Whilst the term “flat design” might not be a phrase you’re yet familiar with, you will definitely have noticed the concept and the design features whilst browsing the internet.

For those of you that have noticed an increase in the “drop shadow” trend in web design, the easiest way to describe flat design is to say it’s the opposite of that. Flat design is designing a website that has left behind the drop shadow and the 3D effects, and that is by all intents and purposes flat.

Flat design looks modern, fun, fresh and refreshingly simple compared to it’s 3D counterpart. Flat design is embracing the use of solid colors, sharp, well-defined typography and bold shapes. It takes away any faff and fussiness from the design making it so much easier to digest and to navigate. It’s modern and is without a doubt going to be a huge design trend this coming year.

We all know that there are a few differences between small businesses and larger corporations, especially when they begin considering the web design aspect of their marketing plan and branding. And while for the most part, the nuts and bolts basics are often the same for both, small business owners and freelancers often have to make many more considerations before they get to the actual design.

Before approaching a designer, small business owners should already have some solid ideas of what they need and what they want (which can sometimes be two very different things) ready to present. Larger corporations have creative departments and teams at the ready to bring the company’s brand to the web with ease. The people at the top rarely have to get their hands dirty with the details.

The same is not true of small businesses. We cannot just say, ‘we need a website’ or ‘our site needs a new look’, and hand it off from there to our subordinates without truly thinking on it any further. So before we go forward, we have to have a plan of attack.

The long, painful and drawn-out death of skeuomorphic design lurched forward another step this week with a redesign by the world’s biggest social media site, Facebook.

The new look is spearheaded by a logomark that is a simplified version of the pre-existing one. Although the full Facebook logo will remain unchanged, the round-cornered square with the solitary ‘f’ has been carefully refined.

The blue strip, previously positioned at the bottom of the graphic as a nod towards a light reflection has been dropped. The letter ‘f’ has been enlarged, and the stem now connects with the outer edge of the square, creating the sense that the shape is a window through to something, rather than a box containing it. Conceptually, this tiny change makes a huge difference.

A few weeks ago, we posted a nifty quiz to test your prowess at differentiating between Helvetica and Arial. If that typography challenge succeeded in whetting your whistle for font games, a new app design is ready to take you to the next level of typographic deduction.

Designed by Copenhagen-based designer Andreas Hansen, Font Nerd is currently only a concept of an app, designed to help users gamify their font experience.

Quizzes — in the form of entertaining sentences displayed in different fonts  — prompt players to guess the correct typeface; if you’re stumped, there’s the option to view the whole alphabet. Another fun feature is the built-in Favorites button to help you keep a running list of the fonts that you find most appealing; plus, you’ll have the option to purchase your favorites straight from the app should a particular typeface catch your eye.