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Caution: Wet Floor

Posted by Andrew Faulkner on September 27th, 2006.

Andrew Faulkner is the admin at fadtastic. Andrew prides himself on standards-based, accessible web design in the city of Nottingham, UK. He believes in aesthetically pleasing accessible design and that 'standards compliant does not equal boring.'

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We’ve all seen it. You cannot avoid it. Visiting the design showcases throws up a multitude of examples.

I’m talking about the Wet Floor Look. Some people love it. Others detest it. It seems to be the Marmite of design trends. But whether you love it or hate it, its abundance shows its perceived popularity. You might say that it is the new diagonal lines.

Just take a look at our own gallery. Almost 10% of submitted images are tagged with ‘wet floor.’ So why is it so widely used? I think that the answer lies in two places:

It’s easy to make it. Let’s face it - you don’t have to be Hicks to create the effect. It’s a simple graphics job. Hell, there’s even a script to do it for you on any image if you’re lazy.
It’s simple to fit it in a design. Unlike an intricate pattern or a splatter effect, the wet floor look can pretty much go anywhere and still look good. It’s hard to make it look out of place.

I think with this trend I’d even say that it is overused. This all sounds very negative so far I know. Stick with me. The reason for writing about this trend isn’t because I hate it. I actually really like it. But its abundance is making me sick of it. It’s like hearing your favourite song many times a day. It loses its appeal.

So what I’m asking is that you use the wet floor look more sparingly and keep it subtle. Use it when it amplifies a design, not to make the design. Let’s save this trend by not using it so much.

I don’t want the wet floor look to dry up. I just want you to water it down a little.

Whos with me?

( 8 so far )

Comments RSS Feed

You mean reflections.

- Logos suffer a lot from these treatments, just browse through Logoppnd and you will see 70% about dont like it or think it is overkill.
Though it can be nice if it is detailed, funny or justified at least. That is a designer’s choice to make.

You could say that shadows, glows, reflections add a sort of extra dimension, sort of faux 3D. If it is well executed and it is realistic than of course.

Also the *wet floor technique* also can connect elements as they look as a sort of transitions between elements, or element and background.

Johan
September 27th, 2006
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I think a lot of designers are getting bored with the unoriginality of the trend. If I saw it less often, I’d be happier.

Andrew Faulkner
September 27th, 2006
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Wet floor, like every other trend, has to be used with caution. It’s like aqua. Everybody loved the aqua look when Apple released OsX. Aqua buttons and pinstripes appeared everywhere on the web.
Nowadays, aqua buttons look quite boring - sometimes even cheesy, although it could look great when look sparingly.
Let’s avoid the same phenomenon with the wet floor effect …

(sorry for my english, i’m french)

giz404
September 28th, 2006
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And please, don’t use it to make your design look more “Web 2.0″! That’s when it comes off looking really lame.

This is my favourite example (skip the intro to see the reflections in action, although the whole thing is a good example of how the whole “2.0″ thing has gone too far… way too far…)

Megan
September 28th, 2006
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I think my favourite example at the moment is Bartelme.

I think this effect is often created on a whim once the design is complete to add ’something extra’ to the design. It doesn’t often work though.

Andrew Faulkner
September 28th, 2006
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I used it for the first time. Take a look and tell me what you think…

http://185theterrace.hambodesign.com

Steven
September 29th, 2006
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[…] take a look at Apple and its famous wet floor look. By simulating the reflection of an object, by placing an upside down and faded out version right […]

The Importance of Balancing Innovation and Convention
July 8th, 2007
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[…] thanks to some research for a post on the balance between innovation and convention, I found an interesting use of the word: I’m talking about the Wet Floor Look. Some people love it. Others detest it. It […]

What Does Marmite Mean? at Fool for Five
July 9th, 2007
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