Every year is marked by its own set of trends that web designers adapt in order to provide their visitors with the kind of experience that they are after. Some of these trends stay around for a longer time, while others are overshadowed by new ones that break the mold that they have set up. 2018 had its set of trends that were on fire. Now that 2019 has begun, we can expect new trends to emerge and old ones to evolve into what will be this year’s “big thing”.
The fact is that it is important to follow web design trends because they say a lot about the contemporary culture and are highly affected by it. And, of course, your focus on web design needs to revolve around what your audience wants to see, more than what you think is cool at the moment. While some designers see this as contradictory to being original and creative, you can still be all that by adopting the current trends in a way that suits your artistic whims and brand’s image.
1. Fluid/organic design elements
Web design is surely moving away from straight lines that are typical for flat design, and implementing shapes and lines that are a lot more fluid. What we are basically talking about are so-called organic shapes which are more than just regular circles, rectangles, and squares. The whole idea is to step away from what feels like a more rigid approach and embrace elements that resemble those from nature around us. By incorporating shapes of lakes, paper pieces, and so much more, you are able to come up with a design that feels a lot more accessible and receptive to people.
Organic web design is going to be one of those trends in 2019 that is going to change what has been in practice for a while. Squares and circles are going to be replaced with organic lines and shapes, breathing in a deeper sense of life, nature, and enticement for your audience.
2. Broken grid and asymmetrical layouts
This year, web design is breaking out of the grid and turning to asymmetrical layouts that oppose the more strict practices of flat and minimalist approaches. The fact is that the grid system has been used for a long time, forming not only web pages but also newspapers and ads. It is basically a system with the purpose to help a designer align elements in a consistent manner, whenever they add any piece of content, such as images, text, or CTAs. So, no matter what they did, the grid, and therefore the symmetry, remained intact.
Asymmetrical and broken designs are gaining popularity due to the fact that they not only break the usual expectations of the user, but also manage to be a lot more interesting and a lot less sloppy. Basically, a designer breaks the grid pattern and comes up with a kind of asymmetry that is thoroughly planned. Items have atypical placements, white space is used to highlight what is important, unusual patterns repeat to help the user adapt, and unique typography gives it a breath of great creativity. This way, the whole design gains a lot more depth, and the user is lead through the pages thanks to its dynamics.
3. Speedy designs
When mentioning speed as a factor, one would argue that the requirement to have a fast website is pretty common knowledge by now. However, taking advice from custom web development professionals you will get to know how important it is to mention that it isn’t a static fact because the ways to design your website in a great way and make it work fast are constantly evolving, while at the same time becoming more important than ever. If you didn’t know, Google has introduced its Google Speed Update in July 2018. With it, it gives priority to faster websites in terms of ranking. This means that the importance of having a fast site has grown even beyond the fact that a slow loading website tends to make people lose their patience. It is a crucial factor for your search engine ranking.
What this means is that it is definitely the time to do your best to compress the images and videos that you use, and make your best efforts so that your Javascript isn’t a whale taking your ship down. Basically, there is much less space for being lenient and allowing mistakes to pass just because they “aren’t too big to be an issue”.
4. Enhanced image treatment
When it comes to design, images are certainly an item that allows a lot of creativity. What is certainly going to become a huge trend in the months to come is a more enhanced treatment of images, with the goal to draw attention to them or even the opposite, to make them less of a distraction. The use of large hero-style images that take up most of the page is quickly going out of style. More original uses of imagery are going to be a big trend in 2019.
One of the popular techniques is cutting out subjects from the images and using them on their own. Such an approach can further be elevated by using shapes and drawings along with the cut-outs. Basically, the way that web design is headed regarding images is towards pushing them as far as it is possible. Next to the previously mentioned technique, there is also the concept of using monochromatic images or using patterns on top of them.
5. Micro-Animations
Instead of focusing on full-blown animations that take up a lot of bandwidth and space, web designers have turned toward implementing micro-animations. These are actually a lot more successful as they almost subtly, but certainly intuitively, guide the user and provide them with a unique browsing experience. They are a great way of coming up with a hierarchy on your pages, highlighting what matters the most. This can be pretty much anything, such as a button that changes its color when the cursor is above it, or an expanding menu.
They can also act as great rewards to users for having to fill out forms. Generally, Captchas tend to be an annoying part of a website visitor’s journey. But if you add an animation to it, so that, for example, the circle that you click once you enter the required code shifts into a checkmark in an obvious manner, the person will be a lot more satisfied for having gone through such a menial but distracting task.
