UI design above by Álvaro Carreras A debate I seem to come across both online and in person is that between skeuomorphic and flat UI design. With the frontrunners like Apple and Microsoft championing their trendy flat interfaces, it seems like the traditional skeuomorphic design route is being pushed aside and labelled as outdated. This infographic outlines some advantages and disadvantages of both, pushing more for the flat side of things. While I do love the simplicity and elegance of it, flat design seems like its almost weeding itself out. The purpose of it was to consolidate complex information into its barest, most understandable form. But that doesn't quite work if everyone is doing the exact same thing. I'm starting to see a lack of differentiation as the majority switch to this design aesthetic, leading to user confusion, which is the opposite of the goal of flat design. And that's only if the design is executed well! I agree with John Payne that we shouldn't abandon skeuomorphic design, because its not really a transient design craze. It's something that is inherent in the way we should be designing, that can and should be adapted to new trends. | "We need to expand the conversation about what design can do through cultural affordances—not simply to address ease of use, but to communicate context, identity, purpose, and value." |
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"Immediately when we start designing, we are taught to think of the sitemap and how everything is going to connect. Imagine if we spent that time thinking about what the audience wants and how they’re going to use it." -Kendra Gaines in 3 Reasons We Should Stop Using Navigation Bars This guy is a great example of navigation-less web design. He doesn't have multiple pages, because he doesn't need them! You enter the site, and you know exactly what to do, because it's the only thing you can do: scroll. He has put some crazy thought into the exact experience he wants to create for his viewers, and it's executed beautifully. The site is, essentially, the linear story of himself. "By ridding ourselves of the navigation bar, we’ve created a platform to have a fully immersive brand design that should cater directly to the customer. This allows us to now create experiences. Yes, we’ll probably have to get away from the world of strict minimalism. However, this gets web design back to what it should be; a space on the web dedicated to the relationship between a brand and its customer." ![]() Designed To Move
This site is incredibly attention-grabbing when you first enter. You can either choose to watch well-edited promotional video, or scroll downward to see the actual site, where the top and off-campus side navbars appear. The copy design is beautiful and bold, with a delicate inner shadow, and the infographics are gorgeous. There are even several very subtle animations throughout which make the entire experience ambiguously delightful. Love it. I've created this blog to do one thing: get better. To do that, I plan to do research and exploration into various fields of design, logging my interests and opinions as I go. Hopefully, this will grant me a broader perspective on the existing trends, and empower me to better them in my own practice. I'm also in the midst of self reflection so that I can more effectively tell the story of me through a personal website. In addition to learning how to code in html/css/javascript so that I can actually create it, I've been challenging myself to deconstruct myself and my work, and evolve it into a coherent narrative. I'm hoping that by doing these projects side by side, they will inform each other to facilitate more insights. Let's see how it goes!
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