Wells Rilley talks about how we have lost some of the crucial affordances while shifting our focus on to flat design too fast. Its time to hold on for a while and improve the flat design. Design has a purpose and if that purpose is lost, well its not a design anymore… its a decoration.
The flat movement was born out of a need to get as far away from skeuomorphism as possible. Shadows and metallic sheen were replaced with solid hues and typography-driven design. It was a harken back to the Swiss ‘international style’ of design where strong typography and blocks of color reigned supreme in print.
But perhaps the pendulum swung too far in the flat direction. In the transition to flat we lost some of the helpful affordances – especially on buttons and forms – that more traditional aesthetics used to make our products easy to use. When everything became flat, creating a clear visual hierarchy became a constant challenge.
Can you tell which Shift key is enabled?
Flat has been the predominant visual style for over a year, and some brilliant work has come out of it. But it’s clear that now it’s time to let the pendulum swing back – if even only a little bit.
