Hard to believe we are in the last few months of 2014 already!
As this year draws to a close, it’s only logical that as we look toward 2015, we begin to investigate the new trends in web design we may expect to see in the coming year.
We have already seen the demand for responsive mobile device sites evolve and it looks like that trend will only continue into 2015. In today’s post, we will examine responsive design and a few more trends expected to dominate web design in the New Year.
Responsive Design
One of the more dramatic changes in the coming year will be the web browsing shift from PC to hand held, mobile devices.
Responsive design refers to your web sites ability to switch views and ease of use from PC to mobile device. Our society has become so mobile and with the thirst for information while people are out and about, having your website formatted to switch effortlessly from PC to mobile viewing is no longer a just a bonus but quickly becoming a downright necessity.
If a user can’t easily navigate your website on the go from their mobile device, chances are pretty good they will not be back.
Flat Design
Flat design deals with what we see when we view a website.
Web designers are staging a revolution of sorts by throwing out the patterns, bevels, shadows, and textures of traditional sites and replacing them with flat, smooth, clean lines of flat design. Some pros and cons of flat design are as follows:
Pros
- Elegant, clean lines
- Bold, vibrant colors
- Smooth, minimalistic look
- Faster page load times
Cons
- Flat design is pretty trendy right now
- It runs the risk of being too simplistic
- Color schemes can be hard to match
- Ease of use is sometimes compromised
More Scrolling
Again, the steady switch to mobile device is affecting web design and designers are meeting the challenge by designing sites with more scrolling opportunities.
Mobile sites can be difficult to use even when they utilize responsive design simply because of the size of most mobile device screens. Click on images or tabs on the site can be difficult for even the most petite hands so, in an effort to promote ease of use, many designers are reworking sites to include more scrolling and less clicking.
This is particularly helpful in sites that have multiple pages. Making the site more user friendly should always be first and foremost in a designers mind. If the site is not user friendly, visitors will not return.
Larger Images
As the internet replaces other media, it has changed the way we like to receive information
We have largely become a very visual society. Using larger images with text overlay is a great way to capture your visitors’ attention and get them to stick around to read your text.
Images should be engaging but not dominate the entire page, nor should the page be cluttered with several small images. Finding the right larger image to pull in the reader but not overwhelm them is the key to making visitors to your site come back for more.
Background Videos
2015 will see a rise in the use of background video embedded into pages. Having too much information on a web site is a huge turnoff for browsers.
Not only does it clutter the page and make visitors to your site uncomfortable but it can also affect page load time.
Designers are getting around that now by embedding informative video into the site pages. Now, when you click on a site, you’re treated to beautiful imagery that tells a story about the site instead of having to read everything on the page. What did I say about the internet turning us into a more visual society?
Typography
In the past, type face and font packages have not been very cost effective for most consumers hiring a web designer.
Now with the advent and acceptance of open source formatting, such as Google fonts, who offers them for free, that is quickly changing. Open source formatting has also brought down the prices of commercial type face and font packages. Designers can now pass on their savings to the consumer.
Designers can really express their creativity with type face and fonts through these open source formatting opportunities. Being able to vary the type face on a new site makes it stand out from others in a way that would invite users back to the site over and over again.
So there you have it, a few things 2015 has in store for us. With all these new designs and features the future sure is looking bright for web design.