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I'm confused as to why people seem to think that only designs featuring large blocks of color and strong accents qualify as "flat UI". What is this 'style' a re

by danem 14y ago

I'm confused as to why people seem to think that only designs featuring large blocks of color and strong accents qualify as "flat UI". What is this 'style' a reaction to? Gradients? Drop shadows? What for? Does anyone really think that employing this aesthetic will free them from some perceived constraints imposed by current fashion? Does anyone think that the elimination of drop shadows will free the user to think about computing in more abstract, powerful terms? Look around the web, and it is apparent that "flat ui" is already the standard. Indeed, I find it difficult to find many popular sites that makes heavy use of drop shadows and gradients to simulate light. Why is this single aesthetic now being heralded as the way forward while computing has been predominantly "flat" for most of its history? I think people tend to forget that exercises in style ( such as this ) don't necessarily equate to design. The choices made in any given design must consider content and audience. Anything else becomes decoration, not design.

alaskamiller 14y ago
You used a lot of words to make strawman arguments, gave anecdotal evidence, then berated the same strawman, but really said nothing at all. This is data dump, much like how there are data dumps of CSS styles, gradient buttons, and WordPress themes all over the internets. People use it if they want to, or not.
- danem 14y ago
  This comment was more of a response to the discussion surrounding the whole "flat design" trend. Perhaps I should have responded to a particular comment, but my thoughts on the subject weren't specific to any one person's opinions. My thoughts, put another way, are that I don't like that this particular aesthetic is now being held up as some great way forward in UI design. I don't like the discussions that seem so frequent here, that completely miss the point. This is merely a style, and really has little or nothing to do with affordances or whatever reasons often professed by supporters and detractors when it comes up. The fact that this particular look has attracted so much debate and thought is what confuses me.
ux-app 14y ago
> I'm confused as to why people seem to think that only designs featuring large blocks of color and strong accents qualify as "flat UI". What is this 'style' a reaction to? Gradients? Drop shadows? What for? Does anyone really think that employing this aesthetic will free them from some perceived constraints imposed by current fashion? Does anyone think that the elimination of drop shadows will free the user to think about computing in more abstract, powerful terms? I think you might be over-thinking things. Personally, I like it because I think it looks nice. Like all design trends it will eventually go out of fashion, be rediscovered and then go out of fashion again, and so the cycle continues. > Look around the web, and it is apparent that "flat ui" is already the standard. The web has certainly been moving in this direction for a couple of years. Go back 4-5 years though and you'd see plenty of drop shadows, gradients, wood grain backgrounds etc.

by danem 14y ago

alaskamiller 14y ago

You used a lot of words to make strawman arguments, gave anecdotal evidence, then berated the same strawman, but really said nothing at all. This is data dump, much like how there are data dumps of CSS styles, gradient buttons, and WordPress themes all over the internets. People use it if they want to, or not.

danem 14y ago
This comment was more of a response to the discussion surrounding the whole "flat design" trend. Perhaps I should have responded to a particular comment, but my thoughts on the subject weren't specific to any one person's opinions. My thoughts, put another way, are that I don't like that this particular aesthetic is now being held up as some great way forward in UI design. I don't like the discussions that seem so frequent here, that completely miss the point. This is merely a style, and really has little or nothing to do with affordances or whatever reasons often professed by supporters and detractors when it comes up. The fact that this particular look has attracted so much debate and thought is what confuses me.

ux-app 14y ago

> I'm confused as to why people seem to think that only designs featuring large blocks of color and strong accents qualify as "flat UI". What is this 'style' a reaction to? Gradients? Drop shadows? What for? Does anyone really think that employing this aesthetic will free them from some perceived constraints imposed by current fashion? Does anyone think that the elimination of drop shadows will free the user to think about computing in more abstract, powerful terms? I think you might be over-thinking things. Personally, I like it because I think it looks nice. Like all design trends it will eventually go out of fashion, be rediscovered and then go out of fashion again, and so the cycle continues. > Look around the web, and it is apparent that "flat ui" is already the standard. The web has certainly been moving in this direction for a couple of years. Go back 4-5 years though and you'd see plenty of drop shadows, gradients, wood grain backgrounds etc.