Flat Design
A minimalist design style emphasizing clean shapes, bright colors, and two-dimensional elements without shadows, gradients, or textures. Flat design emerged as a reaction to skeuomorphism and dominates modern digital interfaces. While visually clean, ensure sufficient visual hierarchy and affordances for usability.
Material Design
Design
Google's design system combining flat design principles with subtle shadows and motion to suggest physical depth and surfaces. Material Design provides comprehensive guidelines for creating consistent, intuitive Android and web interfaces. Many principles translate to general interface design beyond Google products.
Skeuomorphism
Design
A design approach where digital interfaces mimic real-world objects with realistic textures, shadows, and materials. Skeuomorphism provides familiar metaphors but has largely given way to flatter design styles. Some skeuomorphic elements persist where real-world familiarity aids understanding.
Sans Serif
Typography
Sans Serif refers to letterforms without small finishing strokes, commonly chosen for modern, legible screen typography.