Flat design is OVER. What's next?

[@SomeUnremarkableGuy]

I support always new ideas and trends, but I wouldn't call flat design boring. It just works, that's the main point of the flat design I'd say.

[@MalewiczHype]

I simplify/exaggerate a little of course - but generally a 100% flatness with just colors changing (and even same fonts being used by everyone) is what actually got boring. Some companies do flat well, but most just copy each other and then everything looks the same.

[@nathanaelculver5308]

But they’re not mutually exclusive. It can "just work" and yet still be boring.

[@ProfessionalReferences]

​@MalewiczHype the problem in your view of things IMO is that you're talking about UX/UI like it's the gaming industry. The truth is, 90% of the world is having a hard time getting used to a new app and in many cases they'll give up if they can. Flat design created something familiar everywhere, and being "boring" was the actual purpose. Now millions of ppl around the world see themselves as technology oriented thanks to this simple and familiar design. So making things more creative and interesting might be a risk for most companies but thats just how i see it.

[@nathanaelculver5308]

@@ProfessionalReferences *Flat design created something familiar everywhere* You sound like you think human interface standards didn’t exist before flat design rode in to impose UI order a Wild West of UI cacophony. That’s simply not true.

[@hernanescudero6620]

@@MalewiczHype a little...

[@aimeemoore3104]

This reminds me so much of the Y2K fashion trend among the younger people. For people who were around long enough to experience these trends the first time around, they're jarring to see and slightly confusing, but it's fresh on young eyes. Like those download buttons absolutely make me feel like there's an .exe on the other end of that button and a billion pop ups.

[@MalewiczHype]

I have seen those trends change too and I welcome them back now. Made my first website in 1997 :)

[@schmoris]

That select button looks like it's gonna send you straight to an external website that either wants you to download an .exe or enter your credit card information. Stick with a consistent layout.

[@darkslyd]

Got to think twice with that button😂😂😂

[@Iam_inevitabIe]

it's ecommerce bro, most ecommerce site look like that and the mofos who use them are used to it

[@spectr__]

No, no it doesnt.

[@Videosuser]

Not really.

[@CharacterCrisisTV]

Factual. That button gave me 2010 vibe.

[@rajatpayghan1384]

I think it boils down to the difference between design and art. Artistic websites are supposed to break barriers and experiment with different styles. We see such examples in portfolio websites or showcase websites. Designing for software which millions use need to be less overwhelming and accessible to people. And the simplest way to do it is using flat ui, which has proven to be functional, visually pleasing and non intrusive

[@zenithquasar9623]

Your UX will always matter more than your UI when it comes to that.

[@frazuri1877]

Totally, not every company can afford to make visually extravagant design and not every software needs something like that, if im making a software for clients, okay sure, maybe do something else, something different, but when working with inside software, you want it to be as understandable as possible, making sure the logic behind it is right, the UI must be understandable. The purpose of design is to adapt to its environment, not go with the trends, design needs balance and flat design is part of that as well as the more 3d like designs.

[@meis18mofo77]

It's not visually pleasing though, to you maybe, but I'm gonna have to accuse you of bad taste in that case.

[@game_base1]

Very well said. As a designer, functionality and usability of the product comes first and foremost.

[@bielaggs]

And yet flat design design wasn't the norm until 2014, if it was so great shouldn't it had emerged way earlier?

[@williamguerra]

Completely disagree, flat design is not over and won't be in a lot of time. Flat design has a lot of advantages in terms of UX, mental models, implementation, and simplicity, and so on. Why go back in the past if it's working perfectly now?

[@MalewiczHype]

It's not working perfectly - that's the problem. It does have benefits and issues and the thing is that the future will be diverse in styles, not just flat design but flat merged with multiple other things - when it makes sense.

[@Silverjerk]

It’s not working though. Flat design’s purpose was to make the web and applications cleaner, clearer, and more usable. It was a minor solution to a major problem; it was trying to fix a much larger scope issue. It only took us a few years to learn what we needed was better hierarchy, design systems, user journeys and subsequently better user flow. We thought the web wasn’t working as efficiently as it could because of how busy and heavy-handed our designs had become. Sometimes you need to sweep the floor to realize you need to mop. That’s all that has happened in this case. Flat design isn’t dead, it’s just that we’ve all realized that it was a symptom and not the problem, and now designers are finding new and interesting ways to incorporate more interesting design elements into our UIs while maintaining good UX. We can still use flat design as the skeleton for our design systems, to keep the core structure clean and organized. I’ve already found interesting ways to do this using Figma components, so the major components retain a cohesive and homogenous look, while hi fidelity designs can add flourishes and interesting design elements to add a layer of polish and engagement. After 25 years working in this industry, I’ve seen this same cycle over and over again. No one is truly saying “flat design is dead” or over; it’s intended to be facetious but also highlight a movement away from tired tropes and patterns. It’s just a way for people to take notice and try something different. It wasn’t intended to be a definitive and literal assertion.

