a hub for resources he wanted to share, and directed visitors to sign up for his weekly newsletter “The Low-Level Theologian” recently launched on Substack.
Sounds easy right; minimal design means minimal work? Nope! Designing a minimalist author website meant every detail and decision was important, because every detail would stand out. I wanted to create a functional, informative, website that had a clean design but would still leave an impression on visitors.
I absolutely love how the website turned out, and so does A.J.! Read on to learn more about the process and how we worked towards the final website. At the end of the article I give 5 tips for designing your own minimalist website.
Branding
Before jumping into the website build, A.J. and I created a branding guide. As an author, branding and the idea of a logo may feel a bit funny for you. You don’t think of yourselves as a business with customers. But you are a writer with a message, and you want to build a community of readers to engage with that message. Using consistent visual design across platforms helps readers identify and remember who you are and what you have to say. How can we use visual design to better convey an author’s voice and message? That is the question author branding strives to answer.
While creating A.J.’s mood board, I focused on a neutral color palette and photos that played with shadow and light. He is a theologian, and explores topics like Sabbath, rest, doubt, and spiritual formation. Using these topics as a starting point, I found inspirational and soft nature images, and peaceful church imagery that evoked contemplation and thoughtfulness.
Logo
For A.J.’s logo I found a geometric, clean font and explored ways to introduce unique features while keeping it uncluttered and very minimal. In Logo One, I went more traditional and played with capitalization and font weights. In Logo Two, I introduced more graphic elements, like punctuation and unique letter size. A.J. ultimately decided to use Logo One.
Fonts & Colors
I decided to incorporate typography as design beyond it’s typical role, because I would be using a lot of white space and minimal design feautures overall. I chose a web-friendly sans serif font, Red Hat Display, for headings and titles. To contrast the hyper-minimal sans serif headings, and bring a touch of traditional, I went with the academic serif Garamond for the body text. By using typography graphically, I created interest and personality on a page without adding visual clutter. I used large drop caps and a mixing of sans serif with a serif italic in the page headers.
Choosing a color palette for a minimalist design was challenging. I started with the obvious: white and black. I felt true black was too harsh, so I brought it down to an almost-black to take away the edge. I drew inspiration from the nature photos in the mood board and added an olive green/gray as a main color. For the accent colors, I chose a salmon/gray pulled from the cover of A.J.’s newest book and a lighter gray.
The Website Build
After A.J.’s feedback, we had a completed author branding guide. I used this guide as a blueprint for the rest of the website design. A.J. and I worked together to create a sitemap for his website. This is basically a guide for what pages are needed, what content needs to be written or created, and how a visitor will navigate the website. From there, I created a few page mock-ups for more feedback. I prefer to have all the details decided before building the site; less back-and-forth on the live site later!
I built A.J.’s site on WordPress, using the accessible and versatile Divi builder. I created pages with a liberal amount of white space, little text, and clean and simple design features based on the branding guide.
For example, to showcase A.J.’s published books, I created a main books page with a simple gallery grid showing his book covers. Visitors can click on a book cover to view more details about that book on a separate page. This solution gave us a minimal main book page while providing usability details on a different page.
The challenge with minimalism is following the brief while still bringing something memorable to the design. To do this, I drew a simple animation for the homepage. When a visitor first lands on the site, an open book drawing animation appears behind A.J.’s name. This element fits the overall look of the site while being engaging and unique. It was fun to draw and added the perfect touch!
Conclusion
A.J. can use the author branding guide we created, and his new logo, on social media and his newsletter to build a consistent visual identity. His website now reflects his personality and voice as a writer, and visitors to the site get an understanding of who he is based on the design.
Ready for a new website?
If you’re ready to up your author game with a stunning new website, or want to learn more about the process, I’d love to help! Schedule a free consultation call to discuss your vision and how we can bring it to life together.
Tips for Creating a Minimalist Website
1. Focus on Essential Elements
Keep the overall website layout clean and uncluttered. Use a grid system to organize content and keep a consistent structure. Prioritize content by including only the most important information. Avoid overwhelming the design and user with excessive text.
2. Use White Space
A classic piece of advice when going for a minimal look. White space (or negative space) improves readability by giving content room to breathe and helps draw attention to key elements. Make sure white space is evenly distributed throughout the design to maintain a balanced feel.
3. Choose a Limited Color Palette
Use a neutral color palette with shades of white, black, and gray as the base colors. Add one or two accent colors for visual interest and personality. Use accent colors sparingly and in similar contexts to highlight elements like buttons, links, or calls to action.
4. Choose Typography Intentionally
Typography will stand out even more in a minimal design, so be sure to pick fonts that reflect the intended feel of the design. Sans-serif fonts are often chosen in minimalist designs for their simplicity, clarity, and easy readability. Use no more than two or three font families throughout the site, and keep the size, weight, and styles consistent.
5. Keep Navigation Accessible
A minimalist website design risks frustrating visitors if navigation is difficult. Keep the menu visible and straightforward with clear page titles and obvious direction. Spend extra time creating the sitemap for concise content and lower page count. Make essential navigation links easily accessible and visible.