We’re seeing a rising number of rough, rugged, and violently in-your-face websites. They’re the very opposite of the clean and polished websites which we’re used to and which have established their rule over the web as the most appealing and user-friendly. This trend of bold, loud collages and rather chaotic layouts carries the name “Brutalism”, and we’re seeing some big brands, such as Balenciaga and Bloomberg, embrace its principles on their websites. It’s confusing and different from what we’re used to and it’s widely characterized as “ugly”, but it can work well for some, and there’s a reason why brutalism is taking momentum. Let’s take a look at the basics of this rising trend.

Back to the basics

Although it’s a relatively new concept in web design, the characteristic collaging and typography techniques have been very popular in posters and art from the 1950s to the ‘70s.

At the same time, brutalism is not new to web design at all because it can be seen as a return to the pioneering days of the web, when developers could make only unpolished and rugged websites with the tools they had. The point is not to look unpolished – it’s in raw code. Designers use HTML tables, embedded CSS, untabbed code, and so on, giving us the characteristic design we see on brutalist websites.

There’s yet another contradiction. Brutalism opposes the cleanliness, simplicity, and elegance of minimalist design, but at the same time, it has a rigorously minimalist approach. It aims for bare functionality without even considering UX, without aiming to please, and its visual characteristics present an all-out revolt at minimalism.

Why it’s called brutalist

The origin of the name doesn’t stem from the word “brutal”, although it may seem like it. The name references the architectural movement that manifested in massive concrete buildings from the ‘50s to the ‘70s.

The brutalist architecture movement got its name from the French word for raw concrete – béton brut. It sought to eliminate all decoration from buildings, emphasizing that their form and aesthetic derives purely from function. The concrete was exposed and all architectural ornamentation banished with the idea to create purely functional, honest and unpretentious architecture that opposed the decorative aesthetic of previous movements.

Questioning the norm

In the exact same way, brutalist web design presents a counter-reaction to the mainstream current. It’s not surprising that this trend is rising because it is a consequence of the homogenized visual standards of modern web design. All good websites have started looking a lot like each other because they follow the same languages and principles of what constitutes good and user-friendly design. Brutalism seeks to challenge this growing inauthenticity and in doing so, it presents itself as stripped-down and harsh – just like the architectural movement.

Another look at UX

Brutalism is criticized as user-unfriendly because of its stark and often loud visuals and the lack of hierarchy in design. In fact, it ignores user-centered design principles as a statement. Here’s what its proponents from uxbrutalism.com have to say about that: “The first (and only) step is to throw elements on the screen, without worrying too much about how they work together. Who are you to define hierarchy anyway? Let each element fight for the spotlight.”

You can see how this approach can easily be taken to the extreme. But although brutalism exhibits itself as a punk-rock revolt at the homogenization of the established user-centered design, if we ever want it to work well we can’t use it as an excuse for straight-out bad and dysfunctional design. After all, the famous brands with brutalist websites work with professional web design companies which have the skill to reconcile this movement with well-established design principles, making authentic yet commercially viable designs. The point is not to ignore UX but rather to not use it as an excuse for a lack of visual identity and having the same buttons, colors, and imagery as any other “well-designed and user-friendly” website.

Some design characteristics

You’ll definitely know a brutalist website for its stark nature and loud visual identity when you see it. There’s nothing subtle about it, and some designers even interpret it as flat design taken to the extreme. Brutalist websites often mimic code visualization with their dark backgrounds, typography, and text colors (who would’ve thought that we’d be seeing lime green text on websites in 2018).

Some websites don’t contain images at all, just like in the olden days of the web, while others unapologetically lay text over it. There’s no distinct hierarchy, usually no color palette (you can really try anything you want), symmetry is not a design matter and generally, you won’t find any gradients or patterns.

These are some key points of brutalist web design to get acquainted with, and it’s a very intriguing trend to explore further. The question is – is brutalism right for you? That really depends on you and your target audience. Some people call it ugly; others don’t question its aesthetic but value it as an effort to bring back authenticity and confidence to mainstream design. If you disagree with its statements and find it downright revolting, it’s best to steer clear of it and make your own statement with your website. Even if that’s the case, you can still perceive web brutalism as a valuable lesson in questioning the norm.