It’s simple. Maybe you have noticed it, or maybe you haven’t. In the past few years, designs and interfaces have migrated to something new. Professionals took a step back and cleaned off the canvas for what is absolutely necessary. It’s a trend called flat design, and it is here to stay.
The term “flat” probably makes you think of something dull, boring and not aesthetically pleasing. Contrary to what you may think, it is quite the opposite. Flat designs consist of bold color palettes, clean typography, vector illustrations, and geometric shapes. Now, visual elements don’t always require stylization such as heavy drop shadows, gradients and any effects that create a 3D look. These aren’t necessary to get attention; a clean, simplistic design is modernized and minimalistic, which is exactly what designers are intending. Interfaces that are “flat” are easier to navigate, and load better and faster on devices, which can leave users much happier and likely to stay and browse. The vector-based illustrations, shapes and typographic elements included in designs make materials much more printer-friendly, which allows this new way of creating to be applied to different mediums.
Many brands and companies have made the switch to this trend. Microsoft released Windows 8 in 2012, which was their big debut of flat. A year later, Apple’s iOS7 became available, which contained icons with an entire flat interface. Various other company logos, including Starbucks, Google, and Facebook have all become part of the trend. Any company can benefit from this trend. If you are looking to modernize your brand, you can do so in many ways. If you wanted to start small, for example, adding vector icons to a website are great ways for visitors to clearly identify and navigate their way through a site. It may seem like a small change, but it will be impactful, noticeable, and give the design more meaningful elements without the clutter. That’s just one application example. If you want to start completely fresh or work your way into the change, flat design is versatile. It’s clean, simple, straightforward, and a trend worth keeping.
