Flat Design Vs. Traditional Web Design

Why the flat design is taking over traditional web design

A flat design is a design which contains colors which are bold and uses simple geometry. It has been applied by various companies such as apples through its iPod commercials and Microsoft when it was put into action when it redesigned windows 8. This design does not have features like 3D effects and extreme gradients.

In the traditional web design, icons looked like the way they do emerge in natural way but when the IOS changed to flat look, the icons appear to be like illustrations as opposed to real life objects. This is working to the advantage of flat design since most people are nowadays more comfortable with touch screens as compared to real world representation.

Flat design work well in responsive websites as it is being based on a grid. Their menu and icons are arranged neatly on a screen. The design prevents it from appearing crowded on such a space. This design trend aims at simplifying the design for the users and designers. The users can manage to figure out the buttons and the components in the interface stand for with no need for the real appearance

Flat design gives the users an enjoyable experience but when it becomes very flat, it lacks the visual sign that users require to enable them move through the interface. Most of the websites are using effects like highlighted text when an item is hovered on. BrandAid design websites uses various cues in a reliable way such as animating icons and underlining text.

Flat designs used in touch screens depend on other ways for visual cues as there is no use of mouse. Companies such as Google have built-in 3D effects in their phone apps with features like search bar standing out from the page by use of drop shadows.

Styles of a flat design

• Classic flat design. This is the design which does not have shadows and gradients to any element. An example of this design is Microsoft Windows 8 UI.
• Almost flat look design .This is the design that features semi transparent panels, gradients and has a bright effect. This design provides a distinction between element itself and the background that it is against. An example of this design is the Gmail interface which was developed by the Google.

Flat design takes less time to develop and makes more content to be easily read and navigable. Contact Website Depot Inc. to help you out with your online projects flat or traditional design.