The growth in our industry is incredible; keeping on top of rapidly developing trends is an important task for all designers. The many talented designers with the ability to evangelize beyond current crazes will continue to lead the way in the evolution of design.
In 1994 there were less than 3,000 websites online. By 2014 there were over 1 billion. That’s a 33,000,000% increase in 20 years. When I sat down to write this article, Internet Live Stats told me the total number of websites online was 1,170,312,149. we’ll see how many there are by the time I’m through. The design trends that were gaining momentum in 2016 have speedily evolved as we find ourselves halfway through 2017. A great website is a work of art that will quantify a return on your investment in your digital marketing. A poor web design simply won’t be seen.
Parallax web design
With today’s technologies we are able to create superb effects in the browser. Parallax scrolling involves the background imagery moving slower than the foreground and allows for some stunning 3D effects as you navigate a website. If misused, parallax features can be off-putting; but when you nail it, the effect provides a subtle element of depth.
Designers of this beautiful site Rainforest Foods that I can’t stop looking at, have employed horizontal layout parallax navigation which takes visitors on a dreamy journey through clever interactions and a different; but simplified navigation.
Big bold typography
There are significant changes in the way typography is used in websites. We are seeing animated texts and various effects, images and videos. Hero text is frequently being used to anchor the home page amid a clear white crisp and simple interface. Marie Forleo’s site is a great example of the use of in-your-face fonts employed to grab and hold visitor attention.
Until recently, websites were dominated by simple styles, such as Helvetica, or Open Sans. Slightly more decorative typography was used in headlines; but serif typefaces were seldom used. Designers are now much more courageous with their typography choices and are cleverly blending contrasting styles.
Minimalistic Approach
Responsive design is now essential. If consumers can’t easily navigate your site on their mobile devices, your business will suffer the consequences. With this responsive need came the minimalistic approach to design and it seems it is here to stay. The philosophy is based on designing around the content and utilising white and space to reduce clutter. Minimal designs generally have fewer pages to navigate and strip back the bells and whistles leaving the bare necessities.
We love this site Paper Planes while the graphic is quite involved; the site is little more than an explainer video presented beautifully. No pages, no interactions, no chance of user confusion, just simple information. Easy.
Interactive custom illustrations
Custom illustrations bring character and depth to your brand. Bold use of colours and creative caricatures can impact a user’s impression of your website dramatically and help you to stand out as truly unique. Kate Toon makes clever use of illustrations to highlight her brand, which makes for an entertaining presentation of her services. While this amazing and very cool piece Because Recollection is an explosive combination of illustration, music and user interaction. You can’t get bored with this site.
One page websites
While one page websites are not new, they’re gaining momentum as the digital world is adapting to changes in user behaviour. We are apparently evolving into a society of ‘scroller’s’ rather than ‘clickers.’
With smaller screens and a more natural touch scrolling movement, people prefer to scroll around websites rather than click links and wait for content to appear. Oh how we love to scroll.
Here’s a great scrolling experience for scroll-addicts, The Software House which also combines elements of the minimalistic approach, the interactive custom illustrations and bold typography.We are lucky to reside in a digital world where growth and creative possibilities are infinite. Simply following trends is not enough, becoming part of a movement and stretching the limits is how we truly begin to make websites and their owners shine.
Now, according to Internet Live Stats there are 1,170,325,600 websites on the Internet. That’s almost 13,500 more websites in the couple of hours it took to write this article. I wonder how many of those are setting the trends for 2018 and beyond.
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