You're scrolling. You see a gradient you've now encountered four times this week. A layout style that feels like it appeared overnight. And you're caught between two instincts at once — the need to learn it before you're left behind, and the dread that by the time you do, it's already over.

This is the designer's dilemma. And it's not a problem of speed. It's a problem of understanding. Because trends don't just happen — they're built by three specific forces working together. Once you can see them, everything changes.