[@dingosmoov]

@@Silverjerk very nice response

[@AZ-qn3xq]

Agree! Flat design still has high potential, and more clean!

[@bunonregs913]

some of the comments here saying its "not working" are really deluded. It obviously is, in the past few years look at how tech companies and products have grown. its like people dont understand the difference between a good designer and a bad designer.

[@CommanderSammer]

As someone who hated flat design when it was first being explored, I think in many areas it's developed rather nicely. The loss of the super sharp corners and edges really made it feel more welcoming, and the introduction of pastel colors made it comforting

[@TheRafark]

I’m the other way round. I used to love it but now that everyone is doing it I hate ut

[@SCTproductionsJ5]

Ugh, I HATE the move to pastel. Feels more like a polticial statement from companies than anything else.

[@CommanderSammer]

@@SCTproductionsJ5 I can understand not liking pastels, I don't like them in a lot of contexts, but what does it have to do with politics?

[@SCTproductionsJ5]

@@CommanderSammer I feel like pastels embody post-modern thinking. So, in that sense, it's more of a mindset that influences modern politics a lot - not political itself.

[@CommanderSammer]

@@SCTproductionsJ5 that's interesting, I can see how you got there but I still don't necessarily agree. A lot of people with post modern ideologies like the pastel color scheme, but I don't think the colors themselves denote that. As a Christian and definitely not a post modernist, I don't think we should discount perfectly natural colors because they can be associated with something we disagree with

[@reikooters]

Those examples from 4:40 really made me think back to around the year 2000 or so when there were those websites that generated logos, headings, buttons and such with those sorts of styles. Nowadays if I see a random button on the page that looks like ~5:55 it's usually an advertisement trying to trick me into clicking it

[@unicodePug]

Which is a problem, because it's the only goddamn thing on the page that actually looks like a legitimate button.

[@nWestie]

I wouldn't mind prettier design, but flat design works and because it's so standard now, is pretty intuitive for most people. I wouldn't want new designs that sacrifice functionality/intuitiveness, because 90% of the time I'm using an interface, I just need to get something done, and want an interface that communicates where to press clearly

[@the4fibs832]

Good luck getting the engineering orgs to sign on to implementing tons of custom buttons with different animations! I agree it looks great, but is it worth double or triple the frontend dev time?

[@synezis]

Great point. The amount of effort and resources for designing and developing some crazy visual style is what doesn’t make sense. I am very sad that this type of video and all of the opinions from this video can influence inexperienced designers in thinking that this new cool trend of over-designed and complex looking component is something that will be the next “trend”. If this is the case UI designer would user Illustrator rather than Figma to create their components.

[@falconeagle3655]

For small companies maybe but for large companies it is worth it. If one button can make 1% more person click a link for a million user system. Thats already worth it. And you can measure it. Thats a plus as well.

[@heikization]

Yes, it is

[@TheRafark]

Yes it absolutely is if you care bout your product

[@savelichalex]

@@falconeagle3655 large companies actually are much better in metrics, and one thing a manager will ask you is ROI, and whilst in small companies you can do things for fun and won't be punished (since people have a lot of other stuff to do and can't track everything), in large companies they'll know if you won't hit those metrics

[@ruudvanderklugt1827]

I get your point, flat is so flat. But a lot of the examples you show, will never pass WCAG 2.1 (let alone 2.2) and A11y-compliance is a reality a growing number of UX designers have to/want to deal with. Adding some depth or style could enhance the experience, but it should be used sparingly and cautiously. The only way to respond to the trip dialer at 1:45 to replace a selection list is a facepalm.

[@dustspark_]

You are absolutely on point. He talks about you spending more time on being creative and taking time to make things interesting. Like dude seems to forget that design has evolved into spaces far beyond UI. At this point, it feels this video is only being referred explicitly to UI designers.

[@ricardomadureiramendes3993]

I love when you say "we don't even try anymore"! I couldn't agree more! That's why (in my opinion) most of the apps feel the same 🤨

[@nioque]

I've always hated flat design. It is really boring.

