Round rectangles
You’re friendly and you’re looking to make people aware of the fact that it’s easy, modern and maybe even take a shot at cool.
It’s the new and you’re definitely showing it. Chances are, you’re looking at a younger audience.
Square rectangles
It doesn’t matter if you’re old, or new — you’re trying to be serious. And you’re showing it. Especially if you do this and you’re “new”. You’re showing that you’re aiming to be the standard in the industry.
Not that being friendly is not something you want, but it’s not your main thing.
Examples
Uber.com changed from being friendly and all that to being professional and using square rectangles. They’ve put on their suits now and started acting professional — maybe as a counter-reaction of the backlash they had and the “childish” attitude they were accused of.
Stripe.com is using round rectangles — they are looking to be the standard in the industry, but more important than that is the fact that they need to make sure everyone understands that their product is about easiness.
Adobe.com? Going for round, since their target audience must, by definition, score high in openness.
Microsoft.com? It’s for everyone, young and mature. They want to be the standard in the industry. Going for rectangle
The conclusion
What do you want more:
A. To be the standard in an industry, to be mature and exude professionalism? To have an authoritarian aura and to sell more trust?
B. Or, to be more friendly and start building a stronger connection. Maybe let the people understand that customer support will do everything that’s needed to make them happy or that it’s so simple and easy to use what you’re doing.
Don’t pick between them — just choose one that’s more important than the other. Take your time because it matters, but choose it.
About Ch Daniel
I’ve updated this signature in July 2020, so older mentions of the signature might not make sense.
I currently don’t write on this blog anymore. I wrote daily for 9 months on this very blog, but now I’m focused on building the CH Group.
If you want to follow my newer articles, check out the CH Group’s blog.
See everything I do here: Chdaniel.com
