In today’s fast changing Web design landscape, it is imperative for any budding designer to keep up with the latest design trends.
When it comes to Web design, beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.
[source: Web Courses] It has been proven that the effectiveness of a Web design is judged mostly by the users and not the Website designers alone. There are a number of factors that affect the Website’s usability, and are not solely on how good it looks, but also how easy is it to use and navigate.
HAVE YOU PRIORITIZE THE NEEDS OF YOUR USERS?
One important quality that constitutes good Web design is that it should always cater to the needs of the user. Are your prospective visitors looking for some type of interaction, entertainment, information, or a way to transact with your business?
It is pertinent that each page of your Website has a clear purpose which is needed to fulfill the specific needs of the users in the most effective manner possible.
WILL YOU JUMP ON THE RIGHT BANDWAGON FOR WEB DESIGN?
Besides innovating, good Web designers know how to spot great Web design trends and know which ones are worth following. Here’s a list of trends that have unfolded thus far in 2015 and we’re also throwing in predicted trends that will show up in the near future.
Increased Usage of Large Background Images
By now, you should already have noticed that many modern Websites have switched to using huge background images. In the past, many Websites relied on centralized background images and the sides were left with a plain foreground color.
Front-end developers who predicted the increased usage of more full-scale background images in 2015 turned out right. Did you notice that major tech brands such as Google Nexus and Apple have taken the lead of using subtle parallax effects and rich typography, along with this type of background images too?
The Adoption of Card-Based Web Designs
I’m going to make a prediction here and I think I will hit the nail on the head. The popularity of card-based Web designs look set to carry through till 2016 and there’s nothing swaying my beliefs. This stems from my observation that Websites now need to ensure that their content fits on different sizes and types of screens, and the card-styled Web designs are the easiest workarounds to make everything work across various platforms.
The Need for More Responsive Designs Brought Out the Minimalist in People
Expert Web designers around the world expect that the industry will continue to maintain minimal and simple aesthetics, in an effort to become fully customized for various viewports. There are others who also see responsive Web design going a step further.
Implementing responsive design practices are now crucial in native apps due to the increased conception of tech wearables. For instance, the Apple Watch utilizes a responsive-like flow to ensure things work out well on a compact screen, and so while this year isn’t the time the native app and Web become the same, it will get everyone much closer than before.
You Will See More Design Paradigm Shifts
When the Web was in its infant stages, Web design was relatively consistent across a random selection of sites. Neither culture nor technology pushed the medium to be an angle of expression.
When CSS was adopted, Internet speeds increased and technology advanced, new aesthetic techniques were introduced and exploded on the Web. However, many Websites that were created in the early 2000’s exhibited similar styles.
Now with the availability of more smartphones and mobile apps as well as the death of Flash, design is fast maturing on the Web and powerful technological advancements has taken us past the business-oriented Web 2.0 era and into one that the Web becomes a blank canvas. Today, Websites look vastly different from their predecessors and this trend isn’t likely going to change.
MORE STARTUPS WILL PICK UP DIGITAL FIRST BRANDING
As more new and old companies discover that their clientele’s primary experience with them happens via online means, particularly through smartphones and other portable devices, there will be more digital first approaches to branding.
More companies are expected to forgo traditional branding engines that treat the Web with the care that’s similar to a branded mug. Digital agencies will be commissioned instead to conceive a brand that works first online before extending their reach through other channels. So, that’s good news on more work for all Web designers!
SQUEEZING MORE OUT OF TYPOGRAPHY TO CREATE DRAMATIC EFFECTS
Although typography is mainly used to ensure the readability and legibility of a Website, it is being used for more than just that in recent times. Whether small or big, elaborate or simple, the words that appear on today’s Websites are used to a greater extent to add a sense of drama.
Dramatic typography tends to stand out more, and when you isolate individual sentences or words, you can get more creative as the text turns into visual design elements! Typography in larger chunks of content, on the other hand, should be unassuming and plain.
MATERIAL DESIGN WILL BE ABUSED AND OVERUSED
As you might already know, Material Design is one of Google’s long overdue conceptual frameworks for how digital output should be rationalized and laid out. This concept is mostly inspired by the aesthetics of a flat design, and because Google’s aesthetics adhere to this trend, mass adoption has already begun. You will notice that Material Design is integrated into reusable widgets, plugins and WordPress themes.
It is true that Google’s Material Design provides a great and baseline for the Web, but blindly following of the trend could also be detrimental. You see, this sort of aesthetic doesn’t come with a one-size-fits-all tag.
Just as we’re seeing both horrific and terrific implementations of parallax effects and video backgrounds across the Web, we’ll also witness both brilliant and terrible implementations of the Material Design concept.
In today’s fast changing wed design landscape, it is imperative for any budding designer to keep up with the latest design trends. Not only will you be able to wow your target audience, you’ll be able to create a Website that will not go out of style any time soon!