From architecture to UI
During a recent visit to Edinburgh, I was engrossed in conversation with a retired physicist turned tour guide. As we spoke of the city’s famed medieval structures and Georgian splendor, we paused at the stark Brutalist buildings that sprouted in the wake of World War II.
Argyle House (Image Credit: Cuthbert White)
These concrete monoliths, he explained, were physical manifestations of a society at its lowest ebb, born from necessity in a time of scarcity and rapid rebuilding. The very name “Brutalist” seemed to capture the essence of a style that had, in some way, given up—choosing mere functionality over the soul-stirring power of beauty.
Today, when we look around our cities, we see a new kind of architectural minimalism taking hold. Glass-clad towers with clean lines and geometric precision dominate our urban landscapes. Corporate headquarters, once bastions of distinctive design, now favor austere facades and open floor plans. While not as severe as their Brutalist predecessors, these modern structures echo similar priorities: function over form, simplicity over ornament.
I couldn’t help but draw parallels to the design trends sweeping across our modern world. It has seeped into every aspect of our visual world, from the logos that represent our most iconic brands to the interfaces we interact with daily on our devices. From our skylines to our screens, we are witnessing a similar phenomenon—a move towards stark simplicity that, while functional, often leaves us yearning for depth and meaning.
Bland-er brand elements
Take a moment to visualize the contemporary logos around us.
Luxury fashion houses, once known for their ornate monograms and distinctive color palettes, are increasingly opting for stark, monochromatic wordmarks. Gucci, Saint Laurent, and Burberry have all embraced this trend, stripping away the very elements that once made their branding instantly recognizable.
Image Credit: dezeen, Natasha Hitti
The automotive industry, too, has fallen for this insipid design trend. BMW unveiled a controversially simplified version of its iconic roundel, while Volkswagen flattened its once-dimensional VW emblem. Even Cadillac, synonymous with American luxury and excess, has adopted a streamlined, colorless logo. This shift towards simplicity in branding is often justified in the name of digital adaptability and clean aesthetics.
Image Credit: Design Your Way, Bogdan Sandu
The minimalist trend has also seeped into our digital spaces. User interfaces, once playgrounds of creativity and distinctive design, have largely converged on a uniform aesthetic of white space, thin sans-serif fonts, and muted color palettes. Is it efficient? Yes. But efficiency alone is a woefully inadequate reason to strip away the very elements that make design captivating and memorable. Apps and websites blur together in a monotonous landscape of grayscale and negative space. The result is a digital world that, while clean and functional, often lacks the personality and charm that once made navigating new interfaces an adventure in itself.
The rise and fall of UI exuberance
Things weren’t always this dismal in digital. We all remember when user interfaces were a kaleidoscope of creativity and exuberance. In the early 2000s, as technology finally caught up with the imaginations of designers, we witnessed an explosion of color, texture, and animation in UI design.
Who can forget the era of skeuomorphism? Apple’s iOS featured a Notes app that looked like an actual notepad, complete with faux leather textures. This was a deliberate attempt to make technology less intimidating and more approachable for the average user. As hardware capabilities expanded, so did the ambitions of UI designers. Suddenly, 3D elements could fly across the screen. Even gaming consoles got in on the action – the original Xbox menu was a masterclass in creating a futuristic, immersive interface.
Image Credit: Winamp skins museum
And then there was the golden age of customization. Remember Winamp skins? Or the endlessly customizable MySpace profiles? Users were personalizing their interfaces and making them extensions of their digital identities. Yes, sometimes it went too far. Windows Vista’s resource-hungry Aero interface, with its transparent windows and flashy effects, is a prime example of aesthetics outpacing practicality. But even in its excesses, this era celebrated the joy of interaction, the thrill of the new, and the sheer coolness factor of technology.
As we reflect on this period of UI exuberance, we are left with a poignant question: in our quest for simplicity and usability, have we sacrificed the elements that once made digital interactions delightful and memorable?
The GenAI regurgitation
Aggravating matters further is the rise of AI in design. Recently, Figma’s AI-powered design tool made waves by consistently reproducing layouts reminiscent of Apple’s iOS interface. This is a symptom of a larger problem.
LLMs are trained on existing designs—which are already trending towards minimalism—we risk creating a feedback loop of homogeneity. The AI, lacking true creativity, regurgitates variations on the most common themes it encounters. This not only stifles innovation but also reinforces the design trends, leading us toward a world of visual monotony.
Promising future of UI beyond clicks
So, will we ever go back to making tech cool again? The answer is a resounding yes, and it’s already happening. But more importantly, we are standing at the threshold of a fundamental reimagining of user interfaces.
For decades, we have been constrained by the graphical user interfaces (GUI) paradigm that emerged with the mouse and later adapted for touchscreens. This click-based model of interaction shaped how we designed interfaces and how users discovered information. But as we zoom out from this click-centric world, we are beginning to see new possibilities.
The rise of multimodal interactions—voice commands, gesture controls, augmented reality, and even brain-computer interfaces—is forcing us to rethink what a user interface can be. We are no longer bound by the limitations of point-and-click or tap-and-swipe. This shift opens up exciting new avenues for creativity and beauty in UI design.
Consider voice interfaces like Siri or Alexa or even ChatGPT’s UI. They have already changed how we interact with technology, but we are just scratching the surface. Imagine an AI assistant that understands your words, tone, context, and even gestures. The UI for such a system could be subtle, ambient, and yet deeply personalizable—a far cry from the uniform app icons we tap today. The Rivian R1T UI system is already pushing boundaries by using Unreal Engine to create cool, anime-style visualizations of the truck. But what if your entire visual field became an interface? AR could turn the world around you into a canvas for beautiful, functional, and deeply contextual interfaces.
Image credit: Arc browser UI
This new paradigm doesn’t mean we have to abandon simplicity or usability. On the contrary, it challenges us to find new ways to make complex interactions intuitive and delightful. The Arc browser, for instance, is reinventing web browsing with innovative design patterns like swipeable sidebars for different profiles. It proves we can break free from established norms while still creating usable, beautiful interfaces. Even in more traditional interfaces, we see a resurgence of craft and attention to detail. Micro-interactions – those small, often unnoticed design elements – are making a comeback. Look at how Apple’s iPhone bezel undulates to the physical buttons being pressed (iOS 18 update).
Ultimately, technology should not just serve us – it has the potential to inspire us, delight us, and make our lives richer. Let’s not give in to unnecessary monochrome. Always build something tasteful. Make things come alive. Rage against the tyranny of minimallism.