Does someone want to explain the rationale behind the color picker at the side of the page which sets the text and image tint before slowly reverting it back to its original light gray?
(... I think. I don't work for Stripe.)
> Process control patches, or printer’s color blocks, are used to check the quality or density of colors that are used on the package.
When I was an intern at a defense company, there was this old british guy that always wore a white shirt and a black tie - even in 2010. I went to lunch with him in his old Jaguar. We were discussing car designs and asked him what he thinks about Audi's new eyelash headlights - which was cool in 2010. He said "If you turn off the lights, from a distance, I can't tell if it is a Honda Accord or an Audi A4. All these sedans look the same". It made me think and appreciate Porsche 911 and other iconic designs that have veered off of the beaten path and created something original. Original, not for the sake of being different, but truly original in the full spirit of the meaning.
Stripe, I am sorry, but doesn't live up to its design hype. Stripe's design is not original nor iconic.
Stripe is almost 10 years old. If their design looks like other SaaS companies or Material or Bootstrap or whatever it's most likely because it has been imitated or at least influenced other designers.
The visual aesthetics of Stripe's output demonstrates great taste. But it's the way that taste complements the functionality, and how they are uncompromising about functionality and usability. I've worked on too many UI's where a detail in the design has compromised the usability, performance, or functionality of a UI all for the sake of aesthetics. I swear I might kill the next UXer that tries to argue that "responsive is out of scope" just because they can't be arsed to figure it out or change their designs to work responsively.
A lot of products and services look like Stripe now, or at least try to, but very few work as well as Stripe's output.
It feels pretty original to me. What do you think it's a copy of if it's not original?