Clean and simple web design doesn’t just make web designers happy — it will also make your eCommerce site more money. How do we know? Neuroscience!

Recently, I watched PBS’s new documentary "The Farthest", which told the story of the Voyager missions. The documentary made me nostalgic, because when I was a wee lass, I was enchanted with outer space. In fact, one of my childhood career goals was to become a robotics engineer for NASA (this was before I realized I was hopeless at math). I still hope that one day NASA will contract me to design rad decals for their next probe or rover.

We at MindActive are admittedly a technical bunch – we’re always showing off our latest projects with cutting-edge web and digital technology (apps, holograms, motion graphics, and so on). However, this doesn’t mean we’re uninterested in more traditional forms of graphic design. On the contrary, we bring the same passion we have for those techie marketing programs to our print and logo design projects.

For years, designers have embraced the ideals of elegance and simplicity. When in doubt, you could always fall back on the time-honored traditions of grid-based design, modern sans-serif typefaces, and minimalism to produce Good Design. It was a philosophy that was reliable, safe …. and, perhaps … boring? Many designers have been restless for change, to take risks by embracing the messy world of color, texture, and pattern.

I’ve been making artwork since I was a kid, and continue to do so today. Working as both a graphic designer and an artist has given me a unique perspective on design work. Both artists and designers work in the visual realm, but often have very different goals — while artists explore the elements of composition to express personal feelings or ideas, designers apply these principles to solve problems. Creating artwork gives me a freedom to explore ideas visually that I might not have when creating work for a client. The work I create personally often feeds into and improves the work I do professionally. Here are some of the reasons why I feel that exploring the world of fine art will make you a better designer.