[@annebovelett]

As a designer, you need to understand all there is to understand about accessibility. Which means basically one thing: function over form. The challenge is to do cool design and still ensure a site is accessible. If you don't, you may find yourself in trouble at some point. In the US, but especially in the EU, where - for example - inaccessibility of e-commerce sites (and many more) can lead to big fines for site owners. In California, they are working on a bill where site owners can sue companies that made their site when they are hit with an accessibility lawsuit. Flat design is there for a reason. If you want to do funky skeuomorphism, that's great! But make sure colour contrast, font-size, etc. are respected. Beside the legal factor: it's a fact that sites designed with accessibility in mind convert better.

[@wedge_one]

It's not just a matter of adding gradient and bevels to buttons. Those things we know doesn't age well. But AirBnB is going on an interesting direction, bringing drop shadows and background gradient to add depth, and glow along with gradients as if there's a light passing through. Pretty cool stuff.

[@moishyneulander]

What companies have realized in the last 10 years, including Airbnb, is that in product design, usability, consistency, and leaning on conventions matter most. This is why flat design became standard, and this is why we ‘drag and drop.’ And it’s here to stay. While there are occasional yearly trends, they seem unlikely to replace it anytime soon. Design innovation and trends should not be pursued just for the sake of being creative and trendy. This is my perspective.

[@wge621]

Consistency matters more for certain elements than others. For example, icons, or layouts, common terms etc. But colors and styling can always change between companies, there are many aspects that can be unique stylistic changes without sacrificing UX consistencies

[@mhb3262]

Honestly, buttons in 4:52 look like PowerPoint 2010 shapes! Maybe there's room to improve flat design but it's not over for sure.

[@AsokaTw-mz3lr]

I always hated flat designs. luckily, it's changing finally for the best.

[@devilichus]

Natural and tactile designs just as new air bnb that feeling natural always gets me. While technology advances I want it to see more tactile yet using huge negative space kind of designs. Just like Dieter Rams devices, houses like the videos from "Local Project" KZbin channel, I want minimalistic and breathing natural feeling which is away from distraction and has tactile and premium feeling.

[@den_vortexx]

When you discover some new field that you are actually inerested in: - Nobody does this anymore! - This job is over! - This trend is gone!

[@MalewiczHype]

- some things change, people do other things - jobs are modified, still many manage to succeed anyway - trends come and go, it's about exploring new stuff constantly - that makes it exciting

[@matt92hun]

I was going to complain about people going in circles, but then I realised you're just selling a course. I can't fault you for that, good luck.

[@saranciuc7717]

The future will be a mix of "floating" object with drop shadows and subtle gradients, in general focusing on providing a "material" feel and not just matching colors, + some minimal 3d. But I can assure you that flat feeling will remain.

[@MalewiczHype]

Yes, that's kinda what I said in this video exactly.

[@aziskgarion378]

Skeumorphic -> Minimal Flat Design -> Glass/Frost Design -> Skeumorphic -> Minimal Flat Design... and the cycle goes on.

[@carsonWyf]

designers coming up with super complicated innovative design while the actual developers who have to implement those design + the business logic that has to go along with it are screaming, no one ask the dev if they are ok

[@andyebino3856]

yes and in top of it, it has too few good dev tools for animations and such complicated designs.

[@reatcas]

I think there's a balance between skeumorphism and flat, a good example of that is FL Studio

[@tbejiofor]

Yes, exactly.

[@Tekay37]

3:18 If you want to go down a design/art rabbit hole for a video: I think the recent era of flat and simple design happened as part of the same cycle of designs you had with pillar designs from the ancient greek. Their first pillars were just "flat" cylindrical pillars, Then they added channeling to the pillars and added even more sophisticated designs at the top and bottom of the pillars, before at some point they went back to very simple pillars. You will find examples for this patterns over and over again throughout history. Art becoming more and more photorealistic and impressive before going back to simpler styles like Impressionism just to escalate in complexity again. Understanding how and why those shifts occur can maybe predict predicting them and maybe staying ahead of those developments.

[@mcbeeeg]

flat design as a web developer meant that we can do cool things with SVGs, they were less CSS intense, efficient design meant to reduce download on mobile devices. Now everyone has 5G and it's less relevant. Sad that the argument is that flat encouraged undeserved roles from wireframe builders. Flat design was fresh. I'm loving the morphism trend. It's more relevant, but I'd be less inclined to dog on flat designers. my two cents

[@veniplex]

Is it just me or was the best part of the video the animated, shining Like Button under the video at 4:40? :D What the hell, never saw this before!

