Material a little Playskool for my tastes.

But then I still think the original iPhone icons were awesome. Even the little television for the YouTube app.

Back then, icons communicated far more information than most icons today, which have become little more than bland corporate logos.

The alternative is to start with basic HTML UI. Almost no styling. And build from there.

Understandably, few people like that advice because it doesn't make life easier. It does make your product better though, which is really all that matters.

There are definitely alternatives to material design that is not just un-styled HTML.

But there's not alternative to starting from first principles. Material UI and all other Ui libs are a premature optimisation that will paint you into a corner.

Or because just few people can call untouched HTML elements design "beautiful".