The Sociocultural Elements Behind Popular Minimalism - a Case Study of Muji

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Color

Not only does minimalism attend to material needs, but it also satisfies people’s spiritual needs by using plain color, especially living in such crowded surroundings. In modern days, people live a fast-paced life, being busy with overwhelming work and socialization. At this time when they are surrounded by noisy reality, what they desire is to slow down and recover from mental strain. If they are still exposed to too many strong and contrasting colors, they are unlikely to get spiritual relax. This is because these strong colors can conjure up strong emotions such as extreme excitement or anxiety(Groner, 2012) and too much contrast will make people feel busy and chaotic(Cousins, 2012). So minimalism uses plain, single and natural color to create a peaceful mood. For instance, vibrant and strong colors can hardly be found in any Muji’s store except its red-color logo. The main colors for its products and store decorations are plain and soft colors such as grey, white, black and camel. By minimizing different color conflicts, it creates an unity and a natural sense. Therefore, this is how Muji takes advantage of minimalism to free people from chaotic life and meets their spiritual peaceful needs.

Conclusion

In sum, minimalist design makes use of simple materials, shapes and colors to cater for environmental needs and people’s practical as well as mental needs. It is believed, minimalism in art and design can mirror current sociocultural environment where resources are increasingly limited, environmental problems are more serious, people care more about the identity of objects and they tend to seek escape from realistic busy life. Accordingly, minimalism should be promoted by people nowadays since it echoes social needs and benefits people both practically and mentally. So minimalism can even be regarded a symbol of trendy lifestyle that more people are willing to embrace in modern hectic life.

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Reference

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