I have been known to make fun of flat "design". It's just squares and solid colors. This look can be achieved with ease in IE6. There are even development companies selling design templates as a "flat design UI kit" for $40-70. This is great if a designer doesn't know how to use the shape tool to draw rectangles in Photoshop. But there's no need to buy a flat UI kit.

Flat design is really just a lack of design. But is that a bad thing? I'd argue no.

I read an article where a former apple UI designer defended skeuomorphism. Now less than a year later the company has moved away from that philosophy and have embraced a design that Google and Windows have been running with (see comparison of iOS6 vs iOS7 designs). The former senior UI designer at Apple said:

"I feel like [Apple] has concentrated too much on mimicking the visual skeuomorphic approach rather than concentrating on the actual functionality."

There's no need to add glitter if the product can stand on it's own. I believe "flat design" isn't a lack of design. If done right, it can be a tool to allow the content and product speak for itself. Design should be genuine.

Genuine Design

We aim to erase this glitter and do away with superfluousness. Design exists to showcase strengths instead of trying to hide weaknesses. Genuine design is about doing away with features that are included only to make a product appear familiar or desirable but that otherwise serve no purpose. Genuine design is about dropping the crutches of ornament and finding beauty in the content itself. 

There's no need to add glitter if the product can stand on it's own.

The recently popularized “flat” design style may be a trend, but it is the answer to the cry of desire for greater authenticity in design, a desire to curb ornament, decoration, and skeuomorphism and to focus on the content itself.

The Challenge

The hard part then, is not making a design that just "looks good". The challenge facing designers today is going back to what visual design was meant to do all along - to represent you and your content well.

What challenges are you facing in representing your content? Let me know in the comments.