The phrase “Gild the Lily” involves unnecessary ornament, as the idea is to adorn a lily of superficial decoration only serves to hide its natural beauty. Well I’m here to tell you that a little touch of what might look like unnecessary Ornamentation in design is exactly what you need.
When your design is solid and you have spiced the basic items and added one layers of decoration can help communicate A level of care and attention.
First you need a lily
Let’s break down “Gild the Lily” metaphor. First you need a lily. Lilies are naturally beautiful and each is unique. They do not need further decoration. To play in this metaphor, let’s assume your design is already big. If not, you don’t have a lily. Go back to work on the basic elements and come back later (or keep reading in any case).
Now that you have a lily let’s talk gilding. That “Guild” is to cover it with a thin layer of gold. We are not talking about the inner beauty that is baked in the soul of the soul itself (it is the Lily part of the metaphor). A touch of metaphorical gold foil on the surface can send a message about joy with a hint of decadence.
This gilding can come in the form of a subtle, animated transition or through a hint of color and added depth in a drop of shade. Before we go into details, let’s make sure our metaphor does not carry us too far.
Gild sparing
If we go too far with our gilding, we can communicate indulgence and excess rather than a hint of decadence.
An over-the-top design can be particularly annoying, depending on the state of mind for the person you are designing. For example, sits a flashy animation that boasts your new AI -Chat feature, maybe not so well with a frustrated customer who can’t get their password to reset it in the first place.
Blink to the audience (once)
Not all good product design can be as obviously beautiful as a lily. Even if you have a great design, it may not be felt for those who enjoy the benefits of this design. Our design should not always be noticeable but sometimes it is fun To note and appreciate a fantastic design.
If you are apple, you don’t have to worry about your design going unnoticed. No one thinks the background color of the Apple Web site is white (#FFFFFF) Because they forgot to specify one in their style sheets (though I am old enough to remember a time when the standard background on the web was a battleship gray, #CCCCCC). It is so clear from the general level of refinement and production quality on the Apple site that the white background is a deliberate choice.
You and I’m not Apple. Your client is (probably) not Apple. You do not have an army of world -class product photographers and movement designers working in a glass space ship in Cupertino. You are on a small team pushing up against the budget and planning restrictions. Even with these limitations, you manage to make good products.
The big design behind your products may have been so well done that it is invisible. The door handle is so well -shaped that you do not notice how well -formed it is. This button is so well placed that no one thinks about where it is located.
When you spit out the basic elements, it’s ok to flash to the audience once in a while. Not only is it ok, but it can even increase your design.
By just referring to a touch of attention to the thought of your design, you may be able to make it even more wonderful to experience. However, take it an inch too far and you distract from the experience and ask for applause. Go carefully.
Digital lilies
A metaphor – even one with gold and lilies – only takes us this far. Let’s consider some specific examples of gilding a digital product. When it comes to the Internet, a few touches of Polish can reach the following:
Non-hero black and non-hero white: Instead of solid black (#000000) and solid white (#FFFFFF) Colors on the web, find subtle variations. They may look black and white at first glance, but there is a subtle implication of care and adaptation. An off-white background also allows you to have pure white elements, such as dimensions that stand out nicely based on. Be careful to maintain enough contrast to ensuring available text.
Layered and colorful shadows: Josh Comeau writes about bringing color into shadows, including a tool to help generate shadows that just feel better.
Comfortable letters: Find a comfortable line height and letter distance to the font family you are using. A responsive type system like Utopia can help define distance that looks and feels comfortable across different device sizes.
A touch of color: When you do not want your fire dyes to overwhelm your design or you would like a complementary color to highlight an otherwise monotonous place, consider adding a simple, simple strip of solid color along the top of the view. Even something a few pixels high can add a nice splash of color without complicating the rest of the design. The site of one reaction web frame makes this neat and goes on with a unique shaped yellow accent at the top of the place. It’s even more subtle if you see their dark fashion design, but it’s still there.
Illustration and photography: It is easier than ever to find quirky and funny illustrations for your site but no stock image can replace a relevant illustration or photo, so it is appropriate that it is appropriate that it bowl has been designed just for this case. A list from each other have ordered a unique illustration in a consistent style of each of their articles to decades. You don’t have to be a gifted illustrator. There may be charm in your amateur scrapers. If not, hire a great artist.
Take care, cheap gilding
Symbols on decadence are appreciated because they are somehow precious. Therefore, we are talking about gilding with gold and not brass. This is also why a business card with rounded corners may feel more premium than a simple rectangle. It feels more expensive because it is.
However, printing has become pretty cheap, even with premium touches. Printing blooms like rounded corners or a smooth finish does not convey the same value and care as they did before they became quick up-sell options from your local (or budget online) printing.
A well -formulated and thoughtful cover letter used to be a good way to stand out from a pile of similar resumes. Now it takes a completely different approach to stand out from a wall of AI-LLM-generated cover letters that say everything an employer might want to hear.
On the web, a destination page is used where new side sections slip and fade in with animation, to suggest that someone spent extra time on implementation. Now a page with too much movement feels more like a million other templates enabled by site building tools such as Wix, Squarespace and webflow.
Custom fonts have also become so light and ubiquitous on the web that sticking to system standard fonts can be such a strong statement as a stylish font.
Is there anyone who cares?
Will everyone notice that the drop shadows on your site have a hint of color? No. Is naked will notice? Maybe not. If you get the details right, however, people will feel the. These levels of polishing are CumulativeThere is a percentage here and there to the overall experience. They may not notice tint in your drop shade but they may be convey some confidence From a feeling of the care that went into the design.
Most people are not web developers or designers. They do not know the implementation details for CSS animations and boxing shadows. Similarly, I’m not a car expert – far from it. I appreciate reliability and affordable prices more than benefit and luxury in a car. Anyway, when I close the door on a high -quality vehicle I can feel The difference.
On the next project, allow yourself to guild just a lily.
(GG, YK)