Flat Design: Everything You Need to Know in 5 Minutes (+ Examples)

Flat design is a user interface style that uses simple two-dimensional elements, minimal textures, and bright colors.

There are plenty of benefits to flat design -- the simple elements allow for faster load time and easier user navigation.Plus, it looks modern and clean.

Windows 8 is a good example of flat design:

As you can see from the Windows 8 interface, the large, colorful blocks are effective elements for easy usability. Plus, the flat design ensures optimal user experience on various devices, since the simple shapes and lack of texture easily scale for different devices' screen sizes.

If you think flat design is just a short-term trend, think again -- Usabilla surveyed 100 professionals and found 68 percent believe flat design will affect how we design for the web, long-term.

Here are the major elements of flat design:

• Illustrations
• Bright colors
• Uncomplicated shapes
• Functional
• Simple typography
• Minimalist
• Intuitive
• More use of negative space
• Absence of three-dimensional depth

Here, we'll take a look at the top websites using flat design, so you can decide whether flat design is the right style for your business.

Flat design colors

1. Spiced Nectarine (#ffbe76)
2. Pure Apple (#6ab04c)
3. Pink Glamour (#ff7979)
4. Turbo (#f9ca24)
5. Greenland Green (#22a6b3)
6. Alizarin (#e74c3c)
7. Wisteria (#8e44ad)
8. Midnight Blue (#2c3e50)
9. Clouds (#ecf0f1)
10. Concrete (#95a5a6)

Top Websites Using Flat Design

1. Wistia

2. The Hype Agency

3. Intercom

4. Stripe

5. Apple iOS 7

6. Taasky

7. Operativnik Website Design by Felix Baky