UI Design Trends: Why and How Shadows are Trending in Tech

Neomorphism, a technique involving shadowing, is becoming more and more popular in website and app design. Here's why and how you can take advantage of it!

A style, a trend, and the latest in UI design — welcome to Neumorphism. 

Neumorphism is a design technique that uses a subtle mix of other popular UI (User Interface) design styles, such as flat design and Skeuomorphism,. This shadow style is trending for a reason, and it's because it's super aesthetically pleasing.

Shadow In Style

Rather than just having your screen fall flat, you may have noticed that digital design has been embracing shadows. Skeuomorphism has been one popular UI design trend that makes a design element resemble its real-world counterparts. 

Visualize the envelope icon on your smartphone used for email accounts. This is one common design that gives you a better understanding of this concept.

Shadows are also embraced in the newly popular Neumorphic design trend. This form of design makes elements look natural, polished, and intuitive. You'll find that Neumorphism offers softer shading while simultaneously embracing flat design. This is much simpler when compared to skeuomorphism. 

It's a beneficial design technique that allows users to recognize concepts and items. Having the digital world resemble our natural interpretation of objects offers user-friendliness and more engagement from users.

Using Neumorphism For UI Design

Neumorphism takes shadow design techniques to the next level by embracing soft shades and tint. Websites and app design are increasingly adding this new UI design style to combine two other popular design trends — flat design and Skeuomorphism. Skeptics of either trend can now come together to take advantage of the ultimate amalgamation of digital design. 

In need of some design tips to start incorporating Neumorphism in your design? Try starting with a subtle shadow effect. Be sure to take special note of your color palette and the appearance of the entire screen.

Your main background and shape background elements use the same color, while the border adds soft shadows. A rectangular-shaped element would take on a lighter color on the left and top edges, while the right and lower edges use a darker color. Now the element has positive and negative value shadows so it appears like it's extruding from the background.

More Neumorphic Design Tips

Remember that your creating depth and a soft interface. Place UI elements behind the background, and this will give the appearance that elements are extending from within. Many designers have great examples of using Neumorphism to focus on clickable objects that get your immediate attention.

Use soft contrast and solid colors to achieve Neumorphic shadowing. You should also make use of pale colors, and let go of those more bold color palettes. The use of accessible colors and shapes actually allows for painless development and ease-of-use for beginners.

Shadow Softly

Try out the soft shadow of the neumorphic design style, and see your UI design take on a new form of modern aesthetic. You'll find that Neumorphism is easy to implement in your design. There are also plenty of resources to help inspire your next creative adventure.

Looking for a designer to integrate Neumorphism on your website or app? Check out Fortitude's design services and get in on the trend.

3 Questions to Ask When Searching for an App Developer to Help Your Business.

David Bleiweiss

09/14/2020

Top 3 App Trends You Can Expect to See in 2021

Chris Spanos

09/16/2020

3 Innovative Ways to Keep a Website up to Date

Julian Sgarzi

09/16/2020

3 Eye-Opening Hacks to Increase App Engagement and User Retention

Chris Spanos

09/16/2020

Looking for design help?

Learn More!

SERVICES

COMPANY

LEARN MORE

CONNECT

© Fortitude Development LLC. 2020