Top 4 Leading Web Design Trends

As the year inevitably comes to an end, we always look forward to the year to follow, with a sense of excitement, especially where it pertains to web design trends. In previous years, we witnessed developments in voice UX, virtual reality, as well as the introduction and prominence of geometric shapes in web design, so what are the things for us to look out for, this year?

In this article, I’m going to attempt to bring you, my predictions, using sourced information from the very people that are on the frontlines of web development. As a result, sufficient research was carried out, which entailed, coupled information from a wide range of developers, in some of the best agencies within the nation, and beyond. Wanting to know their opinion on what we should look out for, in the area of web design trends, for this year.

Some of the findings, from the information, gathered, may be of surprise to you, while some things said, may already be apparent to you. However, all of the information presented should create the perfect setting for discussion, as we march into this year, and the years to follow.

1. Use of Emoji’s

It’s of little news to the vast majority of people that, communication of the world has firmly embraced digital interactions. Whether 20 meters away or 10 thousand miles away, people are using keyboards and keypads to communicate with one another. This includes instant messaging services, emails, and forums, and so on. This has become so mainstream, that it has evolved, past just words, to alphanumeric characters, which are typically accompanied by emojis. These are now important and integral aspects of our digital lexicon.

With the increased popularity of emojis, we have witnessed it slowly but surely, make its way into the toolbox of web designers. Web developers are now using the endearing and playful language of emojis, in many instances, as part of the content of their sites. It has now become an effective, yet simple way to project, promote, and market brand sentiments in a manner that the vast majority of viewers will be familiar with – given its universal understanding. When it comes to communicating with your target market, across many different countries, dialects, and languages, the use of emojis makes it possible for you to project your brand in a non-verbal, yet universal way.

2. Playful Cursors

Websites today are now coming up with their own unique cursors that are designed to create a new, unique and engaging experience when browsing the site in question.

When it comes to implementing a new cursor on modern sites, the whole process can be as simple as just changing the cursor shape, or it can be as complicated as coding a new cursor animation. Either way, if done correctly, you can be sure to provide a unique and hopefully engaging way for people to view your site.

3. Black & White Illustrations

Some time ago, in the world of journalism, the idea of printing in color, was not an option. In order to add additional artistic effects to a writer’s content, the options available entitled the use of black and white, typically hand-drawn designs, which were created by professional cartoonists. The objective of these cartoon images was to add the much-needed colored imagery and visuals, which were obviously lacking at the time.

Cartoonists would also use text-based, black illustrations, to support them, typically a large segment of text, featured in the publication, whether it was a newspaper, or something similar. The objective of these graphical elements was to balance out the text within the article, as a way of making things more readable, and easily understood.

That said, today all texture-based illustrations are now developed using computer systems, which makes them have a look that is somewhat different from the hand-drawn imagery, some may have been accustomed to, in the past. These changes, though subtle and minor, do have implications, such as a shade of black, which is more uniform, more symmetrical, and aligned. The homepage of Mailchimp is a great example of this dichotomy, as their hero image style has its subtle differences to what we’d expect from your more convention three-column section, with black digital illustrations per column.

Whether it has its similarities with the traditional style of texture-based illustrations, it still provides that level of excitement, that we all wish to see, for web design trends of this year, and hopefully the years to come.

4. Speed Is More Vital

Do you remember the last time you visited a website, whether on a mobile device, laptop, tablet, or desktop system and left the site because it took too long to load up? I’m pretty sure you can, as it’s likely a regular occurrence, and this brings us to our fourth design trend, the increased importance of speed.

With your visitors and customers becoming more impatient, year after year, it’s definitely something you cannot afford to neglect. This UX and design principle is something that most web designers feel must be understood, especially Sandy Rowley.

Paraphrasing, she believes that making the right web design choices in the early stages of the development process, will determine the success or failure of the website itself. With the advent of data collection services and tools, such as Google Analytics, there is now an increasing trend, which shows that more end users are opting to visit websites from their mobile devices, rather than on their laptop or computer. So what can we gather from that when it comes to the future of web development?

The data gathered tells us that the future of web design is speed. No longer than 3 seconds. What good is a nicely designed website if it takes an age to get into it? If you have a significant number of people opting to leave your website, on their mobile device, because it takes in excess of 5 or more seconds to load up then that’s a huge opportunity for potential customers you are missing out on.

For websites that depend on sales, signups, or conversions, web designers are forced to think of more creative ways of presenting their sites, in addition to making them load so much faster.

A site that loads up really quickly, will have huge implications for it, especially from a business perspective. As, the number of sales a site will produce, and the amount of revenue it may generate, is greatly influenced by how fast the website loads.

AUTHOR INFO

Uchenna Ani-Okoye is a former IT Manager who now runs his own computer support website.

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