Until a few years ago, 3D effects used to be really hip in graphic design. When Microsoft Windows 8 was launched however, a new design trend emerged: flat design. Flat design does not use any 3D effects like shadows, reliefs etc. Everything looks more flat, simpler and a bit „plain“.
I personally like flat design a lot. However, this trend has not matched everybody’s taste. Sometimes I had the feeling that people either love flat design or they absolutely hate it. It polarises. Maybe this is one reason why you come across more and more flat designs with shadow effects now.
You can see that a long, sharp shadow was added to the 2D design in order to make it look 3D, but in the end it still remains 2D. Maybe this is a new trend, a flat design 2.0? I’m curious how strong flat designs with shadows will become in the future.