For as long as I can remember I’ve read articles and viewed comments—perusing general design feedback—which is critical of designers who follow trends. This extends to those people who use superfluous mockup techniques to present their work, or to those who place mockups inside the beautiful industrial design of an iPhone or other high priced device.



The feedback on the design itself is usually non-constructive, and the comment instead focuses on calling out the designer for attempting to sell their design for something it apparently isn’t. I’ve seen this type of feedback in the form of a Dribbble comment and as long-winded as a lengthy Medium article aiming to drive the point home.

To the authors of these comments and pieces of feedback: We get it. Trends by their very definition are not unique, and applying these techniques to your own work without putting thought into them is bad, akin to taking the easy road.

You know what else isn’t unique, and is also seemingly easy? Writing the same article about not following trends that every other disgruntled creative has written, or, reiterating an idea that literally no designer on the face of the world disagrees with. Writing an article saying why it’s bad to jump off a bridge when everyone else is, is not needed.

Actually, let me take a step back and approach this a little differently. Instead, I’ll go ahead and make arguments in favor of following trends. Maybe this is playing devils advocate but I honestly have problems with the excessive demeaning of designers who choose to implement “trendy” techniques into their work or practice.