在过去的一两年中，我注意到品牌和产品设计中出现了某种风格。 (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)

(本文最初出现在DESK杂志上)

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.

查看下面的图形，您将看到它。 颜色柔和柔和，形状圆润，版式不引人注目。 这就是您所说的干净的东西。 平易近人。 没什么冒犯的 差不多...很可爱。

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

缩小，您会发现这种特殊的美感无处不在。

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.

作为设计师，您可以选择对它的回应。 有些人看到了它在科技世界中的扩散，可能会称其为非原创。 其他人则将其视为“为设计师设计”。 所有的一切都有真相。 我个人认为，即使以牺牲创意为代价，它可能也是我们最近看到的最具战略意义的设计。

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.

这种风格的优点是要考虑的一件事-而且，如果您正在寻找批评家，那么我们的社区也不会缺少批评-但我更想知道：为什么会出现这种趋势？ 是什么提示的？ 是来自先前趋势的反弹还是其背后有更深层的心理原因？ 我们可以轻松地将其视为最新的设计趋势，但我认为它会更深入。

产品设计的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”一词是日本文化的重要组成部分。 用英语，它最接近地翻译为“可爱”。 从服装到食物，娱乐到身体举止，这是一个名词，用以描述迷人，脆弱，孩子般或可爱的事物。 据我了解Kawaii，这几乎是一种感觉，而不是形容词，这是一个不完整的词。

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.

当婴儿的脸使我们微笑时，或者我们看到一只小狗并有挤压它的冲动时，那就是卡哇伊。 这种积极的感觉转化为对象和体验，超越了传统的“可爱”。 在日本，这种效果可减少周围建筑工地的震动。 航空公司和日本警察利用它来软化他们的看法或扩大他们的吸引力。

Kawaii is essentially fulfilling the purpose of design.

Kawaii从根本上实现了设计目的。

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.

类似于美是功能 ，Kawaii可以看作是功能。 它引起积极的情绪，鼓励社会互动 。 关于Kawaii的效果如何促进镇静行为并缩小您的关注范围，有无数的实验研究 。 从理论上讲，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.

从最近的趋势来看，Kawaii似乎已经以某种形式到达了西方，并影响了我们设计数字产品的方式。 当我们摆脱简洁的冷酷美学时，我们正在采用可爱的心理力量。

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.

我们的应用程序设计变得柔软，甜美，无礼。 银行界面使用蜡笔，圆角和柔和的阴影使平凡或令人不快的任务更加“有趣”。 Animoji已接管了我们的聊天室，而我们的生产力工具开始看起来像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.

我们正在使用Kawaii使我们的产品更可口，交易更少。 黏土风格的3D手意味着我们的设计工具是我们的朋友。 圈子和花魁说我们的表单创建应用程序在这里聚会。 柔和的色彩和不带有尖角的信号表示安全。 这是平易近人的。 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.

我们在产品设计中看到的可能是极简主义的发展，或者可能是对先前趋势的回应。 也许这是我们处理更大的社会问题的方式。 研究表明，卡哇伊或与其衍生的时尚亚文化是一种 应对社会压力和焦虑 。 就像戴上面具减轻现实的痛苦一样。

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.

这可能只是一种趋势，也可能是我们变得更加人性化，更加童趣，因为我们厌倦了成年。 考虑到我们周围世界的背景，我们正在寻找积极性和舒适性，这就是为什么我们在电子表格中添加表情符号的原因。

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

Tran Mau Tri Tam的“哈瓦那”着陆页图像。RomainBriaux的“指定”着陆页图像。

Thank you for reading!

感谢您的阅读！

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 设计师兼制造者+联合创始人， 为设计师提供了一个投资组合平台。 在 vanschneider.com/blog上 阅读我的博客