[@urssoz]

I feel like the future is motion design, gamification or extreme automation. You either make it very addictive and a pleasure to use, or you make it nearly non-existent. AI can dominate the MVP market, but the catchphrase coined by Jack Trout "Differentiate or die" has never been more true for actual products. I want my exercise app to be gorgeous and nearly a video game, while my doctor appointment app should pretty much be Push Notifications 😂

[@MalewiczHype]

Very good breakdown!

[@unmanii]

This excites me as a designer!

[@Gamewithstyle]

Spoken like a true creative director these days. If I had a nickel for every time a 3D experience, gamification, or some crazy motion design gets pitched to clients right now, just for them to turn around and say “uhhhh, why would we do that?” I could retire. And the sad part is “because it’s cool” isn’t an answer they care about. It’s not an answer they will care about. Sure, if you own the product or business, make your website 3D and gamified, and push webgpu to the limits. Set your blog inside an interactive library. But businesses are not going to pay for that when a flat design that sells their products just fine will suffice and be a LOT cheaper to build.

[@Flerink]

flat design is not boring, it is functional and in the end that is what matters, what I can see is something being implemented alongside flat design, there is no point in filling the screen with visual elements and textures, it causes more problems than it solves, it makes it difficult to users understand, makes it difficult for developers to finish the project and has little accessibility.

[@DKLHensen]

This reminds me of those photoshop CS tutorials for creating basic buttons about 15+ years ago. Bevel and emboss was most talked about. We've come full circle here as well.

[@bluntman2k6]

Frontend developers are laying on the floor in embryonal position right now

[@ChiltonWebb]

Skeuomorphism is better than flat any day of the week.

[@xr.melissa]

Since I'm in the AR/VR space, I'm definitely into the glassmorphism design style. Skeuomorphism can definitely come off as dated if not done well, so it'll be a little harder for people to get into it and do it in a way that actually looks good. But I'm all for more creativity. Your "Figma operator" comment at the end is so true though. That's why I don't like designing 2D UI, because I find it boring in its current form with the design system I'm relegated to where I work.

[@semtitulo2909]

I disagree with this vision. As UI/UX developers we do not develop just in the name of creativity. Our first rule is empathy. And flat design is more accessible, equitable, and efficient in many ways.

[@IskandarAlex2]

Let's not forget that not everyone has a good internet to load all of that svg, CSS, html or whatever just to see that they're positive on a virus test

[@bunjier4041]

No, f you. Design shit that’s beautiful. End of story.

[@JC-jz6rx]

I do agree none-flat design is a lot more refreshing. However as a full time developer that actually has to turn these designs into a real world application , a future filled with bloat and complexity scares me. There are some method that can be used with little performance implications (neumorphism and glassmorphism) are some of them. However I just hope this doesn’t get too crazy. Native css animations can impact performance heavily. And 3D canvas packages increase the amount of bloat and JavaScript that need to be shipped to the user.

[@RockTo11]

Use better tech.

[@unicodePug]

Well, if greedy corps weren't agreeing that cutting corners and trying to undermine each other by not supporting the same features, it would be no problem, because everything would ship with a few common middlewares and developers would just use and modify the ones already commonly supported. Flat design looks cheap because it is cheap. Flat design looks cursed. It's like we're stuck in what a 1970's version of a futuristic computer system would look like, except it's not on cool rear-projection monitors with scanlines anymore.

[@gemeru_boy]

And here is where Developers start to complaing about the Designer...

[@MalewiczHype]

Let them complain :)

[@heysiriux]

I think finding the right balance between all those old and new aspects could lead to completely new insights, and I see a lot of potential in creating not just cool but also smart and innovative experiences. In my workflow, I treat AI like a design buddy, which helps me think about solutions in so many different ways and solve problems rationally. The experience itself is just so much more than the 'Figma operator' who is dragging and dropping components around inside a Figma file.The human part is still to create a heart for these empty canvases by using data, human feelings, empathy and sometimes even simple human intuition, if you know what I mean 😅

[@omammuqadar3335]

Simplicity is the best design. Look at KZbin and Google.

[@MalewiczHype]

Google's search engine is good design, but most of their other design isn't.

[@omammuqadar3335]

@@MalewiczHypeI am talking about Product design more specifically UX design of their products not their platform or technology. Certainly your point of view is somewhat right but adding more design like dimensions or motion means slow performance or speed.

[@alexbramwell1870]

I think the technical perspective of the Web trifecta has also improved over the years, allowing design to become more creative. The flat design trend helped the technical side of building for the Web. Hence, things like p5.

