4 ms·

i'm convinced this style is the next big thing in web UI - at least for startups/simple web tools/anything more dekstop-oriented than mobile-oriented. it's suc

i'm convinced this style is the next big thing in web UI - at least for startups/simple web tools/anything more dekstop-oriented than mobile-oriented. it's such great a rejection of all the stale, boring, "clean" UI convention that we're drowning in today. it's not just nostalgia - it's fun, it's rebellious, it has real character. it shouts "I'm having fun, why shouldn't you?"

okozzie 6y ago
Best thing I've read in a while, thank you! :)
quarantine 6y ago
I'm currently building a website with this kind of rectangular design language and I'm really digging it.
- leesalminen 6y ago
  My web app was rocking squared off design circa 2014. In 2018 we hired a designer and the first order of business was to round all the things. I hated it! But, our users loved it. Strange world.
eyelidlessness 6y ago
This has been trendy for a few years now. It’s not quite “brutalist” because the nostalgic aspect references design that certainly was state of the art for its time. But it has brutalist artistic instincts. I don’t think more modern/clean designs have to be devoid of fun/rebelliousness or lack character (I’m working on a site that IMO intersects both, it’s very much a WIP but feel free to check out [my handle].github.io if you want to see it in its infancy). But it certainly does tend to hew toward the easy. The only thing I disagree with in your comment is that it necessarily has character. At a certain point the retro design trend will be so commonplace that it’s also hewing easy and a fairly straight shot from “I want brand to be fun”. I hope it doesn’t reach that point though, because I quite like being surprised by the occasional 90s-style graphics.
- zwkrt 6y ago
  I really enjoyed the comparison with brutalism here. One of the goals of brutalism was to show off how large public spaces could be constructed for and by the masses out of basic materials. Really fits in with the intent of the lined project!
  - giantDinosaur 6y ago
    I enjoy how one can read your comment for two completely opposed meanings.
  - eyelidlessness 6y ago
    This was sorta the intent of both the compare and contrast! The big difference with the retro computer graphics revival is that computing in the 90s had a long way to go before being for & by everyone. I don’t think the modern/clean design sensibilities are tied to that though, Myspace was really the inflection point and definitely deserved the brutalist label.

okozzie 6y ago

Best thing I've read in a while, thank you! :)

quarantine 6y ago

I'm currently building a website with this kind of rectangular design language and I'm really digging it.

leesalminen 6y ago
My web app was rocking squared off design circa 2014. In 2018 we hired a designer and the first order of business was to round all the things. I hated it! But, our users loved it. Strange world.

eyelidlessness 6y ago

This has been trendy for a few years now. It’s not quite “brutalist” because the nostalgic aspect references design that certainly was state of the art for its time. But it has brutalist artistic instincts. I don’t think more modern/clean designs have to be devoid of fun/rebelliousness or lack character (I’m working on a site that IMO intersects both, it’s very much a WIP but feel free to check out [my handle].github.io if you want to see it in its infancy). But it certainly does tend to hew toward the easy. The only thing I disagree with in your comment is that it necessarily has character. At a certain point the retro design trend will be so commonplace that it’s also hewing easy and a fairly straight shot from “I want brand to be fun”. I hope it doesn’t reach that point though, because I quite like being surprised by the occasional 90s-style graphics.

zwkrt 6y ago
I really enjoyed the comparison with brutalism here. One of the goals of brutalism was to show off how large public spaces could be constructed for and by the masses out of basic materials. Really fits in with the intent of the lined project!
- giantDinosaur 6y ago
  I enjoy how one can read your comment for two completely opposed meanings.
- eyelidlessness 6y ago
  This was sorta the intent of both the compare and contrast! The big difference with the retro computer graphics revival is that computing in the 90s had a long way to go before being for & by everyone. I don’t think the modern/clean design sensibilities are tied to that though, Myspace was really the inflection point and definitely deserved the brutalist label.