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The modern world is essentially IT-driven. In the early third millennium, people rely on state-of-the-art technologies almost in all spheres of their everyday life—from work and studying to communication and entertainment. Enterprises across multiple industries have also gone digital in their attempts to expand their customer base, tap into new markets, and increase revenues.
Companies go to all lengths to reach out to consumers and guide them through all stages of the conversion funnel, turning one-time site visitors into loyal clients. How can it be done? As a seasoned vendor in the niche of web development services, we at NIX United are sure that it’s the top-notch design of the web page that carries the day in the modern internet-powered business.
Time-honored website creation trends prioritize such cornerstones of user-friendly site design as foolproof navigation, data security, and fast loading time. However vital these usability elements might be, recent research claims that it is the visual appeal that attracts users in the first place and makes them stay at the site long enough to make a purchase, subscribe to a newsletter, or do any other action the site owners want them to.
However, when listing design services, entrepreneurs expect to get something more than eye-catching graphics, an intuitive layout, and an attractive color scheme. They want designers to be well-versed in the latest trends in website design that usher some innovative know-how and offbeat approaches, thus enabling their site to stand out among other web pages and impress site visitors at first sight (pun intended). So what are the current trends in website design, and which exactly are likely to dominate the IT realm in the year to come?
Despite the overwhelming progress in the field web designers have already achieved, the best minds never rest on their oars, coming up with astounding ideas and spectacular techniques that are revolutionizing this IT realm. Let’s have a look at the 25trends in website design that have appeared recently and will reign supreme in the domain in the upcoming year.
What is the function of scrolling? Naturally, to reveal more of the page, but also to stimulate site visitors to keep scrolling and see what comes into view next. This second mission is handled inadequately by the traditional vertical scrolling, which seems too simple and boring for those who want to stand out and impress. That is why such a commonplace scrolling technique is increasingly replaced by something unexpected—like horizontal scrolling, for instance. Users swipe sideways or drag the scroll bar to see the information to the left or right of the central screen.
Another unusual way to handle this function is parallax scrolling, which is all the rage among the recent web design trends, enabling the production of highly dynamic and immersive web experiences. This animation technique is based on the principle of foreground elements moving swifter than the background ones.
As a result, instead of letting the viewer’s eye cross the screen in two directions, a 3D effect is created when a person is taken inwards or outwards during zooming. Combine it with images or videos, and your site will tell the viewer a story and make them feel like they are inside a computer game, inviting people to continue interacting with the web page.
You can defy convention not only in zoom scrolling but in text lineup as well. If you place text on the screen not only horizontally but also vertically, you will add a new dimension to the page, thus intriguing users and making them think outside the box. However, don’t get too carried away. Otherwise, in pursuing uniqueness, you will forget about essential convenience.
This is the typography style with big, bold letters having a dash of Art Nouveau aesthetics. Called to stir up a vague feeling of sentimentality and nostalgia, this text technique is one of the trends in website design that increasingly appeal to brands nowadays. Its triangular and diagonal letter shapes, embellished designs, and decorative stroke endings are the best fit for one short word, while other characters of the text on a webpage should be kept clean and minimal to impress the viewer.
Forget about text as a static element of the web page. Contemporary website trends speak of text that moves, evoking the film technique of animated opening titles. Like it happens in movies, kinetic typography on the web page immediately captures the viewer’s attention and can be employed to guide the visitor over the site, highlight important elements or sections, and gradually expose information to be consumed in the desired sequence.
These don’t technically belong to the list of novel website design trends, as they have been around for quite a while. Animated illustrations excel at conveying complex ideas, focusing on the essential areas of the page, and engaging the visitor by properly directing their attention. However, you may give new polish to the now-humdrum technique.
For instance, you can leverage hover micro-animations when the consumer points the mouse to a picture and gets details of the product’s characteristics and qualities. Or you can arrange them in a changing sequence to expose the categories of the navigation menu. This most interactive of the current trends in website design animates the product, supports speed browsing, unfolds a minimal interface, and ushers in a feeling of discovery and amazement when a seemingly static picture comes to life.
A special feature in the application of animations is to implement them on a rotational basis when viewers see a different instance of the site each time they refresh the homepage.
