The early days of website design utilised flash illustrations and animations, which in turn gave way to textures onscreen, such as the inclusion of drop shadows, textured backgrounds and true object characteristics. These website designs now appear outdated, even old-fashioned, with many website designers choosing to demonstrate the old adage that less is more in their new creations. This is called flat design, stripping away the showy elements to present a more classical and simplified site.

Flat design chooses to display icons rather than realistic pictures, so where one might have previously expected to see a miniature picture of a calendar, a flat website design will display a shape with a simple stylised image or text denoting a calendar.

In flat design, there is no place for ornament: the idea is that if it does not serve a function on the website, then there is no need for it to appear. To stop a minimalistic site from seeming boring, icons and other features are displayed in eye-catching and contrasting colours.

Flat design makes abundant use of simplicity, working on the principle that economical wording and imagery makes more of an impact and imparts their meaning much more quickly.

Check out some of our recently designed websites here.

Interested in adding a fresh design to your website? Get in touch with our team.