4 ms·

Another hot one growing is flat design which has little gradients and beveled effects. I made a Dribbble bucket here to see examples: http://dribbble.com/bcack

Another hot one growing is flat design which has little gradients and beveled effects. I made a Dribbble bucket here to see examples: http://dribbble.com/bcackerman/buckets/82543-Flat http://dribbble.com/bcackerman/buckets/82543-Flat

pjmo 14y ago
Nice bucket, I'm a big fan of flat design. The guys from layervault put up a good post recently http://layervault.tumblr.com/post/32267022219/flat-interface-design http://layervault.tumblr.com/post/32267022219/flat-interface...
eduardordm 14y ago
Real nice. You are ahead of 2012.
- citizenblr 14y ago
  Thanks for the compliment. Very glad to see such a lively discussion.
dmix 14y ago
Android is utilizing this style on their new apps/menus. It looks great.
- rmrfrmrf 14y ago
  Google in general has been moving to this style. See also: Gmail, Google Docs
  - milesokeefe 14y ago
    Their A/B Youtube redesign as well.
- mark_story 14y ago
  As is microsoft in all products using Metro style interfaces. I think the rise of flat is partly a reaction to gradients being everywhere and on everything for the past few years. It also creates a visual difference between apple and their competitors.
aziari 14y ago
Beautiful work. What's your criteria for when to use flat and not?
- blehn 14y ago
  Not the OP but I'll tell you my approach, as someone who prefers a "flat" style: I think of dimension (and texture) as one of the tools in the design toolbox, along with proximity, alignment, proportion, color, shape, and others. These tools allow us to create hierarchy, affordance, focus/highlights, contrast, legibility and other design paradigms that hopefully result in usable, visually pleasing design. The effectiveness of each tool depends on the design objective (using color or proportion to highlight an element might be more effective than simply using alignment). In a minimalist approach, I like to work with the tools in "layers", in a specific order, and in quantities as small as possible. First, I begin with alignment and proximity — positioning elements. The challenge is to create something usable and attractive using only those tools. Sometimes, it's just not possible, so I'll move on to proportion, then color, then shape. I generally find that dimension and texture are unnecessary, so I leave them in the toolbox. Sometimes, perhaps because there's a high density of elements in the design, one element (button, dialogue, header) may need additional contrast or focus, at which point I'll consider adding some depth.
runemadsen 14y ago
I'm not sure I would call this "Flat Design" a new design style. You see minimalism and a perfect balance between content and form in most mature design fields, and I think this is more of a sign that web design is not being dictated by trends anymore. If you want "Flat Design", take a look at the 1981 Xerox Star.
navs 14y ago
Off-topic but aside from Dribbble buckets, what other tools do you folks use for collecting interesting design patterns?
- wmeredith 14y ago
  Pinterest is great for this. Pinboard and Flickr as well.

pjmo 14y ago

Nice bucket, I'm a big fan of flat design. The guys from layervault put up a good post recently http://layervault.tumblr.com/post/32267022219/flat-interface-design http://layervault.tumblr.com/post/32267022219/flat-interface...

eduardordm 14y ago

Real nice. You are ahead of 2012.

citizenblr 14y ago
Thanks for the compliment. Very glad to see such a lively discussion.

dmix 14y ago

Android is utilizing this style on their new apps/menus. It looks great.

rmrfrmrf 14y ago
Google in general has been moving to this style. See also: Gmail, Google Docs
- milesokeefe 14y ago
  Their A/B Youtube redesign as well.
mark_story 14y ago
As is microsoft in all products using Metro style interfaces. I think the rise of flat is partly a reaction to gradients being everywhere and on everything for the past few years. It also creates a visual difference between apple and their competitors.

aziari 14y ago

Beautiful work. What's your criteria for when to use flat and not?

blehn 14y ago
Not the OP but I'll tell you my approach, as someone who prefers a "flat" style: I think of dimension (and texture) as one of the tools in the design toolbox, along with proximity, alignment, proportion, color, shape, and others. These tools allow us to create hierarchy, affordance, focus/highlights, contrast, legibility and other design paradigms that hopefully result in usable, visually pleasing design. The effectiveness of each tool depends on the design objective (using color or proportion to highlight an element might be more effective than simply using alignment). In a minimalist approach, I like to work with the tools in "layers", in a specific order, and in quantities as small as possible. First, I begin with alignment and proximity — positioning elements. The challenge is to create something usable and attractive using only those tools. Sometimes, it's just not possible, so I'll move on to proportion, then color, then shape. I generally find that dimension and texture are unnecessary, so I leave them in the toolbox. Sometimes, perhaps because there's a high density of elements in the design, one element (button, dialogue, header) may need additional contrast or focus, at which point I'll consider adding some depth.

runemadsen 14y ago

I'm not sure I would call this "Flat Design" a new design style. You see minimalism and a perfect balance between content and form in most mature design fields, and I think this is more of a sign that web design is not being dictated by trends anymore. If you want "Flat Design", take a look at the 1981 Xerox Star.

navs 14y ago

Off-topic but aside from Dribbble buckets, what other tools do you folks use for collecting interesting design patterns?

wmeredith 14y ago
Pinterest is great for this. Pinboard and Flickr as well.