在過去的一兩年中，我注意到品牌和產品設計中出現了某種風格。 (Over the last year or two, I’ve noticed a certain style emerge in brand and product design.)

(this article originally appeared on DESK magazine)

(本文最初出現在DESK雜志上)

Look at the graphic below and you’ll see it. The colors are soft and muted, the shapes rounded and the typography unobtrusive. It’s what you could describe as clean. It’s approachable. It’s inoffensive. It’s almost… cute.

查看下面的圖形，您將看到它。 顏色柔和柔和，形狀圓潤，版式不引人注目。 這就是您所說的干凈的東西。 平易近人。 沒什么冒犯的 差不多...很可愛。

Zoom out and you’ll notice this particular aesthetic is everywhere.

縮小，您會發現這種特殊的美感無處不在。

As a designer, you can choose your response to it. Some, seeing how it’s proliferated in the tech world, may call it unoriginal. Others deem it “design for designers.” There’s a hint of truth in all of it. I personally think it may be the most strategic design we’ve seen lately, even at the expense of originality.

作為設計師，您可以選擇對它的回應。 有些人看到了它在科技世界中的擴散，可能會稱其為非原創。 其他人則將其視為“為設計師設計”。 所有的一切都有真相。 我個人認為，即使以犧牲創意為代價，它可能也是我們最近看到的最具戰略意義的設計。

The merit of this style is one thing to consider — and there’s no shortage of criticism in our community, if you’re looking for that — but I’m more curious to know: Why is this trend happening? What prompted it? Is it backlash from a previous trend or is there a deeper psychological reason behind it? We could easily dismiss it as the latest design trend, but I think it goes deeper.

這種風格的優點是要考慮的一件事-而且，如果您正在尋找批評家，那么我們的社區也不會缺少批評-但我更想知道：為什么會出現這種趨勢？ 是什么提示的？ 是來自先前趨勢的反彈還是其背后有更深層的心理原因？ 我們可以輕松地將其視為最新的設計趨勢，但我認為它會更深入。

產品設計的Kawaiization (The Kawaiization of product design)

The word “Kawaii” is a prominent part of Japanese culture. In English, it most closely translates to “cute.” It’s a term used for everything from clothing to food to entertainment to physical mannerisms, to describe something charming, vulnerable, childlike or loveable. As I understand Kawaii, it’s almost more of a feeling than an adjective, a word that defies complete definition.

“ Kawaii”一詞是日本文化的重要組成部分。 用英語，它最接近地翻譯為“可愛”。 從服裝到食物，娛樂到身體舉止，這是一個名詞，用以描述迷人，脆弱，孩子般或可愛的事物。 據我了解Kawaii，這幾乎是一種感覺，而不是形容詞，這是一個不完整的詞。

When a baby’s face makes us smile, or we see a puppy and have an urge to squeeze it, it’s Kawaii. And that positive feeling translates to objects and experiences beyond the classically “cute.” In Japan, the effect is employed to reduce agitation surrounded construction sites. It is capitalized by airlines and Japanese police forces to soften their perception or broaden their appeal.

當嬰兒的臉使我們微笑時，或者我們看到一只小狗并有擠壓它的沖動時，那就是卡哇伊。 這種積極的感覺轉化為對象和體驗，超越了傳統的“可愛”。 在日本，這種效果可減少周圍建筑工地的震動。 航空公司和日本警察利用它來軟化他們的看法或擴大他們的吸引力。

Kawaii is essentially fulfilling the purpose of design.

Kawaii從根本上實現了設計目的。

Similar to how beauty is a function, Kawaii can be seen as a function. It elicits positive emotions that encourage social interaction. There are countless experimental studies on how the effect of Kawaii promotes calm behavior and narrows your focus. It’s even theorized to have healing power.

類似于美是功能 ，Kawaii可以看作是功能。 它引起積極的情緒，鼓勵社會互動 。 關于Kawaii的效果如何促進鎮靜行為并縮小您的關注范圍，有無數的實驗研究 。 從理論上講，它具有治愈的能力 。

Looking at recent trends, it seems that Kawaii has, in some form, reached the West and influenced the way we are designing our digital products. As we move away from the clean yet cold aesthetic of minimalism, we’re adopting the psychological power of cuteness.

從最近的趨勢來看，Kawaii似乎已經以某種形式到達了西方，并影響了我們設計數字產品的方式。 當我們擺脫簡潔的冷酷美學時，我們正在采用可愛的心理力量。

Our app designs have become soft, sweet, inoffensive. Bank interfaces use pastels, rounded corners and soft drop shadows to make mundane or unpleasant tasks more “fun.” Animojis have taken over our chats, and our productivity tools are starting to look like Animal Crossing.

我們的應用程序設計變得柔軟，甜美，無禮。 銀行界面使用蠟筆，圓角和柔和的陰影使平凡或令人不快的任務更加“有趣”。 Animoji已接管了我們的聊天室，而我們的生產力工具開始看起來像Animal Crossing。

We are using Kawaii to make our products more palatable and less transactional. Claymation-style 3D hands imply our design tool is our friend. Circles and squiggles say our form-creation app is here to party. The muted colors and lack of sharp corners signal safety. It is approachable. It is charming. It’s Kawaii.

我們正在使用Kawaii使我們的產品更可口，交易更少。 黏土風格的3D手意味著我們的設計工具是我們的朋友。 圈子和花魁說我們的表單創建應用程序在這里聚會。 柔和的色彩和不帶有尖角的信號表示安全。 這是平易近人的。 很迷人 是卡哇伊。

What we’re seeing in product design may be minimalism evolving, or it may be a response to previous trends. Or maybe it’s our way of dealing with greater societal issues. Studies have suggested that Kawaii, or fashion sub-cultures off-shooting from it, are a way of coping with social pressures and anxiety. Like putting on a mask to ease the pain of reality.

我們在產品設計中看到的可能是極簡主義的發展，或者可能是對先前趨勢的回應。 也許這是我們處理更大的社會問題的方式。 研究表明，卡哇伊或與其衍生的時尚亞文化是一種 應對社會壓力和焦慮 。 就像戴上面具減輕現實的痛苦一樣。

It could be just a trend, or it could be we are becoming more human, more childlike because we’re tired of being grownups. Given the context of the world around us, we are searching for positivity and comfort, and that’s why we add emojis to our spreadsheets.

這可能只是一種趨勢，也可能是我們變得更加人性化，更加童趣，因為我們厭倦了成年。 考慮到我們周圍世界的背景，我們正在尋找積極性和舒適性，這就是為什么我們在電子表格中添加表情符號的原因。

“Havana” landing page image by Tran Mau Tri Tam.“Specify” landing page image by Romain Briaux.

Tran Mau Tri Tam的“哈瓦那”著陸頁圖像。RomainBriaux的“指定”著陸頁圖像。

Thank you for reading!

感謝您的閱讀！

Want to learn more about me? I’m Tobias is a Designer & Maker + Co-Founder of Semplice & Carbonmade a portfolio platform for designers. Read my blog at vanschneider.com/blog

想更多地了解我？ 我是 Tobias， 是 Semplice ＆ Carbon 的 設計師兼制造者+聯合創始人， 為設計師提供了一個投資組合平臺。 在 vanschneider.com/blog上 閱讀我的博客