Neubrutalism style in UX: a twist on the dominant modern minimalist

A quick look at what the style is, why we need it, and a list of websites using it in different ways.

I’m really into Neubrutalism. Since discovering it, I’ve seen a number of articles exploring what it is, and examples of it in use with varying degrees of success. I think it is worth exploring this style in more depth because it offers a twist on the dominant “modern minimalist” design style. It can also be quite fun when done right.

Why do we need something different?

Recently I was looking at examples of popular web apps for project management, and after reviewing quite a good number of them, I came to a realisation.

If it were not for the logo in the side navigation bar, I would have no idea which app I am looking at.

Sure they might offer different features, but even then I struggled to remember which feature I saw in which app. The UI for all the apps is strikingly similar, and if you look at them for long enough as I did, there is nothing to differentiate from one to the next aside from the logo in the side navigation bar and the forgettable colour scheme.

While a familiar UI is a good thing for users because amongst other reasons it feels comfortable and they can jump into the application without a learning curve (as long as the UX is also user-friendly which it isn’t always — looking at you, Jira) it’s a bit like walking downtown in a large city and all the buildings looking the same in their modernist style; the only way to know where you are and find what you’re looking for is through signage, i.e. street names and signs on buildings.

If it were not for the logo in the side navigation bar, I would have no idea which app I am looking at.

What is Neubrutalism?

Neubrutalism can be easily identified by a few particular traits. Immediately noticeable are the solid clashing colours; large bold text in quirky fonts immediately tells you where you are and what you can do there. There are strange animations and illustrations. Objects…