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The latest web design that is taking over is the flat design which emphasizes on clean lines and flat area of colors rather than a hyper-realistic representation of objects. In order to understand what kind of trends may be the ones to look out in web, we need to look at the design trends of the past.
The Beginning (1995 – early 2000’s): A simple text based sites where menus, buttons and links had to look ‘clickable’ so that users moved from page to page and user experience was not given too much thought.
Web 2.0 (2003 – 2010): Lengthy drop shadows, shiny bubbles, oversized buttons and glares. Need to educate web users on how to navigate web contents were increasing. The oversized graphics did feast our eyes with colors, gradients and graphics but also trained us to ‘click here’ and ‘learn more’.
Skeuomorphic Design (2010-2012): Skeuomorphism is a practice where visual characteristics of an object being incorporated into a digital design. It involves taking the functional aspects and qualities of an object and recreating them in an ornamental way. Apple’s dashboard design where planks of wood, metal and plastic surfaces have been integrated to mimic real life objects is an example of skeuomorphism.
Flat Design (2012 – now): Graphical elements that have no significant value or purpose within a user interface were eliminated. It utilizes open space, bright colours, sharp edges and two-dimensional illustrations with a strong focus on usability. Complex graphic omission converts your focus on contents.
Flat Design entice web users, encouraging interactivity and engagement. It is also uniquely adaptable from a usability perspective. So, the web users look for designs that provide you the require information easily and doesn’t distract you from the actual message the web page is trying to convey. Keeping this in mind, here are the seven design trends that you may want to look out for in 2018:
1) Bright and bold minimalism and engaging photographic content
Simple will never go out style, but with advances in monitors, color saturation and brightness, minimalism doesn’t have to be boring. Large fonts, vibrant colors, engaging photographic content, 2018 will be a fun year for easy to use yet interesting online interfaces.
2) Polished web applications
How do we figure out if the user is truly getting value beyond simple “activation”? What is the real-life formula for success metrics? How do we build an app for multiple use cases? In terms of visual design, we’ve already polished the popular apps to the moon and back! We should expect another wave of frameworks and ready-made UI solutions.
3)Interactive content
2018 will be the year of interactivity. Consumers crave a more personalized and entertaining experience when it comes to how they connect with brands, and content such as polls, quizzes, and games can deliver exactly this experience. This type of content draws people in by asking them personal and challenging questions and then delivers exactly the right resource or product based on how someone answers the questions, just the type of experience that people are craving in 2018 when everything is getting busier and crazier online.
4)Asymmetry and brutalism inspired free-form
Asymmetry and brutalism inspired free-form. This has been developing over the past few years. But only recently with a rise of such design expressions as brutalism and bolder visual fragments it became useful. There are a few great examples of asymmetry in web design, but all of them intentionally disrupt otherwise static design, and direct user attention point-to-point much more effectively.
5)Illustrations and animations
The best part of using illustrations is practical – illustrations can be of any size, style, color and can be incorporated into any design seamlessly. Animation is a new norm in web design, animations allow one to translate more information in an efficient way, driving attention and helping to tell a story in a few seconds. Logos, backgrounds, and menus become animated, which means better engagement.
6)Consistency and focus on understanding the end users
First, there will be a lot more focus on understanding the end users aka business’ target audience. There is a lot we can learn from talking to the target audience. How to speak to them on our websites or Twitter? What pain points they are facing? What delights them and so on. Anticipate designers and organizations putting a lot more effort into consistency. Message the company is sending across the channels it’s using will be consistent. For example, consistency between the mobile app and its social media.
7)More video
Videos are no longer just something to watch, they are now becoming part of a brands presentation and communication. Expect to see video content in multiple areas of a website instead of the typical main page video alone. Videos can deliver a great deal of information quickly and visually. Expect to see videos used throughout websites in 2018.
At ads!, we believe in keeping up with the trends. This allows our clients to build their products or companies through the use of more sophisticated and latest techniques being used in their website. In this era of technology everything is a click away. We build sites that engage customers and makes them more aware of the products being offered.