Flat Design / Vector Minimalism vs Grunge
フラットデザイン / ベクターミニマリズム / グランジ
Flat Design / Vector Minimalism comes from UI Expression and Grunge from Counterculture. Both are read here as style. They are reached for with different intent, which is the fastest way to tell them apart.
Flat Design / Vector Minimalism
Reduces information to plain planes and color, portable across screens and media.
Grunge
Uses dirt, tears and wear as resistance to the neatly managed screen.
| Flat Design / Vector Minimalism | Grunge | |
|---|---|---|
| Era | 2010s– | 1990s |
| Family | UI Expression | Counterculture |
| Kind | Style | Style |
| Cues | Uniform planes / Simple shapes / Few shadows / Clear color | Scuffing / Tears / Disordered type / Low-quality copies |
| Best used for | Light, understandable explanation · Large sets of consistent figures | Body heat for music and street culture · Deliberately breaking the look of a finished product |
| Type | A rounded sans-serif | Decayed sans, typewriter faces |
| Composition | Simple silhouettes and clear hierarchy | Overlap and crop; keep alignment only in places |
| Material | Three to five colors; shadows only when they mean something | Dirty paper, grain, low chroma plus one accent |
| Caution | Figures easily become generic. Define your own ratios, lines and color rules. | Texture overlays alone feel dated. Run the logic of wear through photo, type and margin alike. |