Matthew Moore writes about “Almost flat design”. Like my previous thoughts on the subject, Moore argues that there’s value in making buttons look “buttoney”:

But if you look closely, that compose button does have a slight gradient. It’s a gradient that says, “Hey, I’m a button you can press,” and not “Woah! I look like I’m made from candy! Oh and you can press me too.”

And using the z-axis to aid comprehension:

Almost Flat Design doesn’t ignore the concept of depth. Instead, depth is used to support comprehension of the interface. But, just like gradients, this can be done in a subtle way and still allow for separation of information along the z-axis.

I look forward to seeing Jony Ive reign in UI design at Apple. He prides himself on being honest about his use of materials. That Corinthian leather is really letting Apple down. I have a feeling he’ll be steering Apple UI toward an “almost flat” world, not a flat one.