10 Best Website Layouts Using Flat Illustrated Graphics and Icons

Flat design is a popular trend for websites and blogs today. Using flat design means leaving out any shadows, raised bevels, 3D effects and other depth-creating design elements. All icons, navigation buttons and content on your website should be at the same level of depth for a completely flat frontend design. This trend is used by major websites and even by Microsoft for its current Windows 10 operating system. You can take advantage of this trending design style by using entirely flat layouts, icons, and illustrated graphics on your website. Check out these 10 website layouts for inspiration for your next flat design project.

1. Kickdrop

The Kickdrop website is a perfect example of completely flat web design done well. This code market website uses a grid-style layout with flat thumbnail images and plain text descriptions. The typography, logo, and icons on this website are all flat, creating a smooth and coherent theme. The Kickdrop dripping-shoe logo is a flat, basic illustration that lends itself well to modern mobile platforms. Consider using flat thumbnails, icons and logos for your next web project to capture the essence of this modern website.

2. Tectonica Studios

Tectonica Studios is a full-service digital marketing company with an outstanding flat-design website. This company uses flat animations and illustrations over a 2-dimensional parallax background, proving flat designs don’t have to be limited to boring scrolling options. Try installing parallax scrolling on your own flat website layout to enhance your flat web graphics and icons.

3. The Agency Layout

This WordPress theme will provide you with everything you need for creating your own flat website. You can start a blog with this theme using nothing but flat illustrations, text posts and of course, a great flat-designed logo. The Agency is a great choice for corporate websites and blogs that seek a flat and minimalist interface.

4. Zurb

The flat icons and illustrated graphics found on this web design company’s website are something to aspire to. Zurb created large, intuitive icons without the need for special three-dimensional effects. The icons have a hand-sketched appearance, which pairs nicely with the flat layout and graphics throughout.

5. Ripple

The website for the chat-based iPhone app Ripple is about as flat as they come. This site utilizes super-simple line drawings and illustrations to draw focus to call to action buttons and large-font text headers. The makers of the Ripple website use altered perspective to make flat web graphics from 3D images. Consider changing the perspective of your own images to make them more suitable for flat layouts.

6. Yellow Conference

The Yellow Conference, based out of L.A. is no stranger to modern trends. They utilized the flat-layout trend of modern websites to create a sleek, hip site for entrepreneurial conference. This website is very simple, and uses a drop down three-line icon for navigation, which fits perfectly in the entirely flat layout design.

7. World Cup

Flat designs work really well with historical websites and interactive timelines, as the World Cup Match Balls website proves. This site is a testament to how effective flat design can be in a long scrolling page with lots of graphics and illustrations. This informative site manages to pack of a lot data into a very simple and easy to read layout. Make use of large spaces between your numbers and text to enhance your flat layout design.

8. Zerif Pro

Zerif Pro is a one-page website layout for blogs and sites that require a flat design. You can use this flat WordPress layout to start a blog with a modern, trendy look and feel. This layout includes flat illustrated graphics for a unified two-dimensional appearance.

9. Kin HR Software

This website is an ideal candidate for any flat-design inspiration. The layout and illustrations used by Kin HR Software Company are free of any drop-shadows, floating icons or 3D features. This makes for a sleek and modern frontend that will resonate with customers looking for simplicity and ease of use. Consider using elements from this website such as the large content blocks with basic background colors to create your own minimalist website or blog layout.

10. Herald

If you’re digging the flat design found on these inspiring websites, you can use the Herald theme to create one of your own. Whether you want to start a blog, informative site or online newspaper, this theme will give you a nice, flat platform to showcase your best work. The Herald is fully responsive and can be customized in over 500 ways, so it’s easy to import your own illustrations and graphics anywhere you want to display them.

These layouts make use of flat illustrated graphics, icons and other design features to keep a minimalist, modern theme and appearance. Flat design has the benefit of looking current, artistic and loading fast. Create your own flat design layouts and icons or download your own from the list compiled here for an instantly hip and modern blog or website.