[@myartdesignTVstudio1166]

I am an artists recently transitioned in UXUI designing, so I completely agree with you sir.

[@BorisSunshine]

You will be transitioning a lot

[@myartdesignTVstudio1166]

Its my choice face your own please if you have nothing good to say bro.

[@bongbong7165]

in the information age like now data and information is key. having flat design is the key to present organized data that is easily found without overloading it with heavy design elements

[@AlaminHossain-ph9by]

Over-design means over-distraction. Flat designs are not ending soon. It depends where you using it. if someone looking for information on the web or apps then glossy, beautiful design can be distracting to the user. Both have different ways of use. 🤟👍

[@uncolorr]

Really depends on what the design is being applied to. Bank, security, note, anti-virus apps for example are supposed to be opened on the run when you dont have time. having all flashy and animated 3d design can make them a bit slower to navigate on and sometimes confusing, impacting ux negatively

[@MalewiczHype]

Yes, totally. But my message here is not to go all crazy with the UI. It's about adding one or two "different" elements to an otherwise standard, minimalist design. Not making everything 3d :)

[@bnjmz]

Kinda seems like some of these designers rediscovered a bookmarked page for "Web 2.0 gradients Photoshop CS6." I'm struggling to see how many of these are new. Though, maybe it's been long enough to take another spin on the style merry-go-round.

[@suzanneshea520]

I think it sounds kind of exciting for those of us who really love the visual design side of things!

[@sidekick3rida]

Agreed. Flat design is the lowest effort, most ubiquitous style which requires the least skill.

[@ZorinMotion]

those 3d shiny button is more unique, but at the same time not batter looking. Designers need have they professional deformation in check sometimes 😂

[@owcaandroid]

Using windows I realized how flat design made me see all the apps as one big blob. When I have opened a tone of apps (bc that's how I work and I just really can't do anything about that :D) sometimes I can't see which window belongs to which.

[@ssk7690]

I am a junior developer, who started with experimentation, but later toned down everything since no one was doing it. Watching this brings back the confidence to be more creative!

[@yury3548]

The real evolution of UI design lies in the field of former technical limitations. By optimizing UI animations design and implimintation, we have achieved cost reduction for implementing UI animation in production. Now, UI animations are not exclusive for companies with great budgets. This is what real innovation means.

[@synezis]

I have to totally agree with you. YOU have provided valuable input on what is innovation. Since it is on of real life examples of how one can improver user experience. Rather than bringing up the vintage skeuomorphism… 😢

[@yury3548]

Put all these whistles and bells on a UI element and try to hand it off to a front-end developer. Implementation time will immediately increase by 2x, performance on low-key devices will drop sharply. Then the front-end dev will have a discussion with the project manager and you will be held responsible for being unable to produce UI design with understanding of technical and financial limitations.

[@SlyBalto]

I recently was with my grandpa when he was trying to buy some things online, and I noticed that sometimes the UI design for some websites were so flat and greyscale, that it actually made it more difficult to actually use them. Best example was when he was trying to buy these specific light bulbs on a website (couldn't figure out which one it was), hovering over a search result image would automatically switch between different several available images of that item, but the arrows to control switching between the next and previous images plus the horizontal grey circles representing each image for that one item where all so faded and difficult to see even I didn't notice it at first either, so we both were confused why the images just suddenly started changing. I picked up on what was going on pretty quickly, but my grandpa, even with the higher technologic knowledge for his age, wasn't really getting it until I had to point out the tiny, barely visible grey circles to him. It's a small thing but it all goes a long way. But, you know, forget all that, flat minimalism is here to stay! It works, and that's all that matters, baby. You will surf the internet and be confused and bored and you will love it!!!!!!!1

[@LiBear]

Creative ideas and experimentations are cool but they can’t get in the way of usability by breaking interaction norm that most people expect. The peel away start button for example: sliding button is interesting but always test worse than clickable buttons during testing

[@MalewiczHype]

I completely agree! I'm not saying "replace all flat stuff with something crazy and don't test". My point is to TRY new things, see how they work and when mixing some non-flat stuff don't go too far, only do one or two non-flat things with an otherwise flat design to add some uniqueness to it. All in moderation.

[@Mankepanke]

This video made pretty bummed out. If skeumorphism comes back it would really make comupting unpleasant again. Skeumorphism was thankfully mostly relegated to the iPhone and similar bad platforms, but if it ends up on the web it will be impossible to escape from. :(

[@MalewiczHype]

It's not really what the video is about. Skeuomorphism is not coming back, various non-flat ideas are being mixed in with flat for uniqueness.

