The flat-style illustration has been reigning in the design world for a while now. Its modern nature, capability to streamline and deliver information quickly, and clean look have made it a standard design choice.
Due to its simple and neat look, people may look at a flat graphic design and think that creating one is very easy and does not require much time, skills, or effort. But this is a misconception. This design trend has a long history and calls for a significant design process.
You can look into this guide to learn about flat design and understand how to apply this design aesthetics effectively in your next projects.
Table of Contents
What is flat style illustration?
Flat-style art is a minimalistic approach to design that focuses on usability. With its emphasis on minimal use of the visual expression, they have carved a separate place in the world of digital art.
The flat design follows a sober style and uses simple typographies, forms, and images. It does not use superficial elements like shadows, various effects, reflections, details, etc. Instead, this style opts for using minimum elements and removes the clutter from a page. The term “flat” itself indicates the absence of volume; it uses only 2D images.
Features of flat illustrations
This design is known for the following features:
- It is relatively Modern and uses digitally friendly aesthetics.
- Minimalistic nature- This aesthetic views ornamental elements as a mere distraction that do not serve any purpose
- It effectively uses white space
- Simplicity- It uses simple images to convey messages rather than complex illustrations.
- Uses 2D elements
- Use bright colors with high contrasts
- Use bold and readable typos
- Use grid-based layouts
- Use of symbolic icons
When should you use flat style art?
You can use flat design whenever you want to communicate efficiently. Here are various instances when you can use these aesthetics:
- You can use it for creating infographics, where the main purpose is to break complex messages and topics into simple, digestible formats.
- Manual and how-it-work pages on websites that provide step-by-step instructions to the users.
- Advertisements- As users do not ask for advertisements, they will not want to use their brains to understand the message.
- Designing logo and other branding elements
- The small app icons and other designs, which need only simple designs
- Mobile gaming interfaces as the users won’t be pro gamers who want complex stimulations.
- Interfaces where the audience needs to know the next step.
Guidelines to follow when designing a flat design illustration
Flat style is a bold graphic illustration style that uses basic geometric shapes to design people, places, objects, and other concepts. Unlike its simplistic appearance, you need to be skilled in applying colors and tones to use shapes in creative and appealing ways. So, following these guidelines can be beneficial when crafting flat illustrations.
1. Shapes
If you have observed a flat-style illustration, you might have observed that all the objects in the image use basic geometric shapes. It is based on the belief that a designer or illustrator can draw any shape skillfully and creatively, combining basic geometric shapes- squares, rectangles, circles, and triangles.
But while using these shapes, it is suggested to take care of the size and spacing of the shapes.
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- All the objects in the flat design style must be 8px wide or tall. This is because anything short of this size will be considered a line.
- The negative space between shapes should also be at least 8px.
2. Grid
For a flat design, the underlying grid should be 8px. This method will ensure that the space has minimum size and spacing between them. Moreover, it will ensure that the illustration looks neat.
3. Drawing
A skillful illustrator can create any objects or images by using squares, circles, rectangles, and triangles by following the given instructions:
- Angles- It is suggested to use the standard angles for your images to look consistent.
- Curves- Use a quarter, semi, and full circles for making curved figures. But make sure to use precise curves and avoid irregular ones when possible.
- Organic curves- If you want to give a realistic touch to your images, you can go for organic Bezier curves.
4. Color
Based on the nature of the elements used in the illustration, the way of using color varies. You will have to rely on several shading techniques to differentiate between shapes.
- Use of gradients- If you want to give depth, dimension, and life to your illustration, gradients can significantly help.
- Transparency- It is best to avoid using light effects when crafting a flat illustration. It is best to go for opaque shapes.
Embrace the “flatness.”
Let’s face the truth. Everyone is looking at your design from a flat screen in this digital age. So, instead of adopting superfluous elements to make the image realistic, why not embrace the flatness?
If you are afraid that embracing the flat design trend will make your design look identical to other designs, making it boring and lifeless, take the help of skilled designers. With the help of the right designer, your flat design will jump off the screen and speak what you want!
