Looking to start a blog? There are many options that you can go with. The design world has really come a long way and has embraced different styles of design. More designers and companies are taking risks and experimenting with different designs. The question is – which ones are still relevant and which ones are outdated? Which ones are optimal and which ones just look nice? Here are the 5 web design trends that matter this year so far.
1. Hero Image + Minimalist Design Combined
The hero image combined with a minimalist design has proven itself with longevity. You’ve probably seen this design style used all over the web. It’s visually striking, attention grabbing and straight to the point. It removes all distractions and moves you down a linear path. Many people that this would be a fad that would die out due to its simplicity even big companies are starting to use this format because it works. A big part of what makes it work is that using a strong hero image adds context to the headline and vice versa.
The minimalist approach makes it the perfect design style to use for sales pages and simple blogs. Users are lead down a single page where they either engage with the website or take some kind of action. The best part about this style is that anyone start a blog with it. Many templates (free and paid) are widely available and it’s also very easy to build a site like this using any of the website builder tools that are out there.
2. Integrated Parallax Design and Other Website Effects
Many web designers will feel like parallax has been overused. However, parallax is a design style that’s being used over and over again because it gets results. Website owners are opting to use parallax in a different way from before. Instead, of creating a gimmicky site that’s designed to entertain the user and gain exposure through viral marketing, they’re integrating parallax effects into a regular website. What this does is create engagement.
The parallax acts as visual cues and engagement devices to keep the user’s attention and influence the user to finish browsing the page. That’s why you’re starting to see small effects being used in long form sales pages. Site owners are also mixing different effects like transition and transparency with parallax to create a presentation that keeps users glued to the page.
3. Flat Design with Animations
With the rise of minimalist styles, it makes sense why people have taken to flat design. Flat design is like the more sophisticated version of minimalist design. It takes away the 3-D effects and sticks to simple 2-D graphics. Apple is one of the many companies known embracing flat design. Their websites, apps and iOS have created a more user friendly interface that many people in the world are now familiar with.
The reason flat design works is because it focuses on all the things that has made designers focus on UI and UX design over the last few years. Some features you’ll find include plenty of space, crisp shapes, clean presentation, bright colors, user-friendly look/layouts, strong iconography and simple typography. Many site owners are opting to use animated designs with flat design to create an attractive, charming and visual striking look.
4. Big and Varied Typography
For a long time, the design world was overrun with ugly or boring typography. More designers and site owners are now embracing typography as a feature of their design. Font databases enable just about anyone to find a unique font for their website. Some of the databases that you can use to find fonts include Google Fonts, Font Squirrel, Fonts.com and Fontspace just to name a few.
This interest in fonts has spurred to a new trend in using font to design websites. Designers are using three or more fonts in varied sizes to make up the content and presentation of the site. Instead of the standard consistent look, this approach to designing content sites keeps content engaging. Of course, there needs to be a balanced look to which fonts are used and the frequency in which they are used. That said, there are numerous examples of designs that push the limits.
5. Varied and Unique Layouts
It’s hard to ignore all the sites that are moving away from standard layouts and opting to use trendy layouts. Whether it’s card based, alternating, fixed page, broken grids or multiple varied layouts, designers are proving that there’s more than one way to present a site. With that said, you have to be careful in how you use different layouts as there are many elements of these experimental layouts that work and many elements that serve as a distraction.
Right now, it’s hard to say which layouts work the best in terms of performance but some definitely succeed in achieving their goals. For example, some of the bigger blog sites are using a varied layout to present their content in an engaging way. This varied layout prevents the user blindness that comes from scanning a long list of content that is presented in the same way.
Those are the five web design trends that matter so far. There are many other things that web designers are experimenting more with from CSS grid style layouts, user personalized designs, brand storytelling, interactive design elements, moving animation, to background lo-fi videos being used as hero images. You have to keep your eyes peeled to how things are changing in the design world to be an early adopter and take advantage of the latest discoveries.
