There are currently more than 5.18 billion people worldwide that use the Internet.
With so many people online, any business that wants to grow and succeed should be taking advantage of various online platforms. A website is vital, and it’s important to understand that websites can vary a lot. The quality of your site will have a huge impact on your ability to achieve your business goals.
Things change fast on the internet, and keeping up with current web design trends is always beneficial. In this guide, we’ll go over 15 of the biggest website design trends that can help you build the best website for your brand. Keep reading for more.
1. Nostalgia
While modern aesthetics have been incredibly popular in recent years, people always appreciate nostalgia. Lately, there’s been a resurgence of the Y2K aesthetic in all kinds of areas. This includes things like music, fashion, art, and interior design, so it’s only natural that this will flow onto the internet.
People often debate over nostalgic trends. It typically runs a 40-year cycle, but some argue that it can be anywhere from 30 to 50 years.
With the popularity of social media growing over the years, it has been much easier for people to share and access trends. This has helped speed up this nostalgia cycle, so even though it’s only been 23 years since Y2K, the aesthetic is already making a strong comeback.
Some popular elements that web designers are implementing include things like retro typeface, custom cursors, and pixelated fonts. It can be a good idea to use such elements with a more modern twist. This will help you achieve that nostalgic feeling without your website feeling outdated.
2. Custom Typeface
As the internet has evolved, various kinds of websites have become possible. With that being said, text-based sites are still incredibly popular and provide a lot of value. If you have a text-based site, there are certain things you can do to make it stand out.
Custom typefaces and lettering are an ideal way to separate your site from the others that are out there. It’s a great way for a brand to show some personality and character, and there’s a lot of freedom here.
There aren’t any particular styles that currently dominate, so you have the freedom to choose something that you feel matches your brand well. You can even take this beyond your website and incorporate it into other materials such as products or marketing content.
3. Sharable Frameworks
Many creators are working to better establish a name for themselves, and they can do this by sharing techniques and resources. As such, we’re likely to see a lot more sharable framework in the near future.
Several development agencies have seen a lot of growth as a direct result of providing free resources to users. On top of helping to build a brand, this can lead to a better online experience for everyone.
Some people are hesitant to do this. It’s understandable that when people put a lot of work into creating something, they don’t want to then simply give it away. Despite that, those that can build a stronger following, which can prove a lot more beneficial in the long run.
4. Illustrations With Dimensionality
The metaverse has been a big trend over the last few years. As a result, illustrations that mimic virtual worlds are starting to pop up all over the web.
3D illustrations have been around for a while, but they’re starting to become significantly more popular. Various sites are using them to add dimensionality, creating a more immersive and impressive experience. This is done using things like animations, multi-layered illustrations, and full-page effects.
For a while, 2D illustrations have dominated design trends. As such, 3D designs are now offering a great way for brands to stand out.
Embracing designs inspired by the metaverse can add to this. It gives websites a very modern feel, which is a good way of showing your users that you’re looking to the future.
5. “Just for Fun” Interactions
Interactive web design is something that has always been of interest. As technology has advanced, the capabilities in this area have improved significantly.
There was a time when interaction was very limited and resource-heavy. It was typically only done to meet specific needs, but that’s quickly changing.
App-like websites are becoming more common, and interactivity helps to improve engagement. It’s now easier than ever to add interactive elements, to the point where this can easily be done to make a website more fun and interesting.
Such elements don’t need to be a key part of the functionality of a site. They can simply be something in the background to make your website stand out without affecting the accessibility in any way. This can help show your brand’s creativity, and it will stick in the mind of users, helping with brand recognition.
6. Loading Animations
Loading animations were once very common but became less popular over the years. Recently, however, they’ve started to reemerge, and will likely continue to become more widely seen.
This goes hand-in-hand with interactive designs and animations. It gives you another chance to make your website more interesting. You can also use it to provide a bit more of an insight into your brand.
Website load speeds have become incredibly important. If users have to wait for your site to load, including some sort of animation will help ensure they remain engaged and don’t leave.
Think of this as an opportunity rather than a limitation. You could share some info such as interesting facts about the history of your brand or the products/services you sell.
7. Glassmorphism
Glassmorphism is a design style that incorporates transparent/translucent elements. They’re used to give a frosted-glass-like effect that allows the background image to show through. It offers an increased level of depth and immersion to a UI (user interface) and can serve as an effective solution to highlight specific content.
You can use this in various ways, and it tends to work best on top of vibrant backdrops where the color can pop through. You might just want to implement it with specific components like logos or illustrations, or you could use it for entire sections of your website. You can even use it on your mobile app to help it better match your site.
