Day by Day, UI design has been influenced by many numbers of trends in recent years.
There is an on-going debate over, Since the release of Google’s material design– material design vs flat design.Which One is Better? What are the differences between the two, really?
Let’s go into detail about both these UI design trend.
Flat Design
Flat design has basics at its best. Flat design makes you feel like all the objects are lying on a single surface. The flat design just got rid of any stylistic choices like the illusionary three-dimensionality with drop shadows, textures, and gradients to be more like the play of fonts, and presses on an interplay of colors, icons, and typography etc. Flat design uses 2-dimensional visual details that create a fresh feel to the design world.
Pros-
- It based on the simple and minimal design concept.
- Flat elements may look equally attractive on every device and is mobile-friendly.
- Removes all unnecessary graphical and animated elements so it reduces the load time.
Cons-
- Flat design can limit you to simple colors, shapes, and icons.
- Ubiquitous. Hard to convey unique branding of the site.
- Not that intuitive.
Material Design-
In 2014, Google came up with a material design that aims to develop a unified platform that would look the same across all the platforms and device sizes. Google taking inspiration for the Material design from paper and ink.
The material design was initially named as “Quantum Paper“. Concept behind the design of material is to translate paper’s physical properties to the screen. Google created a set of strict visual guidelines for Material design.
In Google’s own words, the material is the metaphor.
Pros-
- Z-axis creates depth- Makes everything more real by introducing the Z-axis.
- Intuitive to use. Minimalistic and stylish.
- Promotes motion in web design to show users what is happening on screen.
- Have a clear set of guidelines so it provides consistency for the designer.
Cons-
- Because of Z-axis, It takes longer to implement than flat.
- Motion can be a very energy-consuming task.
- The material design has a dependency on skeuomorphism.
