We made design efficient and killed the magic

Visual design in tech has entered an identity crisis. It’s polished and soulless at the same time; every company claims to care about aesthetics, yet most products look alike.

Nov 03, 2025

For years, startups treated design as a nice-to-have. Functionality was the only goal. Then came the big visual shift; Apple’s design leadership, early Dribbble, the rise of UI polish. Startups suddenly realized that design sells trust.

Fast-forward to now. Every product looks clean, centered, and soft. The aesthetic language of tech has matured, and flattened. The same safe palettes. The same sans-serif type. The same rounded corners and gradients.

It’s not that visual design disappeared. It just got standardized (too much?).

Why sameness feels safe

Design inside tech companies is often built on efficiency. Large teams, design systems, and fast sprints reward repeatability. Visual exploration rarely survives the product pipeline. It’s too risky, too slow, too hard to A/B test.

And when everything is measured, beauty starts to feel like waste.

Many teams treat visual expression as an indulgence, not an advantage.
That’s a mistake. People don’t fall in love with logic, they fall in love with presence, feeling, or ‘vibes’.

We’re living in the most design-aware moment in history,
but also the least original one.

The quiet return of taste

But… I’m seeing a shift. After a decade of product minimalism, founders are rediscovering taste and the importance of it. Visuals are becoming strategic again.
It’s no longer just about being “usable.” It’s about being memorable.

You can feel it in the new generation of tools; Framer, Linear, Dia, Notion — brands that invest in visual identity as a competitive edge. They understand that aesthetics signal maturity.

Visual design and design with true identity is the new moat.

What good visual design looks like in 2025

Well, let’s start by saying It’s not about more decoration. It’s about distinction.

Modern visual design in tech means clarity with character.
It means visual systems that feel alive, not generic.
It’s how a brand communicates attitude through typography, motion, and layout, without relying on gimmicks.

The best products are a joy to use and have a visual opinion.

AI design tools make it easier than ever to generate something that looks good. That’s both a gift and a trap. Visual designers who thrive in this era will be the ones who use AI to accelerate taste, not replace it.

So where do we go from here?

Design has reached a point where the baseline is high and differentiation is rare.
The next wave of great visual designers won’t just know how to make things beautiful. They’ll know how to make things felt. They know the difference between polish and vibe.

That requires something tools can’t replicate; human taste, intuition, and conviction. The next chapter belongs to designers who bring clarity, courage, and personality back into digital products.

Make style your strategy. Don’t be afraid to take risks.

Keep designing,

— Fons