During the start of the millennium, “flashy” was the staple style of the hour. Every design was marked by the drop shadows, overt textures, gradients, etc.
The designers tried whatever was in their might to attract attention through their designs.
This has, however, changed in the last few years. We are experiencing a more subtle, suave design trend. The design industry is seen to be tending towards the flat design.
Flat design was first introduced way back in 2002 by Microsoft.
The products and services of Microsoft back then were essentially crafted through flat design. Eventually, it was taken over by companies such as Apple and Google as well.
Every company has its investment budget for web development. And you should have one whether you are handling a website for your startup or well-established business.
What was about the flat design that attracted these big guns of the game? How was it different from the flashy trend? Is it a good idea for you to adopt a flat design for your website?
I’ll explore these questions further:
Table of Contents
What is Flat Web Design?
For our non-designer readers, Flat Design essentially is the removal of all that was flashy in the trend set by early millennials. This means that the overt textures, loud gradients, and fading drop shadows were to be taken out of the equation.
The primary purpose of flat design is to take the reader’s attention away from the font and style of the design and take it to the thing that matters the most — the content.
This is why the style and texture are sobered down so the readers only pay attention to the text. Quite in contrast to the earlier trend.
Related Read: Web Design Efforts Required For Eight Type of Websites
Features of Flat Web Design
Let’s look at certain key features of the flat design:
Typography:
In flat design, the typography’s form is meant to be minimal. There is a clear focus on the lowercase typography, and the purpose of the font is to not garner any attention.
Color:
In Flat Design, the color palette is to be carefully considered so that it complements the other elements of the design. It’s not about making it flashy or attractive. Rather, the colors are chosen to bear in mind the coherence and simplicity of the design.
Now that you have got a basic idea of what flat design is, the question remains is: Is it worth it for your website?
To answer this question, we have to have to look at the merits and demerits of flat design.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Flat Web Design
Advantages
1. Compatibility:
We all know that the efficiency of a website is determined by its responsiveness. How well does your website work on a mobile phone?
By using flat design, you can be certain that the website will work efficiently on both the web and smartphone platforms.
This is because the grid-based layout and simple graphics can be easily arranged for both platforms. There is no distortion in the design while shifting platforms. That is a huge plus in terms of website responsiveness and also to get traffic to your website.
2. Readability:
Flat design layouts generally consist of geometrical shapes. This improves the overall readability and scannability of a website.
We are all aware of the low attention span of our users. Using flat design helps the users easily go through the entire website in their limited attention span.
Disadvantages
3. Lack of Usability:
Some people find it difficult to use a website that has a flat design. This is mainly because they have struggled to find the “clickable” links.
And sometimes end up clicking on places that aren’t clickable. This could be because of its shape and form that brings in the illusion.
4. Bland appearance:
Sometimes, flat design can end up becoming bland and dull for the website. But this problem is mainly on the part of the designer than the design style.
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In Conclusion
Many big companies have been using flat design pretty well. They are visually appealing, easy to grasp, and are usable at the same time.
The fact that those companies(mentioned earlier) have done it means that you can too.
The trend is quickly changing, and the advantages of flat design provide far overweigh the disadvantages.
So, YES! It is worth it to adopt a flat web design for your website.
These are all the advantages and disadvantages of flat design. If you have any doubt, comment below.
