The movement of modern minimalism, while stronger than ever in the design of digital interfaces, is not remotely a new phenomenon. It has endured in earnest for over a century. Though a somewhat diverse movement as a whole, its practitioners maintain the common goal of reducing everything to the abstract and conceptual world of words. As with any movement, many, if not most of its adherents simply go with the tide and follow aesthetic trends without any more than the most surface-level knowledge of their complicity.

Twentieth-century modern minimalism is found throughout modern operating systems. Consider the reference of Picasso's Two Characters (1934) in the OS X Finder icon. Almost a century after its creation, Picasso's modernist work still holds relevance for interface designers.