A gradient is often the fastest way to make something look expensive in five minutes and forgettable in five months. Chrome, gloss, and depth read as premium in isolation and identical in a category where every competitor reached for the same effects at the same time.
We build flat on purpose — flat fills, hairline rules, no drop shadows, no blur. It is a harder constraint than it sounds, because flat design has nowhere to hide a weak decision. Every colour, every proportion, every piece of spacing has to be right on its own, without a soft shadow doing the work of making it look intentional.
The seal at the centre of our own mark is pressed clay, not polished metal, for the same reason. Clay holds an impression. Chrome reflects whatever is standing in front of it. We would rather build brands that hold an impression.