Why Do You Think Rounded Corners Look So Much Better?

[~ The 34 Year Buzz!!]

Rounded corners are a huge "must have" for web design these days.

• They do seem to look better to me.
• Why?
• Last-generation websites look painfully old today, but in 1999 or 2000 they certainly did not "look too old."
• Will rounded corners always look this good, or in five years will we be saying "Oh, that looks so 2009!" ?
• Any guesses what the next wave of great sites will look like?

 

[vWiz]

I think the whole web 2.0 thing caught on rather quickly. Rounded corners look better on "some" designs, but I wouldn't say all. It really depends on the designer and how he/she uses the style.

 

[~ The 34 Year Buzz!!]

^^^
Good point.
I think round usually looks better, and also wonder if they still will 'look good' 5 to 10 years from now.

 

[inspirohost]

I agree, they look much sleeker.

 

[dezinerite]

Great topic.

I already think round corners are so pre-2010. :D I believe the classic squared corners will always be around. Facebook for example is keeping their simple layout as current as it gets and they're still on squared corners.

Most of the sites I'm designing these days have squared corners but I'm keeping the borders barely visible so less emphasis will be placed on the corners and more emphasis will be placed on content.

Sort of like the gray we have on the current Namepros theme. Having round corners might make the theme dated after revisiting the site a couple of times.

I like 2pt radius corners, not the 5-10pt ones. :D

 

[jgalty]

Round corners or not round corners doesn't really matter. It's all about trends and content. You have to keep up with the times or anything looks out dated.

 

[enlytend]

A few years down the road, when CSS3's border-radius is universally supported (cough - Internet Explorer - cough), it will be so much simpler to code rounded corners ...

... and by then they'll probably be out of style :D!

 

[deleted984054565403]

A few years down the road, when CSS3's border-radius is universally supported (cough - Internet Explorer - cough), it will be so much simpler to code rounded corners ...

... and by then they'll probably be out of style :D!

Use them now, but have regular corners display on older browsers. Progressive enhancement.

 

[Ik]

Maybe one box of rounded corners would look nice on the site. Ex: the log in box.

 

[digital29]

I always use rounded corners...I think adds some "niceness" to every site and it looks professional too

 

[kiore]

It's fashion. Remember a few years back when instead of just adding a little more or less chrome they restyled the cars so they looked a lot different to the previous year's models, at first they looked ugly, then we got used to them and after a while we were over them. Now they look dated.

Or think of clothing, the fashion conscious have to buy new clothes every year, because last years clothes look "so last year"

Round corners look better to you because you keep seeing them on newish and high status sites. Having them may make your site look more "modern" so go with them. On the other hand, as dezinerite pointed out, round corners are soooo 2009.

Round corners, square corners, pentagonal corners ... yawn ... just go with rock solid functionality & buy a new theme every year or two.

 

[maxjohan]

When something get over-used it starts to look worse. If everyone
uses rounded corners now for the next years, as you mention.

You will start to detest it. Trust me. :bah:

^^^
if they still will 'look good' 5 to 10 years from now.

 

[zoomactive.com]

It all depends on the design. Some sites look great with rounded corners.

We also agree with maxjohan as we too are starting to decrease the amound of sites that use rounded corners.

 

[Decker78]

People like rounded corners because for so long it really wasn't done. And now with the new rules for CSS3 that create rounded corners we'll see more and more, .