8. Premium Content Experiences
With time, more businesses and creators are seeing the value of premium experiences, gated content, and memberships. They allow brands to offer more to their users while having better control over the community. With paid memberships, you’ll be able to create better, more valuable content for your audience.
You can use this to generate an additional income stream through your website. It also gives users the ability to choose a level of content based on what they want from your brand.
Depending on your brand and community, users may also be able to generate income this way. You can allow them to produce and sell their own content, and other users can have different subscriptions based on what they want to see.
9. Lightweight, More Efficient Websites
When speaking to designers about website design tips, one thing that will almost always come up is load speeds. About 64% of online shoppers will go elsewhere next time if they’re not happy with their experience on a site.
It’s important to optimize your site to load quickly where possible. There are various things you can use to help with this such as WebP images, lazy load background videos, and an efficient hosting solution.
As mentioned above, using load screen animations can make waiting far more bearable for users. With that being said, being able to load your site faster will always be beneficial.
On the front end, having a lightweight sight can improve the user experience. People will have an easier time finding what they’re looking for, and won’t get distracted by unnecessary features. Better load speeds can also help with SEO, leading to increased organic traffic.
10. Intentional Notification Use
Mobile notifications have long been an effective sales tool. They can be used to promote special offers, remind customers of products they were looking at, highlight new features, and more.
Websites are beginning to follow this trend, using notifications in a similar way to boost engagement. This will better integrate your site into your users’ lives, making it more useful overall. Engagement is vital, and this is one way to improve it.
A recent example of this has come from Twitter. They’ve started notifying users about adding alt text to images as this can help with accessibility. It makes it easier for users who rely on screen readers to know what’s on the screen.
11. Customizable Viewing Experiences
When you build a website these days, you have more freedom to personalize it than ever before. As such, you can create custom viewing experiences that better meet the needs and wants of your audience.
Accessibility is something that’s become more of a big deal lately. Some people may have issues like vision impairment that can make it difficult for them to view content properly. Allowing users to increase the font size or enable dark mode can help with this.
If your website has better accessibility, more people will be able to use it, which is always a good thing. You’ll get a good response from people if your site accommodates needs that they have which other sites fail to recognize.
Even beyond this, providing a customizable website can make things more enjoyable for users. Something as simple as allowing them to change the colors on your site to meet their preferences can make for a much more personal experience.
12. Complex Gradients
Gradients aren’t a new trend by any means, but most of the time, they’re fairly simple. Complex gradients offer a new, more interesting visual style, making them very popular among modern websites.
They’re ideal if you want to add some depth to your website. The aesthetic shows a sense of creativity, and you can use a range of colors to create a design you like. Even with a static image, complex gradients create an illusion of movement, which is a great way of making your site feel dynamic without the need for animations.
13. Behavioral Design
When doing a website revamp, consider if there’s a certain way that you want your users to behave. Behavioral design creates a more interesting experience that can encourage certain actions and behaviors.
Fitness apps, for example, get people to track their steps, calories, and more. Before these apps were around, far fewer people ever considered doing things like this.
This is a combination of design, technology, and psychology that looks at why people behave in certain ways. Whether you want to promote certain practices, ideas, principles, or techniques, you can implement visual cues that will help trigger these behaviors in your users.
14. Moving Type
If you really want to create a unique experience, you can combine your custom typeface with animations. This is a very new trend that’s quickly gaining traction. You can convey your messages in a more unique way, making it more likely that people will take an interest.
You don’t have to do anything too fancy with this. Simple animations will still get people’s attention and increase engagement. Bear in mind that if you go overboard with the animation, the text could become more difficult to read, so keep things well balanced.
15. Creative/Parallax Scrolling
Not too long ago, the consensus among web designers was that it was best to include as much information as possible above the fold. This meant users didn’t have to scroll, which was considered ideal. These days, people want to get information in a more unique and engaging way.
Parallax scrolling makes something as simple as scrolling down a web page more interesting. It immediately gets users’ attention and increases engagement. Using some form of animated scrolling can provide a more creative experience and help make your website stand out.
Implementing the Latest Website Design Trends
Following modern website design trends is one of the best ways to help increase engagement on your site. While it may not be realistic to implement everything on this list, think about your business and your audience to determine what will get the best results.
It can take a lot of work to make your business stand out. At Synaptech, we offer a range of services that can bring your brand into the modern age and give you an edge against your competitors. Take a look at our services page to find out more about how we can help your business today.
