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From the World of Design Trends: “Flat Design” Is Dying

9 points by user_235711 12y ago

mrlase 12y ago
This was a pointlessly fluffy article that can be summed up with: "Flat design is a fad. Just like modern and postmodern movements have come and gone in art — so will this." Well, of course movements change, so you could write an article as soon as a trend starts that its "dying." More importantly, human-computer interactions is a relatively new area of design. How do we know that flat design will actually be just a fad rather than a paradigm shift?
- robotpony 12y ago
  You're right, it's an unsubstantiated opinion. I haven't seen grand examples of design swinging back toward skeuomorphism, though some of the more extreme minimalistic choices have been changing.
Someone1234 12y ago
Good riddance. While flat design was definitely done "right" by some (e.g. Windows Phone) it was done very wrong indeed by others (iOS 7, Google Maps, Windows 8, et al). So wrong in fact that I'd go as far as to call it a usability anti-pattern. There's a reason why shadows and borders exist: To distinguish items from one another on a 2D display. Without those clues it is hard to distinguish a text label from a clickable button. Perfect example: https://i.imgur.com/Auyj1Xs.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Auyj1Xs.jpg So if you had never used Windows 8 before, you might not know that "Change PC Settings" is a button instead of the title of the section, and in my experience that is typical for most users.
- noblethrasher 12y ago
  > There's a reason why shadows and borders exist: To distinguish items from one another on a 2D display. Without those clues it is hard to distinguish a text label from a clickable button. Probably not a great example: We have had half of a generation grow up with the web, and to my eyes, any isolated string of text affords clicking.
- tpeo 12y ago
  I think the graphic design aspect of contemporary UIs isn't as big of a problem as their overall design philosophy. Developers seem to have conflated "minimalism" with "slashing features and hoping no one notices", while suddenly hiding stuff behind clunky menus is hip.
runn1ng 12y ago
And I just redesigned my websites from gradients to flat. What will they think of next?
rubinelli 12y ago
Site currently down. Google cache: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Xff7vYOERuoJ:factionmedia.com/from-the-world-of-design-trends-flat-design-is-dying/&client=ubuntu&hl=en-US&gl=us&strip=1 http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Xff7vYO...
swartkrans 12y ago
Flat isn't dying, although maybe the most extreme version of it may be falling out of favor. Thick glassy, 3d icons with heavy drop shadows, skeuomorphism, and gradient bevels, protruding interface elements and the like are still as garish now as they were a year ago. The trend toward more subtle depth if any depth at all and only when needed is still very much a thing. Much of the new popular UI designs is still pretty flat too: https://dribbble.com/ https://dribbble.com/

9 points by user_235711 12y ago

This was a pointlessly fluffy article that can be summed up with: "Flat design is a fad. Just like modern and postmodern movements have come and gone in art — so will this." Well, of course movements change, so you could write an article as soon as a trend starts that its "dying." More importantly, human-computer interactions is a relatively new area of design. How do we know that flat design will actually be just a fad rather than a paradigm shift?

robotpony 12y ago
You're right, it's an unsubstantiated opinion. I haven't seen grand examples of design swinging back toward skeuomorphism, though some of the more extreme minimalistic choices have been changing.

Someone1234 12y ago

Good riddance. While flat design was definitely done "right" by some (e.g. Windows Phone) it was done very wrong indeed by others (iOS 7, Google Maps, Windows 8, et al). So wrong in fact that I'd go as far as to call it a usability anti-pattern. There's a reason why shadows and borders exist: To distinguish items from one another on a 2D display. Without those clues it is hard to distinguish a text label from a clickable button. Perfect example: https://i.imgur.com/Auyj1Xs.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Auyj1Xs.jpg So if you had never used Windows 8 before, you might not know that "Change PC Settings" is a button instead of the title of the section, and in my experience that is typical for most users.

noblethrasher 12y ago
> There's a reason why shadows and borders exist: To distinguish items from one another on a 2D display. Without those clues it is hard to distinguish a text label from a clickable button. Probably not a great example: We have had half of a generation grow up with the web, and to my eyes, any isolated string of text affords clicking.
tpeo 12y ago
I think the graphic design aspect of contemporary UIs isn't as big of a problem as their overall design philosophy. Developers seem to have conflated "minimalism" with "slashing features and hoping no one notices", while suddenly hiding stuff behind clunky menus is hip.

runn1ng 12y ago

And I just redesigned my websites from gradients to flat. What will they think of next?

rubinelli 12y ago

Site currently down. Google cache: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Xff7vYOERuoJ:factionmedia.com/from-the-world-of-design-trends-flat-design-is-dying/&client=ubuntu&hl=en-US&gl=us&strip=1 http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Xff7vYO...

swartkrans 12y ago

Flat isn't dying, although maybe the most extreme version of it may be falling out of favor. Thick glassy, 3d icons with heavy drop shadows, skeuomorphism, and gradient bevels, protruding interface elements and the like are still as garish now as they were a year ago. The trend toward more subtle depth if any depth at all and only when needed is still very much a thing. Much of the new popular UI designs is still pretty flat too: https://dribbble.com/ https://dribbble.com/