Skip to content

Form & shape · Curvilinear

Rounded & pill

Soft corners, capsules and blobs.

A design choice in Stylogeny’s vocabulary, under form & shape: what is the shape language?

styles make it: 39
as a defining choice: 7
as a usual one: 15
now and then: 17
avoid it: 9

Styles defined by it 7

For these styles it is one of the choices that make the style.

Streamline Moderne1930–1945 · North AmericaThe late, chiefly American phase of Art Deco, in which aerodynamic science became a visual language for a Depression-era culture hungry for progress.
Kawaii Design1970–present · East AsiaJapan's culture of cuteness, which grew from 1970s teenage rounded handwriting and shōjo fancy goods into a global design language through Sanrio, character merchandise and emoji.
Y2K Futurism1997–2005 · Global / networkedThe optimistic, chrome-plated vision of the future that surrounded the turn of the millennium, spread by consumer electronics, music videos, games, fashion and dot-com branding.
Yuru-chara (Japanese Local Mascot Design)2000–present · East AsiaJapan's local mascots: characters commissioned by prefectures, towns and tourism bodies to stand for a place, named yuru-kyara ('loose characters') by the illustrator Jun Miura around 2000.
Neumorphism2019–2021 · Global / networkedA short-lived interface trend in which controls are extruded from, or pressed into, a background of the same colour and modelled only by paired soft shadows.
Claymorphism & Soft 3D2020–present · Global / networkedA soft, toy-like 3D look from product design around 2020, given the name 'claymorphism' in a December 2021 article by Michał Malewicz.
Glassmorphism2020–present · Global / networkedAn interface style of translucent, frosted panels floating over vivid, blurred backgrounds, so that depth and hierarchy come from layered transparency.

Styles that often use it 15

A characteristic choice: usual in these styles, though not essential.

Styles that use it now and then 17

An occasional choice in these styles.

It often goes with

Choices that the styles making it make more often than the atlas as a whole.

App & OS interfacein 18 of 39
Warm & approachablein 26 of 39
Web & CSSin 19 of 39
Icons & pictogramsin 17 of 39
Rounded sansin 11 of 39
Flat vector illustrationin 15 of 39

Styles that avoid it

Styles that deliberately leave it out.

Other choices in form & shape