Designing Whtespace
In this post, guest blogger and creative director Malcolm Buick shares his thoughts on Whtespace, our internal startup project that lets you create curated email newsletters.
In a world of content being shifted, moved, tweeted, socialized, and last but not least emailed, the creative process is relegated to being second fiddle, and productivity within the workplace takes a sharp decline. However, there is a need for sharing, and as the old saying goes "sharing is caring."
Whtespace was born out of necessity. As a creative, my mind drifts, and distractions are many. We created Whtespace to allow for ‘whitespace’ – free to think, free to create. Whtespace lets you feel safe in the knowledge that you can be informed on your own terms – in your inbox, curated and elegantly designed.
So what does this mean for design?
Whtespace was heavily inspired by the design philosophy ofMark Farrow, Peter Saville, Dieter Rams – experts and creators of hyper design minimalism, and creators of bands and brands such as Joy Division, Pet Shop Boys, Braun and many more – some of which only really have the most bare bones of information and function.
With Whtespace, we tried to strip everything out that was not necessary. This criteria in turn drove the design part of the problem, and made it clear to us what we needed to do was: keep it simple -- no gloss, no shiny buttons, no “hi kids” language . After all it should be utility, it’s what you imprint upon Whtespace that is the most important.
Whtespace isn’t just for academic information junkies; it has many uses. You can use it to impress your boss when you want him to see all the hyper relevant things you are inspired by; it can also be a catalyst for a great beginning to a new client relationship, whereby you can share some early thinking to a particular problem you are working on. Whtespace can be as private as you want it to be, or you can project your lust for knowledge to the world.
Keep in mind that the paint’s still wet, so be gentle.
(Guest blogger Malcolm Buick @malcolmbuick)
Malcolm is a freelance creative director and co-founder of Whtespace. He is also a founder and member of the Friends of Wolff Olins Club.
Re-blogged from The Whtespace Blog.
