Web Design Trends

Web Design Trends

Generally, websites should be legible, informative, and maybe even sleek, but if you visit mikiyakobayashi.com, you will realize there is much more to the web than just coding a couple of lines one day. This site pushes the boundaries of what is possible on the web. When you launch it, you will immediately realize its unique blend of photos, information, and interface.

It started in 1991

Web pages were lackluster because these web developers didn’t have the tools we have today; because of this, the past web trends were very different from today’s web trends. The first web page was published in 1991 and was merely just a couple of lines of text with links leading to a similar web page. The white background and single font are impressive by today’s standards, yet it was “the” standard back then. An evolutionary trend of the past, like adding color to a page, would be something more of a necessity now.

An old snapshot of Bloomberg.com can be found on the way back machine and shows just how primitive things looked in 1996 despite being five years late.

Not all sites had to be like this. However, there were sites with authentic colors and even logos! For example, McDonald’s had a website with its trademark mark look. The red on the page would have left you thinking that this was a massive technological jump and that having color was “impressive” at the time. But, this website was somewhat of a disaster. It’s good that it was pretty empty because reading more than a couple of lines off the tomato red background with yellow cheese writing would have given even Ronald McDonald a migraine.

If you look at the McDonald’s website, you’ll see that it has come a long way. The use of red is very sparse, and instead, there are lots of blacks, whites, and dark grays. This is a huge step because it makes everything legible and toned down.

Apple & Microsoft

Things weren’t always hideous when it came to ’90s web pages. In 1998 Apple made great use of pictures and minimalism to make a website that still stands well today. Microsoft.com from 1999 stood out. This website wasn’t the flashiest or aesthetically pleasing as the Apple website, but it did a great job separating the paragraphs on the page to make them all readable. Also, the blue color shows what was clickable and what wasn’t. The key goal of this Microsoft website was to make it usable for “anyone.”

Hamburger Menu

You might have seen the “hamburger menu” in the top corner of many of today’s mobile and websites. First of all, the “Hamburger menu” is one of them. It is three lines stacked together to form the shape of a hamburger roughly. The primary purpose of the hamburger menu is to incorporate a site menu without taking up too much room. The hidden menus of the hamburger menu usually have less importance.

Moreover, the hamburger menu allows for direct access, enabling users to directly access more select items instead of looking through every item by order. It enhances usability and speed, especially for mobile users who expect more speed and quick access even more than on the web. The most common example of a hamburger menu is Facebook. Users can press the hamburger menu as a tab to access all other features.

Micro Interactions

Micro-interactions are still popular. We can experience micro-interactions on many websites today. They contain product moments that revolve around a single use case, and they have one main task. For example, simple moments of engagement happen when we press an elevator button to like a photo on Instagram. We are performing micro-interactions. You engage in a micro-interaction whenever you set the alarm, log in, or “like” something. This means that micro-interactions are everywhere in the environment where we work and live, regardless of whether we use phones or desktops.

Micro-interactions are an essential part of almost every digital design project. Even though we live with micro-interactions daily, they are not easy to recognize because of their small sizes and invisibility. However, they can make our lives easier and more fun. Micro-interactions are loved because they are suitable for accomplishing a single task, connecting devices, adjusting a setting, etc. Well-organized and created micro-interactions will bring convenience to users and make websites more creative and trendy.

Typography

There is no doubt about how visual things in websites impact users. This is why typography is becoming popular and a key web trend. Well-designed typography significantly affects many aspects of our website, including readability, mood, vision, and much more. What is typography exactly? In his book, Rober Bringhurst, a Canadian typographer, describes it as “the craft of human language with a durable visual form. The primary purpose is not to make the site beautiful—more than that, it ensures the type is readable.

Most websites contain content that occupies more than 80% of the website. Typography guides the readers through your content. Good typography will emphasize essential parts of your content that attract customers and readers to your content. Moreover, typography can also maintain the consistency of websites. Inconsistency and chaos make users’ experience frustrating, and they will not return to your site anymore. Good typography helps you solve those problems and tidy things. It makes it easy to read and find information.

Typography affects the design of your website and how you convey your content to readers. Well-designed typography will make your website more beautiful and helpful to visitors.

Color Schemes & Website Colors

Color schemes are another vital part of the design that changes. Colors are becoming brighter and bolder, with an almost retro feel. These palettes are clean and simple, with as few as two vivid colors on a page. Color overlays and full-page, duotone gradients also seem popular on contemporary websites. It seemed for a while like the whole tech world was hurdling into the blue—with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Skype, PayPal, and countless other significant sites all featuring similar shades of blue in their logos and designs—but now pastels, neon, and earth tones are all popping up, with some color schemes looking like they’re straight out of the 60s or 80s.

