40 ms·

A nice overview, but it feels like the dates are out. Flat design came in much later than the 90s .. Web 2.0 was all about curved corners and gradients .. flat

by lwhi 5y ago

A nice overview, but it feels like the dates are out. Flat design came in much later than the 90s .. Web 2.0 was all about curved corners and gradients .. flat design was introduced in 2010s.

laumars 5y ago
Noooo. I was a desktop software developer in the 90s and the conversation definitely started then. Remember we are talking about desktop software not web development (and by the late 90s bevels were seen as archaic as “under maintenance” GIFs). To illustrate the timeline: Windows MSIs were often compared to Install Shield with regards to the difference between the newer flat design elements of Microsoft vs the older 3D objects of the previous iterations of Windows. By Windows 2000 Microsoft had already cemented that flat design was their way forward. Sure buttons were still 3D but a lot of other design elements had been flattened or removed entirely (panels, toolbars, image boarders, editable text areas in some cases too). While you are right that Metro / Modern was another massive leap forward in terms of flat design, by that point Apple had already dropped much of their skeuomorphic design elements. So the discussions by that point were less about skeuomorphism vs flat design and more about accessibility concerns with regards to removing all hints of 3D in flat design. Basically by 2010 flat design had already largely won over skeuomorphic design. So while designers were still endlessly debating these things, it certainly wasn’t the start of the conversation.
- lwhi 5y ago
  The Wikipedia 'flat design' article might need updating with this information. I see your point re. desktop UI elements, but I think 'flat design' became a zeitgeist term in the 2010s for the majority of creatives / graphic designers.
  - laumars 5y ago
    Wikipedia already does hint at that information: > In 2002, Microsoft released Windows Media Center > Microsoft continued this style of design with the 2010 release of Windows Phone 7 (emphasis mine) But you have to bare in mind that article is about more than just desktop application development. Maybe what’s needed is a separate article to talk about the history of software interfaces (maybe there already is an article?)
lsllc 5y ago
It was definitely the late '90s, everyone was trying to copy the IE3 flat toolbar look. There was even an article in the August 1997 issue of Microsoft Systems Journal about it: https://web.archive.org/web/20060910223400/http://www.microsoft.com/msj/0897/c0897.aspx https://web.archive.org/web/20060910223400/http://www.micros...

by lwhi 5y ago

A nice overview, but it feels like the dates are out. Flat design came in much later than the 90s .. Web 2.0 was all about curved corners and gradients .. flat design was introduced in 2010s.

laumars 5y ago

Noooo. I was a desktop software developer in the 90s and the conversation definitely started then. Remember we are talking about desktop software not web development (and by the late 90s bevels were seen as archaic as “under maintenance” GIFs). To illustrate the timeline: Windows MSIs were often compared to Install Shield with regards to the difference between the newer flat design elements of Microsoft vs the older 3D objects of the previous iterations of Windows. By Windows 2000 Microsoft had already cemented that flat design was their way forward. Sure buttons were still 3D but a lot of other design elements had been flattened or removed entirely (panels, toolbars, image boarders, editable text areas in some cases too). While you are right that Metro / Modern was another massive leap forward in terms of flat design, by that point Apple had already dropped much of their skeuomorphic design elements. So the discussions by that point were less about skeuomorphism vs flat design and more about accessibility concerns with regards to removing all hints of 3D in flat design. Basically by 2010 flat design had already largely won over skeuomorphic design. So while designers were still endlessly debating these things, it certainly wasn’t the start of the conversation.

lwhi 5y ago
The Wikipedia 'flat design' article might need updating with this information. I see your point re. desktop UI elements, but I think 'flat design' became a zeitgeist term in the 2010s for the majority of creatives / graphic designers.
- laumars 5y ago
  Wikipedia already does hint at that information: > In 2002, Microsoft released Windows Media Center > Microsoft continued this style of design with the 2010 release of Windows Phone 7 (emphasis mine) But you have to bare in mind that article is about more than just desktop application development. Maybe what’s needed is a separate article to talk about the history of software interfaces (maybe there already is an article?)

lsllc 5y ago

It was definitely the late '90s, everyone was trying to copy the IE3 flat toolbar look. There was even an article in the August 1997 issue of Microsoft Systems Journal about it: https://web.archive.org/web/20060910223400/http://www.microsoft.com/msj/0897/c0897.aspx https://web.archive.org/web/20060910223400/http://www.micros...