"You don't make a great museum by putting all the art in the world in a single room. That's a warehouse. What makes a museum great is the stuff that's not on the walls. Someone says no. A curator is involved, making conscious decisions about what should stay and what should go. There's an editing process. There's a lot more stuff off the walls than on the walls. The best is a sub-sub-subset of all of the possibilities."
Rework
Jason Fried & David Heinemeister Hansson
It's the stuff you leave out that matters
As website designers we constantly look for things to remove, simplify, and streamline. Our goal is to stick to what is truly essential to your business and your clients. Ask the questions that get to the heart and soul of your work. Find ways to portray that in it's most clear and concise way (and here is where colours and images work so well - after all, a picture paints a thousand words in one glance!). Pare things down until you're left with only the more important stuff. Then do it again. You can always add stuff back in later if you need to.
What happens when you leave stuff out?
When you leave stuff out, your brand becomes more concise.
People understand concise.
They may dismiss it quicker. But GOOD. Those who dismiss would not have been your customers anyway. But the ones who are attracted will be more drawn to your clarity.
And here's where it gets 'remarkable'.
What is the definition of remarkable? As Seth Godin states in his famous TED Talk on purple cows, being remarkable literally means people remark about you.
“Something worth talking about. Worth noticing. Exceptional. New. Interesting. It's Purple Cow."
- Seth Godin
"What’s the big deal with being remarkable? Godin gets specific by pointing out the meaning behind the term: if something is remarkable, it means it’s worth literally making a remark over. People are going to talk about it. And, in the age of the internet, if people talk about your product or service, it spreads — for free! This word-of-mouth viral marketing is how ideas spread, and businesses bloom.
So how do we make something remarkable? By being exceptionally unique. Because customers now have so much choice — in addition to being inundated with an overwhelming amount of information everyday — being “very good” is no longer good enough.
Godin explains: “Consumers don’t care about you at all; they just don’t care. Part of the reason is — they’ve got way more choices than they used to, and way less time. And in a world where we have too many choices and too little time, the obvious thing to do is just ignore stuff.”"
Think small
Think lowest common denominator. Think less is more. Think to the truest essence of how you serve. Take it all away and then take one more thing.
What's left?
When you're ready, find a brand curator you trust.
Allow them to distill all of the stuff.
All the stuff you keep adding. The stuff you see others do that you think you need to compete on. The clutter on your website.
Get clear on the story of your business,
and build a business you love.
