The word brutalism comes from the French word „brut”, which means raw.

Brutalism first appeared in architecture in the mid-20th century in the UK. The idea was to create practical homes, as cheaply as possible, as part of the post-war reconstruction. So aesthetics played little part.

The first websites at the beginning of the internet were brutalist in style, very much „industrial” in nature. The main rule of Brutalist web design is that there are no rules, but you can still see some similarities:

• no real menu
• monochrome backgrounds
• use of few visuals
• total lack of animation
• symmetry – asymmetry
• many items, cluttered layout
• no real hierarchy, therefore chaotic appearance
• using one font, but the opposite can also be observed
• one-sided structure
• clickable links are underlined
• miminimal formatting

Rules of the brutalist style

Achieve the goal using as few resources as possible

Brutalist web design doesn’t allow waste, you can only use what you absolutely need. That means using HTML, with default fonts and colours. Visitors are not overloaded with unnecessary content, features or slow loading speeds.

Structure

The Brutalist-style website may seem too simple at first, but the tables, the open menu bar, and the basic colours used give a sense of stability and security.

Purposeful but ugly design?

I would like to point out that some people come to a website with a definite purpose, but it is far from certain that they are concerned with the beauty of the site. He will be interested in getting what he came for done as quickly as possible. On the other hand, you can create an aesthetically appealing design with basic settings and a table layout. Look at Budapest Park website.

Bare reality

Brutalist design, with its simplicity, can be a perfect tool to showcase your brand, as it does not contain any unnecessary elements, designs or graphics.

It can be quite difficult to decide which projects to apply brutalism to. I think its raw simplicity might be great for the manufacturing industry, metalworking businesses, maybe creative blogs or artists, online magazines.

The advantages of brutalist webdesign

• It stands out from the uniformity of the web
• Effective
• Fast loading time

The disadvantages of brutalist webdesign

• Spectacular design elements, lack of interaction
• Its raw simplicity could be interpreted as a step backwards

When choosing a web design style, it is crucial to understand your business goals, your target audience and their needs. Finding and applying a balance between Brutalism and modern minimalism is a sure way to create a highly successful website that is easy to navigate, offers a perfect user experience, converts well, is authentic and attracts attention.

Remember:

Dare to be different!

Kriszta from NovArt Stúdió

If you need help with the design and implementation of your website, please contact me at hello@novartstudio.hu or use the CONTACT menu.