[@Mankepanke]

@@MalewiczHype I hope you are right about that. Most examples seemed to harken back to that, but I'm not really a designer so I might be off on that one. :)

[@miamisasquatch]

I was over flat design in 2015... The total abolishment of any hint of borders, boundaries, or any other kind of visual que as to where one feature ends and another begins was unappealing as hell.

[@marcuskung]

Styles are just styles. We should design according to the context and the users.

[@masterloot]

Absolutely true, Figma operator is spot on. Box alignment specialist is another.

[@anandhunt1000]

you dont need real life design style in application , users want simplicity distraction free usage..thats why flat design works...remeber ux>ui and more stylish it is less usable it is, we dont want color ful stylish input box to just input name ....visual loads have to be taken care of too....

[@avelefondo2078]

Though 3d/skeuomorphism looks cool I'm thinking about how developers will execute it. I agree that flat designs are getting boring these days but it's efficient when it comes to the development side.

[@JayaPandey-l8e]

Same thoughts

[@GreatTaiwan]

a lot of work and i mean a loooooot from lib/framework that we already use to browser compatibility issues to accessibality the flat design made all these easier and yet it got a long way to go ... those however is a beast by itself ... personally as someone who loves math i like were this is going as this will be more spice and challenge to my work and weed out a lot of lazy repetitive work but it by no mean fav in business perspective it adds time and that's money but hey three.js got a lot of popularity cuz it made 3d in web way easier we need more work in that department but let's see how things goes

[@emmanuelbyiringiro7207]

Companies will pay more to spend time playing with gradient and 3D effects to satisfy designer and egos

[@mrelad.]

Honestly, if youre looking at 5:22. Flat is much better and cleaner and I don't think its going anywhere

[@nathanaelculver5308]

To call the design on the left “skeuomorphism is, to my mind, an abuse of the word. Adding a bit of depth to buttons can be useful to distinguish actionable elements from non-actionable. The moderate drop-shadowing of the left side (cf. men and women) adds visual interest without sacrifice any of the advantages touted for flat design, and has the advantage of distinguishing actionable elements.

[@br3nto]

5:10 those “new” button designs all look the same.. I get there are all different looking, but they are still same shape, text or icon in the middle, with hover and click effect. I don’t think the problem or main concern is the design. It’s the usability of the UX. How do you present a complex domain to the user in a way they can access and manipulate it quickly and efficiently? And how do you meet those requirements for different user contexts? You’re always going to need a button for certain things. It needs to be usable and accessible for the job it’s intended for. It just needs to meet the need of the user, whilst being visually appealing without being visually distracting.

[@VeitLehmann]

I mostly agree and I'm happy to see a shift away from the ubiquitous flat design. But creating a really good flat design is not easy at all. Even if we're talking about static design only, without any interaction design, you have to be extra aware of spacing and rhythm, use of color and contrast. If you get this right, use some unique colors, and introduce some playful elements like illustrations and tasteful animations for interaction, flat design doesn't have to be boring at all.

[@aprusek]

This is so true, I did not spend $x000 dollars on a graphics card or invest in a Gig Internet connection just to look at boring UI that was surpassed in the 90's but made an unwarranted return. Lack of talent makes the uptake of flat design desirable to those that are mediocre. Dark Mode is also a step in the right direction.

[@brycebyte]

Design is progressive, cyclical, and also reactive. After a dominant phase in design, the response to stand out and differentiate is decidedly in the other direction. Minimalism becomes maximalism, skinny jeans become wide leg, monochromatic becomes exploding with color. Then after a time, the new thing gets stale and boring and the cycle repeats. The talk about the merits and demerits of a single design style undermine the natural ebb and flow of design over time. Essentially, we’ll go through many more of these cycles, infinitely, as we see this complex interplay unfold.

[@nogal-ogg]

Flat Design was more about UX. With Flat Design, designers started* prioritizing the hierarchy, that's why it's so simple, i think. But now that it is mature, we can vary the primary design.

[@macosxfiles]

It’s amazing how many people only read titles/headlines and make comments 🤦🏻‍♂️ First time seeing this channel. Insightful and funny. Subscribed!

[@MalewiczHype]

Thank you! Yeah I noticed many people get offended by a title and then often say stuff that's actually being said in the video. I guess the goldfish level attention span is not a joke.

