Keeping up with web trends is a surefire way to make sure you’re not left behind in the digital world. Not every trend on this list is applicable to every website or situation, but by utilizing the ones that fit your specific strategy, you’ll keep a visitor’s attention and encourage them to keep coming back.
1. Be Responsive!
Without a doubt, responsive design is the most important on this list. This buzzword of 2015 has transcended “trendy” and solidified itself as the new standard for web design. With more and more users viewing websites on mobile devices and tablets, it is crucial websites across the board be designed to automatically adjust for different device sizes.
2. Simple, Flat and Elegant
Since responsive design has to fit different sized screens, it begs the question – which design is best for which format? Simple, flat and elegant has become the solution overall, which our programmers helped implement as the prominent design theme for Solarus. Although flat design has been around for a few years, it’s growing up. The use of subtle gradients and layering to retain a sense of tangibility is also starting to emerge.
3. More Scrolling, Less Clicking
With the rise of mobile (seeing a pattern?), visitors are being trained to flick and scroll to view content. This action is now expected while using a desktop computer. Scrolling sites – like we created for Northern Concrete – have less load time overall, allow for more dynamic interaction, and create a more intuitive, easier-to-use website. The transitions are also smoother with no jarring refreshes, which keeps your content flowing.
4. Emphasize Typography
With type kits, such as Google Web Fonts, becoming more affordable and free, typography can now be fully utilized.
Mixing thick and thin with boxy and elegant typesetting is now appropriate for the web. Not sure how it would appear? Check out our work for Oh Snap Pickling Company!
5. Large and in Charge!
Large imagery, large text, large videos. With less bandwidth restrictions, large is now possible. It’s an easy way to display your content prominently and elegantly without feeling gimmicky, as seen on the website we created for Pella Windows and Doors of Wisconsin. Full-screen content also creates emotion and a better canvas on which to tell your story.
Parallaxing these large images and videos not only looks really cool, it’s a great way to utilize large graphics and create a sense of depth.
6. Make it Visual! – Use Illustrations and Infographics
Simple illustrations are a great way to add creativity to a site without adding clutter. They can be most useful in an infographic to explain complicated information since a visual representation of data is always easier to digest.
7. Reinvent Your Navigation
With scrolling sites becoming more prevalent, floating and sticky navs have emerged. Navigation that slides down, slides up, pops up, and includes imagery and dynamic animations will start showing up. Along with new navigation, new button styles are also making headway.
“Ghost buttons” – buttons with no fill, and are transparent – have become popular because they are elegant and don’t block background imagery. Since Verhalen Commercial Interiors needed to showcase their product visually, we made sure their landing pages used this feature instead of a typical nav menu.
8. Tell Your Story!
Your company’s story becomes more compelling and vivid across all devices through the use of the above trends. When users interact with your content, they will be more engaged and feel a stronger connection with your brand. Check out how we helped Saverne Products use their “Field to You” story to emphasize how it impacts their consumers.
Staying ahead of the website game can be tough at first, but a sleek, user-friendly site is well worth the effort!
Here at Element, we work every day with businesses on maintaining websites and implementing state-of-the-art programming. We give our clients the stress-free and reliable option of providing all web services within one agency.
Have a web project you’d like us to tackle? Give us a call at 920-973-9700!
References
http://unmatchedstyle.com
http://www.elegantthemes.com
http://justcreative.com
http://designmodo.com
http://webdesignledger.com