I remember Delicious Library fondly. I was very much part of the Delicious Generation, making lots of UI work at the time. Wil Shipley was a legend. My point is that we don’t have that anymore. Someone should do that again.
Eww. Please, no. Tell me there is an option to keep the flat design. The kind of people who like this expect something new every year and when they don't get it, they complain about a lack of innovation. They're also likely the same people who use color so extensively in Excel spreadsheets that it loses all meaning.
Flat design isn’t going anywhere. Just like realism didn’t disappear when flat took over. This isn’t about replacing one style with another—it’s about expanding the toolbox.
If you love flat, keep using it. But don’t be surprised when people get excited about design that feels a little more alive again.
How is it not a throwback and not a decoration? Sorry, not clear from the post. Seems like it has happened before; now, it's just more refined graphics.
Totally fair question. You’re right that a lot of these visual cues have happened before. But I think what’s different now is intent.
Old skeuomorphism was often trying to mimic reality—wood textures, stitched leather, chrome dials—stuff that aimed to feel familiar.
What I’m seeing now is design that embraces depth, tactility, and emotion, but in a way that’s native to screens. It’s not pretending to be a physical object. It’s using light, texture, and motion as expressive tools, not nostalgic crutches.
So yeah, the ingredients aren’t new. But the attitude—and what we’re trying to say with them—feels different. Less “let’s make it real,” more “let’s make it feel right.
This is really insightful. I'm I wrong for saying I really don't like the icons Airbnb choose to use. They're too different from each other and look out of place side by side
I’m not holding up Airbnb’s exact icons as the ideal—they’re definitely a mixed bag. But I do think the ethos behind them matters: expressive, dimensional, a little weird on purpose.
There’s room for all kinds of styles under this new direction. What excites me is the shift away from sterile sameness.
Um, there used to be an app called 'Delicious Library' ... Know your history!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delicious_Library
I remember Delicious Library fondly. I was very much part of the Delicious Generation, making lots of UI work at the time. Wil Shipley was a legend. My point is that we don’t have that anymore. Someone should do that again.
"why don’t we have a great app for cataloguing physical media"
We did: Wil Shipley's Delicious Library. Amazon killed it by gradually restricting API access more and more and more.
Yeah it was too bad what happened. Someone should resurect that idea.
“Sterile sameness”. Yes, let’s get far away from this. Minimalism has ruined many iconic logos and designs in the last 15 years.
Eww. Please, no. Tell me there is an option to keep the flat design. The kind of people who like this expect something new every year and when they don't get it, they complain about a lack of innovation. They're also likely the same people who use color so extensively in Excel spreadsheets that it loses all meaning.
Flat design isn’t going anywhere. Just like realism didn’t disappear when flat took over. This isn’t about replacing one style with another—it’s about expanding the toolbox.
If you love flat, keep using it. But don’t be surprised when people get excited about design that feels a little more alive again.
How is it not a throwback and not a decoration? Sorry, not clear from the post. Seems like it has happened before; now, it's just more refined graphics.
Totally fair question. You’re right that a lot of these visual cues have happened before. But I think what’s different now is intent.
Old skeuomorphism was often trying to mimic reality—wood textures, stitched leather, chrome dials—stuff that aimed to feel familiar.
What I’m seeing now is design that embraces depth, tactility, and emotion, but in a way that’s native to screens. It’s not pretending to be a physical object. It’s using light, texture, and motion as expressive tools, not nostalgic crutches.
So yeah, the ingredients aren’t new. But the attitude—and what we’re trying to say with them—feels different. Less “let’s make it real,” more “let’s make it feel right.
This is really insightful. I'm I wrong for saying I really don't like the icons Airbnb choose to use. They're too different from each other and look out of place side by side
I’m not holding up Airbnb’s exact icons as the ideal—they’re definitely a mixed bag. But I do think the ethos behind them matters: expressive, dimensional, a little weird on purpose.
There’s room for all kinds of styles under this new direction. What excites me is the shift away from sterile sameness.