[@graysonpeddie]

0:53 YESSSSSSS!!!!! :D THANK YOU!!! :D 2:19 I love that look! :D 3:12 I am very tired of flat designs. 4:54 Now that button with a nice radial gradient looks nice! 5:37 Now that's more like it! 5:49 I don't mind anything with a metallic background. But there has to be contrast between text and background for accessibility reasons or we risk failing WCAG 1.4.3 AA, Minimum Contrast (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is very general and it's not just for web, but for mobile and even desktop applications as well). You know what I miss? A 3D dock for Apple Mac OS X before Yosemite such as in Leopard and Snow Leopard. Plus, I miss Windows Vista. At the end of the day, I'm so happy I'm not the only one who is tired of flat designs. You can have a beautiful-looking website but still be accessible and functional. Same goes for desktop and mobile applications. So why don't we bring them all back from 2007--the year when Windows Vista came out? I care deeply about aesthetics and that's part of who I am when it comes to using computers.

[@michaelschone3406]

Yeah - some changes after YEARS! Hopefully its going live. ;)

[@TazBo-wd2ig]

The problem is most big corps go by User testing, and flat designs will always convert to more sales because of how simple they are, asking the user to think or any kind of pain point is what they are trying to eliminate.

[@MalewiczHype]

we did a 10K user study and 90+% preferred wooden background and skeuomorphic cards.

[@TazBo-wd2ig]

@@MalewiczHype wow can we see the the prototypes for both sites and user feedback. That would be so interesting to see.

[@MalewiczHype]

nda protected for one more year, as soon as it ends I’m dropping a case study.

[@Pixelarter]

​@@MalewiczHype Have you tested only style/aesthetic preferences, or also user comprehension and efficacy in navigating and getting things done?

[@Ayo_-_]

Hmm...makes sense! Looking at how it plays out

[@MalewiczHype]

It'll be a mix of a lot of different things and products being significantly different "aesthethically" from now on

[@digitaldupo]

We are getting wider screen mobile phones too, which will help us in creating a 3D kind of UI nowadays.

[@muhamadsaeedd]

Waiting! 🙌🙌🔥🔥

[@Xynic48]

As someone who started web design in 2010 as a hobby and now currently working as a mobile app developer, those glossy buttons, cluttered-information-overload homepages and moving texts is not something I want to go back to. Realistically, the next trend Im expecting and already starting to see is flat designs with some minor 3d elements like the logo.

[@thekeals]

Loved the video I’ve been leaning into Spline big since I learned of it a few months ago. I’m still amateur hour over here but I agree with your thoughts on all this. Went hard in the paint clowning the designers workflow and stale creativity too true too sad. LMAO VICIOUS!!! 😂 😂😂

[@MalewiczHype]

Just saying what I see, everyone can view it through their own filter, but I'd rather have even a handful of delightful UI's as a result :-)

[@1234kingconan]

You'd be surprised how many full time designers at big tech companies can't design anything new that looks good. They rely on the corporate design system. Probably 99% of them are like this. I know because I was one and learned UI on the side and still need to learn it more. It's actually hard as hell to design stuff fresh that looks professional, and I think very few do it at the professional level. Most are using design systems.

[@normaluser9294]

4:40 ?? I don't know if it's a new KZbin feature or if it's your job, but that like button effect when you say "hitting that like button" is cool as hell!!

[@SirusStarTV]

Yeah, youtube highlights buttons when it hears "subscribe" or "like"

[@okaybossiamonyoutubeakkskd]

Flat design is and will be the best form of design while designing for user friendly UIs until something revolutionary comes like the VR world, After all businesses want conversion more than anything, also it's so intuitive where I don't have to guess what happens when I scroll down. Studies also show that dopamine spikes is much higher when something is 'expected' compared to 'suprises' so yeah.

[@uchechukwuajalam]

I love flat design. I the shoe app, I'd take the flat design over Neumorphism 11 times out of 10.

[@salam-peace5519]

I kind of hope that color gradients become the next big trend in UI design. Like for example the new logos of Instagram, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Facebook messenger app. Color gradients have a very clean, modern and fresh look while also being very simple and smooth to look at. But at the same time I also hope for a return of Frutiger Aero design. Maybe a mix of both.

[@funnelmagix911]

Michael sir hope you are doing great. Learning a lot of things from you sir ❤❤

[@MalewiczHype]

Happy to hear that :)

[@funnelmagix911]

​@@MalewiczHype I wish I would get a chance to meet you sir once ❤❤❤❤ Love you from Bhubaneswar,India

[@thanhlongkohat]

product designer here, wish my life could be like 3:30 but nah, it's full of meetings, researches and alignments. You have like 15% of time actually sit at the table and draw something.

