Flat Design Isn't Dead; Stupidity Is Alive
"Flat Design Is Dead" is a thought you hear from proponents of User-Centered Design (UCD). Flat design being declared dead says a lot about its supporters. It is the foundation of design, like the base of a building. When you make that statement, it's similar to saying - Numbers are dead, long live mathematics. Nothing in the world exists without a foundation, and for graphic design, that foundation is flat design. Foundation never dies. The Glagolitic alphabet is created of simple shapes like a circle, a cross, and a triangle. The Bauhaus speaks the language of pure forms. Long before the Glagolitic alphabet, people communicated through pure geometric forms in stone art, and even today, basic shapes like а square, circle, and triangle serve as fundamental communication tools. That's why those forms cannot be considered obsolete. Those promoting User-Centered Design, whether out of ignorance or deliberate disregard of facts, stand on the wrong side of the slogan above.
UCD claims to focus on the user. But if this design philosophy truly centers on the user, then who does flat design serve? When I was learning graphic design, every book emphasized that the user is the most important. Nowhere did it suggest otherwise. How did we arrive at a point where flat design is seen as opposed to the user, and UCD is portrayed as user-friendly?
A flat design eliminates noise. It removes manipulations that waste our time, and visual distractions that treat users like subjects for endless clicks. Flat design doesn't entertain the subject; it respects the subject and his time. The user-centered rhetoric claims to care about us, but where is the research asking, "Where do you feel more comfortable?" "Where do you navigate more easily?" "Where do you complete your tasks faster?" The theoretical foundations of UCD are The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman and Heuristic Evaluation by Jakob Nielsen and Rolf Molich, but neither of these books directly explores which design is more functional; rather, they come to that answer indirectly. In an era obsessed with endless engagement, we call design 'user-centered' when it pushes more popups, more recommendations, and more time spent. But design isn't meant to keep us endlessly consuming. It should help us act and solve the problem. Clarity is not decoration; it is the backbone of design.
Flat design is the foundation of the design that emphasizes clarity, purity, and functionality in visual communication. It strips away excess, reducing form to its core simple lines, flat colors, and minimal elements. Its purpose is to establish an immediate visual language. When employed thoughtfully, flat design remains vibrant, adaptable, and capable of conveying complex messages with minimal resources. Its power lies in its clarity. In this context, flat design finds its true vitality and meaning; it isn't an enemy to be fought but a tool to be understood and used wisely. Only through critical engagement can design avoid becoming a hollow echo of commerce.
