Alright, let’s talk about my little experiment with this ‘wayne de haas’ approach I heard about. It sounded interesting, maybe a new way to tackle some design stuff I was playing with.
So, I started off just trying to figure out what it actually was. Spent a bit of time digging around, you know, trying to get the core idea. Wasn’t super clear, gotta say. Lots of vague concepts, but not much solid, step-by-step stuff to grab onto.
Anyway, I decided the best way was just to jump in. I picked a small side project I had lying around – just a simple webpage I was building for tracking my reading list. Thought I’d try applying the ‘wayne de haas’ ideas to the layout and maybe the way information was presented.
Getting Hands Dirty
First thing I did was strip back the existing design. Like, really bare bones. The idea, as I understood it, was about minimalism or focusing only on the absolute essential. So, I removed most of the styling, colors, fancy boxes, everything.
Then, I tried to rebuild it following what I thought were the principles. Focus on typography, clear hierarchy, lots of white space. It involved a lot of tweaking small things: font sizes, line spacing, margins. Fiddly work, honestly.
- Tried different font combinations.
- Adjusted spacing over and over.
- Moved elements around, trying to find that ‘right’ balance.
- Questioned if every single element was truly needed.
The tricky part was knowing when it was ‘right’ according to this ‘wayne de haas’ thing. It felt very subjective. I kept looking back at the vague descriptions I’d found, trying to match my work to them. It felt a bit like chasing a ghost.
How It Ended Up
In the end, the reading list page looked… simpler. Cleaner, maybe? But did it feel distinctively ‘wayne de haas’? I honestly couldn’t tell you for sure. It mostly just felt like a very stripped-down design, which isn’t exactly revolutionary.
Maybe I missed the point, or maybe the whole concept is just not as concrete as some people make it sound. It was an interesting exercise in forcing myself to simplify, though. Made me question some of my usual design habits, which is always good.
Why did I even bother? Well, I was feeling kinda stuck on another bigger project, totally hitting a wall. Sometimes switching gears and trying something completely different, even if it’s a bit fuzzy like this ‘wayne de haas’ idea, helps shake things loose. Didn’t magically solve my other problem, but it was a useful detour. Cleared my head a bit, you know?
So yeah, that was my little adventure. Tried it, learned a bit about simplification, but didn’t come away with a magic formula. Just another day tinkering, I guess.
