In case you haven’t heard, the flat design movement is the latest hype in the web development community. It is rumored that even Apple will use it in the next iOS iteration so you can see why many designers are trying to adapt to this new trend. I’m usually a skeptical person when it comes to extreme changes because there is a high probability that the user won’t be happy to get him out of his comfort zone.
Making a totally new design and a dramatic change in the user experience means resetting user’s learning curve.

Even if we can see some extremely interesting flat design examples in the wild, all it matters is the usability. Don’t take this design style into extreme because its minimal look can do more harm than good. Make sure that you have a good level of usability and keep your user focused on the main purpose your application. Remember that the greatest design is not the one that “scream” in the viewer’s eye but rather the one which works from the shadow. This means that every graphic element must work in a perfect harmony in order to support the functionality and to create the perfect environment for the user.

So, if you are interested in the flat design trend and you want to start playing with this concept, you need to begin by searching for graphic elements. Below you can see a collection of 20 flat icon sets which will help you create a fluent visual navigation. Also, these work perfect with some gorgeous flat design UI packs so go ahead to start creating your newest design.

44 Free Flat Icons

Premium Flat Social Icon Set

Flat icons for web cartography

GeoBats

Flat Design Icons Set

Meteocons

ikonic: 180 real iOS icons

Eldorado mini free

Iconic

Flat meteo icons

Foundation icons

Adobe CS6 Custom Flat Icons

Sosa

Rondo

Publicons

20 Flat Icons (PSD)

Glyphicons

Eco Ico

Metricons

Fontelico