Web Design Inspiration: Is Brutalism Making a Comeback in 2020?
Giant typography, huge cursors, acid colors, geometrical shapes. Brutalism has become increasingly popular in recent years. Some love it, some hate it, but there is no denying that sometimes we just can’t pass by some examples of brutalist design.
So where did it come from, what does it have in common with Boston City Hall and should you turn to it for your next project? Let’s find out.
Habitat 67, Montreal. Moshe Sadie, completed in 1967.
When Did Brutalist Design Start Invading the Web?
It was back in 2014 when the very first examples of brutalist design started to flood the web. In response to their growing popularity, there started emerging resources like brutalistwebsites.com, brutalist-web.design, brutalistframework.com that would give you an extensive guideline on brutalist design, present you a selection of brutalist websites and even help you to build one on your own.
Features of Brutalism in Web Design
It’s hard to clearly define the features of this style, but some recurring characteristics of Brutalism in web design are:
- Asymmetry
- Broken hierarchy
- Broken grids and typography
- Big bold fonts
- Geometrical shapes
- Overlapping elements
- Wide solid borders
- Hard shadows
- Solid backgrounds
- Bright colors
Sometimes they are right in your face, sometimes more gentle and subtle, but let’s admit it, not all of these are always pleasing to the eye. So why is brutalism getting so much attention?
Let’s look into its origins to find the answer.
The Origins of Brutalism
Boston City Hall, Boston. Gerhard Kallmann and Michael McKinnell, completed in 1968.
Back to Boston City Hall — it’s one of the most prominent examples of the buildings that resulted from the architectural movement, which shares the name with a popular web design trend.
The term “Brutalism” first appeared as a name of an architectural style and comes from the French language (béton brut where it means raw concrete). Brutalist buildings are big grey blocks of concrete, following plainly simple geometrical and modular structure.
This style emerged to oppose the architectural trends of the past, with all their pretentious pillars, ornaments, and fancy design. Those grey blocky giants were built in huge numbers in the ’50s and ’60s until the popularity of brutalist architecture faded away, only to come back years later, reflected not only in architecture but in other art forms and media.
Brutalism In Web Design
Brutalism on the modern web embodies a protest against polished, minimalistic and thought through designs. It creates a cozy atmosphere of chaos and brings a feeling of nostalgia for the times when we only started discovering the Internet. On top of that, with our attention span progressively getting shorter, shocking the user with “ugly” and chaotic design helps to make them hang around a little bit longer.
Another reason why this trend attracts so many designers is that it gives you that kind of creative freedom that you don’t normally get. With brutalism, You’re allowed to do pretty much anything you want, there are almost no rules to follow, you are free to experiment with form, content, and presentation in the most unexpected and bold ways.
So, when should you go for a brutalist design?
Well, there are many aspects that we take into account when developing the website’s look. That’s why if something like brutalist design will suit the identity and vibe of the brand, you should definitely go for it. But it’s better to play it safe when working on commercial projects because the purpose of a commercial website is to be as clear, concise and accessible for all the users as possible, so it’s better to stay away from risky decisions. But if you’re really careful with the choices you make, you can incorporate Brutalism in a pretty neat way, as Bloomberg did.
If you want to go full-blown brutalism, pick the projects that are appropriate. Examples: your personal portfolio, a creative agency or studio website, a blog about 80’s style video games, or pages for some seasonal events, that need to go viral and attract a lot of attention over a short period of time.
So, keep this trend or ditch it? Let us know in the comments how long you think it will last.
To see more brutalist websites follow the links in the description and check out templatemonster.com, which is pretty much a digital supermarket full of everything a web developer, a web designer or a graphic designer might need, we have a bunch of brutalist websites there too. So go and have a look.
Meanwhile, thank you for watching! Hit a like button and subscribe to our YouTube channel if you liked the video, and let us know what other hot design trends you would like to see a video about. Cheers!
❗️This video shows website examples created by professional web designers. It was created solely for demonstration purposes. All the rights belong to their owners. C️redits to the right owners are provided in the video description.