[@davetheglitch_]

I feel like this would be the new direction in design next year, and as as designer who came into the industry not long ago, going back and learning this styles would be quite the adventure for me!

[@Ceelbc]

The flat UI is for the developers to create an app quickly that works. The designer should afterwards enhance it with a more interesting design. (Or should make the front end entirely himself.)

[@rucker1584]

obviously, accessibility is an issue with elaborate design work; in our present culture of profilicity, most companies are focused on corporate social resp and want to appear transparent.

[@MalewiczHype]

There are both ways to make skeu-style elements accessible, AND special accessibility modes (as videogames do now) so the interface is always inclusive. If you try to make an average UI that fits everyone you'll end up delivering mediocre stuff very often (of course not always)

[@rucker1584]

looking at the Coke website for the UK, for example, outside a little amount of drop shadow there's little going on, which exemplifies the corporate storytelling message of "we're honest and straightforward." Obvs they benefit from having the no1 typography, but graphic innovation is focused on select sectors, largely.

[@Chobonjwa]

@@MalewiczHype "special accessibility modes" are not WCAG 2.1 compliant.

[@lengjojo]

The flat and 3D debate is about trends, but the core is design to get more positive feedbacks.

[@SXZ-dev]

The biggest problem with design in general is that everytime something takes off it becomes a trend and then everyone starts copying it and ruin it in the process. Just be original goddamn it, ignore the trends.

[@crochapz]

Sounds like design is changing just for the sake of change and designers having something new to do. Design should be a way to solve problems, and flat design hits the perfect balance between visuals and functionality. Changing to anything more "complex" is actually producing a problem so you can work on a solution.

[@ИльяКонстанта]

I’m a newer designer trying to get into the design field and the lack of creativity has really bummed me out lately. The realization that this profession actually downplays creativity for more safe and repetitive designs has had me second guessing my choice. I’ve had to tone down my creative designs for more standardized designs to try and get a job and still cannot. It’s very frustrating.

[@mycombs]

So 2 issues are being conflated here: UX and UI design. Visual designers might follow your trend and update a design system to use these dimensional or interactive design trends. But UI and development are absolutely going to keep using the design system and component libraries to build sites (with new designs being applied at a library-level)

[@QWERTYQwertz852]

Flat Design is Not over

[@MalewiczHype]

It's over in a sense of being the ONLY style out there.

[@abdullahal-shameri3225]

I think that would be only possible for big companies which can afford it development wise. The market is trying to ship products faster and faster these days and that won't leave much room for creativity.

[@danil-old-web]

Hate ui deaigners nowdays. 90s - 00s the best time for design. Then zoomers grow up and ruin everything. No to flat!!!

[@ponderwonder]

And around in circles we go, always ensuring that we're paying 6-figure salaries to people to re-invent buttons.

[@haydenk589]

@Malewicz really enjoyed your content, but man, way too many transitions, glitch effects (with texts and images), zoom cut ins and dutch angles which made me sick watching the video on my desktop. Considered multiple times to ditch the video and move on with my day.. For your viewers well being please keep it simpler 😅

[@MalewiczHype]

That is a tough choice as when I was doing it simpler people were actually quitting the videos much faster than now. Sadly our attention spans (as humanity) are below a goldfish level and need to flash some visual every 4-5 seconds to keep people watching. I understand it can be tiring to some, but I spend so much time working on those videos that when people quit watching early it decreases their reach and demotivates me a lot ;)

[@DesoloZantas]

Soooo going back to gradients and 3D?

[@srxx.]

Just pause and look at the shoe example. The flat UI looks very clean, clutter free. No doubt the other one looks good but at the same time it looks dated. It reminds of the old iPhone UI from iPhone 4 and 5. I do agree with the ending adding a little bit skeuomorphic

[@utterdisregard8176]

Looks like I need to dust off my copy of Flash and brush up on my ActionScript. Get ready for my totally rad 2 minute intro animation on my website bro

[@Yash.027]

It is not about being boring. Every component of 3D design screms for attention, which makes it difficult to guide viewers attention to what actually matters. Flat design makes lot more sense from UX perspective.

[@TheBayru]

Problem is a flashy button like that looks like a clickbait inserted add-frame to lure us to an advertisers website, which by now we are trained to disregard, if it's not filtered out by an aggressive smart add-blocker. Most people won't even register the existence of your flashy button.

[@ilmaux]

Kkk. I laughed a lot when you were talking about the designer routine. Cool video effects and sounds 😎 👌

[@MalewiczHype]

Thank you! :)