A trend that is popping up among flourishing websites is sharp edges. No rounded borders, no fancy backgrounds, just solid, clean boxes. This is a relief to designers who have been flustering over complicated text boxes over the past several years.

The real question is though, are we ready for sharp edges again? The mid-90s was the beginning of organic design. Sharp edges was standard, not necessarily because it looked good, but simply because it worked. After the web boom people were looking to new ways to deviate their sites from the pack and rounded borders came into play.

Ever since the recent Myspace explosion however, designers have been looking to its retro style for help. Recently on top of that, Google has declared itself as a multitude of solid pastel colors. No gradients, just solid color. As a result, we see startups like infogami that use a mesh of sharp edges and solid colors.

The result has a mixed response. Initially, it seems like a neglect of creative influence. After further review, it feels efficiently simple. There has always been something about rounded edges and flowing gradients that seems almost tacky.

Color gradients aren’t out yet, but not everything needs a gradient background anymore. There are still things that will always work best with rounded edges. The final verdict is that sharp edges are “in” and they’re retro cool. It’s time to throw out those round CSS corners!