Many websites are dedicated solely to color palettes for web designers. Previously, designers were limited to selecting only 216 “web-safe” colors. However, with the progress of technology, millions of colors are now available to web developers.

Now, we can fast-forward to today and see what today’s web trends look like and how they enhance the user experience. According to Wpmudev, some hottest trends include website color and Google’s “material design” idea.

The Importance of Color

Color is essential for aesthetic reasons and usability, but the focus should be on the psychology behind color. How do specific colors make us feel? Designers of the past didn’t think about what their color “meant” or how the audience would perceive it; they didn’t even think about if it looked good. They boldly declare that green will be the trending color. Green is “a symbol of new beginnings, a refreshing and revitalizing shade.” This idea of the psychology behind color shows how much harder web designers work today than before.

Material Design

Google came up with this idea. They aim to “create a visual language for our users that synthesizes the classic principles of good design with the innovation and possibility of technology and science.” They encourage other sites to follow this and are trying to set the standard for what design means to create an extremely intuitive website. This is a bible for creating a beautiful website, and more and more web designers will follow the guidelines.

Material design encompasses everything from usability, patterns, and style to movement, scrolling techniques, and platform adaptation. These elements might become trends, but one thing is certain: Google’s material design will inspire websites.

Rich Animations

More websites incorporate lively, rich animations. From tiny, detailed touches to huge animations that take up the whole page, animation is used more than ever in web design. Animated transitions between pages, animated notifications, micro-interactions, or just animations for fun help guide users and liven up a web page. As more tools become available, the age of Flash animations is ending, and animations no longer slow down servers or interfere with loading time the way they used to.

Overall, the world of design is becoming increasingly minimalistic. We’ve seen this gradually happening in logos and other designs for the last decade, and the web is no exception. With minimalism, information is presented straightforwardly—in other words, “less is more.” Simpler designs focus more on content, with a single focal point per screen. With solid typography and color schemes, minimalism gives pages a bold, sophisticated feel.

Skeuomorphism Style

Skeuomorphism, a style that involves realistic shading to make 2D elements appear 3D, has fallen out of favor. Drop shadows, textures, and natural gradients have nearly disappeared from the world of the web and technology, favoring flat design instead. When Apple dropped skeuomorphism in favor of a flat design with iOS7 in 2013, many reported the new look resembled a Fisher-Price toy.  However, others have followed suit, and flat design has become the standard for on-screen aesthetics.

These changes in the user interface can be observed not only in brand-new websites but also in sites that have existed for years. Google, for instance, arguably set many of the trends in web design we see today. A pioneer of web minimalism, Google has evolved and modernized its look without endangering its brand over the years. By honing in focus on those four colors on a white background, they have created a minimal and recognizable brand all around the web. In their most recent change of flattening their typography into the vast, sans-serif logo we know today, Google has set the standard for the new age of minimalism.

Infinite Scrolling

Infinite scrolling has become a popular choice for navigation. It works well with mobile devices and touches controls. It’s simple and more engaging for the user. When implementing long scrolling on a site, a good idea is to use some visual cues. Whether subtle or obvious, you want to let people know that the content will be displayed linearly. Each screen should be considered its page, with a new way of transitioning between them.

You want the screens to have an overall theme or connect them so everything looks organized. One thing to remember is that users may get lost as they go along. A sticky navigation system can solve that problem. Other solutions include a Jump-to or Got-to-top link. Scroll-triggered animations work well with this method. They keep users interested and can even be entertaining and game-like.

Stock Photos

Illustrations are replacing stock photos and other imagery used on websites. They offer more imagination and personalization than a professional photo shoot at a lower price. Designers have more control over the images themselves and the technical aspects. There are many things an illustration can convey more simply and effectively than a photograph. Animations and layers are often used with illustrations to add depth and creativity. As always, you want all elements of the site to look united. Even if the site’s theme doesn’t include illustrations, they are helpful for tutorials or quick How-to guides. If users have fun while learning, it will feel less like a chore.

Flat design

Flat design is still widely used. Its aesthetics are simple, and the site’s functionality is improved. It’s also much easier to navigate, leading to a better user experience. Flat design helps sites load faster and is suitable for phones and tablets. It’s also easier to use with a touchscreen. Designing these sites is more straightforward and functions well, even with more layering and animations.

Virtual Reality (VR)

Websites are still not mainstream. However, technology is pushing to become mainstream, and for this to happen, the web must change to accommodate it. Major sites like YouTube have already used this technology by adding a 360-degree video that is accessible with a virtual reality headset, and many other websites will follow.

VR  is still a relatively new technology, yet many websites are ready to support it. This will only continue as recent web trends emerge. Netflix now supports VR, and even Google Maps Street View supports VR. With YouTube, Google, and Netflix already on the VR train, it’s hard to think that other websites won’t jump, either.

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