
No, not flat-pack design, what do you think this is? IKEA? No, software design. The user interfaces for years have been Skeuomorphic and 3D; Apple went for hand stitched and patina'd leather finishes, Windows 7 was Aero'd, glassy and transparent. Buttons were pop-up, pop-out, marbled, reflective and lozenge-shaped.
Well forget all that, the future's flat, and it's all Windows 8's fault.
Design trends come and go in waves of fashion, like flares, platform shoes, the Poodle Perm; there was a time when each generation of higher resolution graphics cards demanded more and more detailed widgety-do-dads, just to show where the money went. Now touch screens on tablets and smart-phones need bigger controls for stubby sausage fingers, 'flat' design is suddenly everywhere.