Current Events > Flat design was the big thing the last decade. What's the next?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I feel since 2011 or so everything's just gotten flatter, simpler, less gradients. What's the next trend in UI and logo design going to be? Is it already going in a clear direction?

Saturated, bright, flashy, full of color. Trying to imitate slot machines as much as possible.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

just look at gamefaqs or your phone UI. bam, flat design.

There will no longer be a UI, you will just get whatever content is fed to you with no input whatsoever

FurryPhilosifer posted...

just look at gamefaqs or your phone UI. bam, flat design.

GameFAQs looks the same on my phone as on my desktop.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


He's right actually.

The prime corporate design aesthetic of "Fruitiger Aero" from the 2000-2012-ish era was known for it's bright blues and greens, reflective surfaces, bubbles, bevels, and natural imagery of green fields, blue oceans, cloudy skies, and fish.

The current aesthetic of the last several years is to flatten, clean up, and remove gradients, highlights, reflections, and other effects from text, logos, and websites.

Just logos?

They got rid of shadows. They got rid of reflections. They got rid of generic swirls.

Who knows what they'll go for next.

Shifting common UI elements and placing Ads or AI where they used to be

There will probably be a reaction of some kind.

So busy/cluttered designs with neon or something.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

you're right. I'm sorry. I'm just lazy.

Wikipedia cites Android around their Ice Cream Sandwich update as being an early progenitor of flat design, which is funny looking at it now, because it looks positively skeuomorphic by today's standards.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/d4fe0125.jpg

Metro Design Language, found in the Zune and later Windows Phone and Windows 8 and even the Xbox 360 in its later years, is really what I associate with the flat design boom.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/60235da6.jpg

At the time I LOVED it. I thought Android and iOS looked so cluttered, ugly, and disjointed in comparison. And to be honest I still do feel that way. I think Metro looks great. But I think the design has changed enough since then to be a bit more ironed out and less bold. I mean, look at Google's modern "Material Design" language.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/07fe6cff.png

It's just sterile. Corporate. Committee designed inoffensive. To be continued.

Corporate Memphis and Boterismo.

When TC explained with examples I instantly saw what he meant and couldn't help but to agree. I don't know what comes next, but I just hope it's much less sterile than what we got now.

Maybe we'll see an extreme overcorrection and go to a style that is flashy with 3D images or something. Which at this point I would take over than the bland corporateness we got now.

Starks posted...

Corporate Memphis and Boterismo.

Huh?

You'll definitely see more "retro-esque" designs. 90s blocky buttons and early 2000s fruigier aero stuff. I've already seen some younger gen z's and gen alphas start to embrace stuff like this.
But aside from that and moving forward, who knows.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7477e4c8.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/07f8524d.png
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/3f8f9e08.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/a4857d60.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0d7a3418.jpg

ai123 posted...

There will probably be a reaction of some kind.

So busy/cluttered designs with neon or something.

This basically

A very quick search for upcoming design trends just looked like a lot of variations and branches of flat design to me, like the "photographic branding" seen below. Which is less upcoming and more "already here", and to be frank, is boring. Less sterile than Google's base offering, sure, but equally corporate and safe. You can just imagine marketing teams presenting this with glee, talking about a "focus on people".

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/f857fbc8.jpg

I'm seeing a lot of 70s retro revival and influences though. From Minimal Vintage to Anti Design to Maximalism, they all display features of 70s art. Soft and subdued shades while sticking to a "flat" look, but without just being blocky primary colours.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/f/ff46ae66.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/73f27a51.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/c/c5e030b5.jpg

With my minutes of research, I'd put my money on leaning more into 70s inspired aesthetics. We can even see it in well established styles, like the one below.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/ba40995b.jpg

SO yes, 70s aesthetics, adding more detail while shifting towards softer colours but still keeping the images clean and generally free of major gradients. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Why are UI/UX designers so afraid of Gradients & High Contrast?

Just give me back window borders, please. Ideally with customizable thickness.

FurryPhilosifer posted...

SO yes, 70s aesthetics, adding more detail while shifting towards softer colours but still keeping the images clean and generally free of major gradients. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

This is a very insightful post, I could see this happening in the immediate future. But 2035 will be a whole new world

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

if you cant figure this out on your own how do you function in normal life? it seems you care more about demanding others to do things for you than actually understanding what you claim to not understand

tankboy posted...

Just give me back window borders, please. Ideally with customizable thickness.

I'm with you on that issue.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

What's so complicated about those UI's of that era?

I thought they were pretty good for the most part, needed a little refinement, but it was generally pretty good.

I suppose I'm more of a fan of simplicity than anything else in design. It's part of why I hate serif fonts.

What's so bad about Serif Fonts?

Kamen_Rider_Blade posted...

What's so complicated about those UI's of that era?

I don't think they meant complicated in sense of ease of use, but more in visual presentation. For example

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b1e737d2.jpg

and that's a milder example too really.

It would also be nice if mobile-first design didn't tend towards giant fonts on the desktop. I feel like I have to zoom out of every website, and even some applications.

FurryPhilosifer posted...

I don't think they meant complicated in sense of ease of use, but more in visual presentation. For example

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b1e737d2.jpg

and that's a milder example too really.

LimeWire was kind of a cluster because it tried to do too many things at the same time in one app.

It's a P2P Music DLer
It's a Library Manager
It's a Media Player

I don't think we'll ever go back to how gaudy and chunky the majority of things were, but I expect we'll see an added layer of detail just to differentiate from how everything has become a circle with two colors. My guess is a lot of bold, clean lines to make harder icons within those circles, perhaps intentionally deforming the outline a bit.

For those asking and somehow unaware, this is the essential process:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/2f99ba41.jpg

Well, UI / UX design has progressed tremendously.

Just look at the History of the basic "Scroll Bar".
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/b95402a8.png

https://scrollbars.matoseb.com/

Hopefully something better.

Guide posted...

but I expect we'll see an added layer of detail just to differentiate from how everything has become a circle with two colors.

google is particularly bad at this, they've simplied everything to the point where it's legitimately hard to tell apart a lot of their logos
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/03bf5bfe.png

https://thehardcopy.co/wp-content/uploads/00uRVDFQ-1920x1281.png

UI design peaked in the mid-90s.