Information Architects (iA), a Tokyo and Zurich design studio and maker of iA Writer, writes about typography and interface design.
HN commenters cite it for the 'web design is 95% typography' argument, treating text as an interface, and praise iA Writer.
I've had a very different experience with this. One of my friends from the US was made fun of for carrying around a FlipCam there because all their phones (pre Android/Apple) could already do that and in addition, they could edit their videos right from the phone. They would constantly ask "it JUST takes video?" They saw us Americans as the ones with oversimplified one button gadgets.
The Japanese phone mfrs have had complete control of the entire platform (network, hardware and software) for too long. More than likely the dictionary mfrs and the phone mfrs were just staying out of each others' verticals. Now software (Apple,Android) is finally disrupting that and changing the market but I wouldn't agree that the Japanese thinking is around single function products. There's just a better solution now that didn't exist in the market before. Even then, I feel like culturally it's ok to use a dictionary in class but not a cell phone...
This article (http://www.informationarchitects.jp/en/kenya-hara-on-japanese-aesthetics/) does a good job describing how "less is more" is interpreted differently in Japanese design.
Came into this thread to recommend this book and upvoted here.
This is an older book, the 3rd edition is from 2008, but the first edition is a few years older I think. The most surprising thing (for me) was that design principles have not changed much in the past 100 years or so. This book is geared more towards print design (newsletters, fliers, business cards, etc) but the concepts translate really well to the web.
Another point is TYPOGRAPHY! This shouldn't be overlooked and is easily the best way to improve the design of your site. Color schemes, graphics, and ornaments are secondary to getting the typography (font choice and style, layout, colors, pairing, etc.). Please do yourself a favor and read this article from the world-renowned web designers at Information Architects: http://informationarchitects.jp/the-web-is-all-about-typography-period/ -- be sure to read the resources at the end of that article. It's s a great place to get started.
Good luck!!
Many people'd disagree with you about what clutter is, I suspect.
Take a site like http://informationarchitects.jp/. They're a firm who specialise in news design: unsurprisingly, their site uses rigid typographic hierarchy underpinned by a grid. It feels really uncluttered to me, but it's clearly taken a lot of work to achieve that.
Then take Craigslist, which is the other extreme. There's no graphics at all, but it's an amazingly cluttered layout.
Both Reddit and Hacker News are nearer the Craigslist end of things than the iA one. None are the acme of good web typography. That's fair enough - Reddit, HN and Craigslist are all huge successes in their niches. However, the design decisions (or choice not to make any design decisions) do affect the tone of a place.
I think learning about typography would be a good stepping stone to learning design in general.
Start off by reading Typography for Lawyers and iA’s post “Web Design is 95% Typography”. Both links have great advice and talk about the fundamentals of typography and type on the web.
If the last links perked your interest than I recommend picking up The Elements of Typographic style. It is a great bible on the subject at the macro level.
[1]http://www.typographyforlawyers.com/
[2]http://informationarchitects.jp/the-web-is-all-about-typography-period/
[3]http://www.amazon.ca/Elements-Typographic-Style-Robert-Bringhurst/dp/0881791326
Absolutely agree re: typography. Or to quote this great post from @iA, "Treat text as a user interface" http://www.informationarchitects.jp/en/the-web-is-all-about-typography-period
It includes its own great list of other resources, including A List Apart and Thinking with Type.
I think a vast majority of websites ignore even basic principles like spacing, negative space, readability, and rudimentary concepts about typeface pairing.
1. Typohiles are megalomanics
2. We should read minds, but that would be megalomaniac
3. Let's just be a user then
No. Users are people with an opinion. User experience designers are those who deal with all those user opinions and try to find the best compromise. User experience designers are engineers.
http://www.informationarchitects.jp/en/can-experience-be-designed-2/
But that's not what the article is about.