ArtBistro

Design cliches.

Wether it's the rounded corner, drop shadow or

LARGE CAPPED

LEFT ALIGNED

BLACK HELVETICA TEXT

we all have ones that tear at the core of our soul.

What are some of the most egregiously visually offensive ones in your mind? 

 I've done my part. I refuse to use them. Revolution of one.

 a few more:

- rounded corners everywhere, OK we get it. we don't HAVE to be rectangles anymore but come on!

- the apple button. apple pretty much started the glassy button thing, the net has been copying it for 5 years. are we ready to move on?

- happy office worker stock photography. everyone has had to search or this junk, but at least try to find some realistic looking non-posed for shots instead of the headset person half head tilt coy smile the camera wile typing shot

- no capitals. nothing says cool more than no caps right? watch this: america, george bush, toyota.... ugh

 lol, good point! There is a great little video over at Dare School that covers many other, more subtle cliches. I love it.

I was just thinking about this the other day..........I am so tired of seeing the swirls and leaves and circles with different transparencies

overlapping each other.

Where's the originality in these "ARTISTS"??

well, all of you would gladly see rounded corners, swirls overlapping each other and a few otehrs of the normal cliches if you we working for the dolts I am which go to the lowest, common denominator, the subject, centered, starring adt the camera.. nothing else .. no angles, drop shadows,  oh but he does liek fades.. if you fade the background you are a flaming atiste!!!!

someone shoot me now..

maripaz says ...

...you are a flaming atiste!!!!

Don't you just hate that? We used to have this loud client;-- every time he came in, he would say, "Where's the ar-teest?!"

I always hated that.

If your like me, and your boss is really putting the pressure on for some trendy looks, you should check out GoMedia.com and BrushEezy.com

GoMedia freebies can be used commercially, but not all the freebies at BrushEezy. You need to carefully read the ReadMe files to see whether or not commercial use is allowed.

 How about "artsy fartsy?" Like nails on a blackboard.

Also not really a cliche but pet peeve at how many ads, brochure, billboards, TV commercials do apostrophes and quotes wrong! Instead of smart quotes, they use "foot" and "inch" marks.

Oh, and how about, "Make the logo bigger." Or, "Can't you just...?"

 Oh my gosh, "Make the logo bigger" definitely sets me into a fit of rage. That, and "There's too much white space." What's wrong with a little white space?!

My pet peeves are gradients and stretched text. You know...that text that someone just horizontally scaled to make it fill up the area more? Ugh!

You should check out www.makemylogobiggercream.com/ It's a hilarious site that also makes fun of web clichés.

I do a lot of club flyers, and something I have noticed are some heavy cliches are script style texts such as vivaldi. EVERY club customer I get wants a script font. The thing about cliches are the fact that they sell, and they don't get old very fast. It builds a comfort zone for the human brain, and it is hard to break the human mind from that comfort zone. Orbs, Glass Buttons, & rounded corners have been used for YEARS, and I don't think they are leaving anytime soon. Another trendy cliche that is a big hit that never seems to be leaving soon is the all so simple reflection.

Sunbusts... I hate sunbursts. You want something big and flashy? Sunburst! You're having a sale? Sunburst! Oh my god is that new? Sun-freaking-burst... Why? WHY?