Are you a business owner needing to make sure your website gets results? Or perhaps you’re a web developer, graphic designer or other professional working to create effective sites? Regardless of your position, in this day and age it’s vital to stay up to date on all the current website design trends and developments.
While once it was possible for individuals and companies to create their website and then leave it be for years at a time with no updates, in today’s market, this is a big no-no because tech possibilities and consumer preferences change regularly. To help you stay up-to-date, read on for some of the top website design trends you need to know about.
Use of Animation
Business owners or those with a user experience design degree or similar web developer qualifications should look at incorporating animation into their websites. Animation is a key trend right now not only because it’s fun for consumers to look at but also because of its practical benefits.
Animation can help to convey complex ideas quickly and effectively. It makes interfaces easier to understand and gets details across to users in an engaging and timely way. Considering that most people are so time-poor, not to mention absolutely flooded with information, this is a real plus.
Animation can be helpful on the branding side of things too. If you want to convey plenty of personality to shoppers, and capture attention through storytelling avenues, animation can be your friend. Being more dynamic than typical pictures and other static graphics, animations are particularly utilized at the moment in logos and gifs. This enables businesses to convey a lot of meaning in a small space and to add fun and interest to their sites.
Designers and developers also have access to all sorts of great animation creation software now, and more tools are coming out all the time. This is boosting the trend. Similarly, since browsers now are so much better, and often exceed 60 frames per second, they can actually display animation properly. As such, creations can be viewed quickly and don’t cause issues by slowing sites down.
Illustrations Are Popular
When it comes to what to put on your website besides text, now is the time to have some fun with illustrations, too. There has been a real rise in their use in recent months, especially custom illustrations created to showcase a brand’s message, tone or personality. A reason to include illustrations on your website is the fact that they generate interest, draw the eye, provide something a bit different to look at and can seem more friendly and welcoming than photographs and other designs.
Although we’ve seen lots of new brands getting in on this trend, even the most established businesses should consider it. Companies with a reputation for being serious, old-school and/or right-brained can often come across as more approachable if they add specially designed, interesting illustrations to their online platforms. Similarly, if you need to convey dry or complicated material, such as user instructions or technical set-up guides, illustrations can work in your favor by adding a more human, engaging touch.
Add Bolder, More Adventurous Colors
For a while, it seemed that large numbers of websites were coming out in monochromatic palettes. Many designs were incredibly plain, using just black, white and gray. If you’ve over this look, it’s time to jump on board a new trend. Today, there’s a real increase in designs incorporating bolder, more adventurous colors.
This is partly because of the advances in monitors and other screens. Now, this tech is better at reproducing rich hues, which enables companies to add vibrant, fun, saturated colors to their websites. Interestingly, you can find lots of new sites adding in stripes, clashing colors and other daring patterns, too.
If you run a business you want to market as being fresh, modern, untraditional and/or quirky, this trend could be perfect for you. Bright, bold colors tend to capture the attention of website visitors quickly and can be quite memorable.
When it comes to either updating your website or creating a brand new one from scratch, there’s nothing quite like having the chance to incorporate the latest trends. By doing this, you know you’ll be putting something out into the world that generates as much interest as possible, and that’s based around relevant user experience best practices.
