[eyevariety]

The conclusion is a total let down.

"Dust off your drop shadows and gradients, and introduce them to your flat color buttons and icons. Do your absolute best work without feeling restricted to a single aesthetic."

I feel like the author is admitting that they are completely constrained by the rules or whims of trend- and that breaking out of them is some kind of crazy paradigm shift- and that breaking them only involves mixing in the tired tropes of the last fashion into the tired tropes of the new one.

My experience is that its only the non-designers that feel constrained by fashion. The professionals push the boundaries - they are the ones that define it.