Comparing the flat design and materials design in the design of a website
Two popular and well-known designs in the design of the website are Flat Design and Material Design. Two design styles based on the same views, one completely new, and another becoming a fast-moving fashion. Flat design is a process of website design that has grown over time and material development is a collection of rules and guidelines designed to achieve a unique web design style.
In this article, we try to better understand the differences between these two design styles and find out when each one will be more productive. To achieve this, we must first understand each one more precisely. We continue to study the fundamental differences that are related to their appearance and style.
What is skeuomorphism in website design?
Skeuomorphism means a design that is used to simulate the physical world. That is, any program and tool created in cyberspace that is based on its appearance in the real world.
This technique attempts to simulate the 3D space for the user and, as far as possible, apply colors close to nature in the design. The following image is a sample of different app designs in older versions of the iPhone. There are many examples of this technique in the design of the website.
The problem is that most of these designs only look at the apparent similarity and reduce the speed of the product. Eventually, the design world concluded that customer satisfaction requires another factor that eliminates all the necessary elements for decoration and instead, it puts efficiency, loading speed, and useful content in the top priority. Flat design is the result of this ideology, and it is in contrast to skeuomorphism.
Flat design style in the design of a website
Due to the flat design capabilities of its users, it has quickly become popular among website designers. The popularity of this style has progressed far beyond the boundaries of design and has become a graphic design style.
Flat design is called a simplistic approach, which emphasizes efficiency rather than being close to reality.
Flat design is, in many respects, a design based on the basic principles. In this design, all styles that look three-dimensional and real are removed and replaced with something simplistic.
Also, in this type of design, we have to try to avoid thick borders and glossy colors, instead, use flat colors and flat graphics. Flat design focuses solely on icons, typography, and color.
Benefits of Flat Design
- Flat design can be easily developed in the design of responsive websites.
- Simplicity in designing and removing unnecessary factors such as shadows and animations reduces the size of the pages and increases their loading speed.
- The removal of unnecessary elements in design facilitates the process of designing the website to increase the speed of the project.
- The lack of skeuomorphic elements makes reading and understanding of website content simple and fast for users.
Disadvantages of Flat Design
- This type of design limits you to simple shapes and icons, and uniform colors.
- As a website design company, you can not run all your projects in this style because they will quickly become repeatable.
- Many websites require heavy graphics and sophisticated images to guide users, which, despite the flat design, one cannot eliminate them.
- The lack of shadows, prominence, and margins have limitations in attracting users’ attention and encouraging them to click.
Material design style in website design
One of the criticisms of flat design is that it has been exaggerated in eliminating the elements of skeuomorphism. In contrast to the design of the material, it is very important to make animations. It can be said that the material design is an updated version of the flat design, but with more beautiful animations and more graphics. Material design is a collection of website design standards introduced by Google.
It can be said that the design of the material is a written, documentary and scientific design of the flat design that was originally used to design Android mobile applications and quickly found its place among the web designers.
The most important features of the design of the material are compared with the flat design; the use of shadows, the Z-axis and depth on the page, complex but light animations, and the use of a combination of specific colors.
Advantages of Material Design
- The 3D viewer makes it easy to interact with the user.
- Unlike flat design, there are certain standards and guidelines for design.
- The integrity of your design between the website and the app is easy to maintain.
- If you are interested in adding animation to a website or application, the design of the material will make it easy.
Disadvantages of Material Design
- Whether you like it or not, the material design is linked with Google.
- It is difficult to make changes in the initial framework.
- Animation or moving images can make the battery drain faster.
- The use of Google’s guidelines is suppressing individual creativity.
Conclusion: Is Material Design Better or Falt Design?
Material design is not a redirection of flat design, but both design styles use the same concept. User interfaces in the design of the material can be considered as a kind of flat design interface if the animations designed by the design of the material are very interesting and make the websites and applications more attractive. These two design styles can be combined and benefit from each one.
For most of us, however, flat designs are more functional and load faster than material websites with animation and complex graphics. If you want to design a website that is simple, it’s user-friendly on any device and screen size, flat design is a better option.
If you are not interested in animation and moving images, and you are more interested in website efficiency and simplicity, the flat design will be a better choice for you, but if you want a beautiful and luxurious website, you should go for material design.
Share your thoughts about website design frames and design styles. Which of the styles have you been successful in?
