Remember the ‘Every Fucking Website’ from 2013? It was a brutal, beautiful joke. A white page with a fixed header, a giant hero image of a stock photo family, a ‘Learn More’ button, and a footer full of links nobody clicks. We laughed because it was true. Every site looked the same. Then we patted ourselves on the back for being so clever – we’d never fall for that.
Fast forward to today. Open any startup website. Dark mode, obviously. A hero image – but now it’s AI-generated: a blur of blue and purple, some glowing orb, maybe a stylized robot hand. A headline: ‘Revolutionizing [Industry] with AI.’ A subhead: ‘The future is here.’ A ‘Get Started’ button. A cookie banner. A chatbot. Every. Fucking. Site.
The top comment on that archived page says it all: ‘Nowadays, the website would be all in dark mode with some AI-generated image featuring blue and purple glowy parts. AI generated everything, really.’ We’ve swapped one boilerplate for another. The web didn’t get more creative. It just got a new uniform.
So why does this keep happening? We like to blame AI. ‘AI is killing creativity,’ we say. But the truth is more uncomfortable. The web was already template-driven before ChatGPT drew its first pixel. In 2013, the template was standard WordPress theme + stock photo. The drivers were the same: platform incentives. AdSense rewarded pages that looked ‘professional.’ Conversion optimization favored the familiar. The safest path to a click was to copy what already worked.
Now those incentives are just automated. AI doesn’t kill creativity; it just makes conformity cheaper and faster. The real villain isn’t the technology – it’s the economic pressure to look like everyone else. Every site is optimized for the same metrics: engagement, conversion, ad revenue. And the optimal shape, it turns out, is a dark-mode rectangle with a purple gradient and a chatbot. The real villain isn’t the technology – it’s the economic pressure to look like everyone else.
We laugh at the past because we can’t see our own reflection. The most dangerous template is the one you don’t realize you’re following. That’s the twist. In 2013, we could see the cliché from a mile away. Today, we’re swimming in it. The dark-mode AI-generated aesthetic is so ubiquitous that it’s become invisible. It’s not ‘cutting-edge’ – it’s the new boilerplate.
This matters because web aesthetics shape what we trust. When every site looks the same, the template becomes a costume. Scammers can put on the same dark-mode, blue-purple, AI-generated glow and look like a legitimate startup. The homogenization of web design is eroding trust. When every site looks the same, the difference between a real company and a scam is just a logo.
The next time you see a dark-mode site with a blue-purple glow, ask yourself: Is this a real company, or just a template with a logo? The answer might be the same. We’ve traded the stock photo family for the AI-generated orb. Same circus, different clown.
FAQ
Q: Isn't this just nostalgia? New designs always look formulaic.
A: Yes, but the difference is that now the formula is enforced by AI and platform algorithms, making it harder to break out. The cost of differentiation is higher than ever.
Q: So what should I do as a designer?
A: Start by recognizing the template. Then intentionally break one rule per project – use a light mode, avoid blue-purple gradients, write a headline that doesn't start with 'Revolutionizing.' That one break will make your site memorable.
Q: Maybe the template is good because it provides a consistent user experience?
A: Consistency is valuable, but when every site uses the same visual language, it becomes noise. Users stop noticing any of them. The template becomes a barrier to differentiation – and a gift to scammers who can hide in plain sight.