Even if they aren’t animated, illustrations can add to a unique concept of your site when they are custom. So no more stock images, since web design trends in 2023 dictate originality in creating your brand style. In the new year, website trends in illustrations turn for inspiration to print publishing and other modern art formats.
Naturally, it spells an extra expenditure item on your budget, but an authentic illustration (not a photo taken from a free source) is likely to give you a reputational edge over scrimpy rivals. Besides, such images load faster thanks to their smaller weight in comparison with photos and can be highly accurate in conveying the idea implied by them.
Despite the spike in the popularity of illustrations among the latest trends in website design, photos are still one of the staples among image types. You can have the best of the two worlds by overlapping graphics on photos. Such a technique will allow you to display creativity and add a touch of fun, thus promoting visitor engagement.
If you don’t like to pay a pretty penny to an illustrator or bother with graphics, there is a variation of numerous minimalist web design trends when images are shunned altogether. Instead, a few lines of text are placed across the homepage containing the mission statement or other vital information about the company.
As an alternative, you can place the text only in the so-called hero section, which is at the top of the page, while images will appear below the fold, like in newspapers. A bold font and uncluttered screen may appeal to visitors who are tired of gaudy and image-overridden sites.
Once you decide that both text and images are essential for your website design, a question of positioning these two elements arises. Old-school web design trends insist that each of these components should have its own place on the page. Yet, novel trends in website design aren’t that rigid about it. Nowadays, it becomes increasingly common to resort to text and images overlapping (especially for portfolio sections and blogs) when letters leave their grid and encroach on pictures.
Of course, this brutalist approach violates the neatness of the grid arrangement and sometimes puts the crowded typography on the verge of illegibility. But as soon as text stops being a hostage inside the grid, it destroys the tedious uniformity of the web page structure and ushers a tinge of experimental and rule-breaking chaos that many art fans admire so much.
The same convention-defying technique can be applied to grids that contain only images. Their asymmetric positioning and in-depth layering, enabled using Cascading Styles Sheet (CSS) grid layout software, are quickly becoming one of the most popular website trends. It’s far from being mainstream yet because of compatibility issues with different interface types, but in 2023, it’s sure to gain considerable traction and deliver responsive web pages with clean aesthetics.
As evidence shows, people tend to pay more attention to the top left corner of the web page. That is why it makes perfect sense to place a call-to-action button or important message there, whereas enticing images or eye-catching graphics are located to the right. An opposite approach is to make an entire-image header with a picture taking up the entire width of the screen. In this case, it’s the picture that must carry the statement for you.
For quite a long time, website trends sold footers short or even totally overlooked them. Today, the tables have turned, and what was earlier considered a place reserved for contact information or signup forms is being reconsidered. You can fill this space with additional elements which will fall in line with the overall concept of the site design.
Novel web design trends have also brought about a remarkable change of attitude to the spacing between interface components.
First of all, it’s no longer white, it’s just empty of any content, so it is more accurately called negative space.
Second of all, it has stopped being considered a wasted interface area devoid of any mission because it contains no images or text. Designers started to realize the value of white space as a propellant of visitor movement across site pages and breathing room for their eyes to rest on, thus augmenting the overall readability. Besides, it’s instrumental in defining relationships between site elements by allowing viewers to consider them separately and thus building a visual hierarchy of the site and information on it.
This is one of the ways to involve visitors in the interplay with the site (typically employed by eCommerce stores and portfolio pages of other commercial sites) and provide a sense of control over their UX. Users can get hold of and move screen objects, much like it happens with real-life things in the physical world. People can choose the dragging speed themselves, which puts them in charge of interaction with the website.
Another type of user involvement among the current website design trends is represented by curiously shaped cursors and cursor-triggered animations or sounds. Site visitors are sure to spend some minutes enjoying the interaction with them and floating them over the navigation menu to see what happens next. You don’t need to come up with an overly complex cursor, but make sure it is unique and eye-catching, which adds some brand-specific flavor to the UI.
Everybody loves videos. They are premium attention-grabbers in the digitally-driven world, so it’s impossible to imagine the web design trends of 2023 without this type of content. However, you have to think through your video strategy carefully when equipping your home page with a video because it shouldn’t be a haphazard collection of clips inserted there just to have something.
Better than trying to impress people with the mere number of such clips, go for a high-quality smart video. This means a video with a mission and purpose, something like a sneak peek which can showcase the brand or its products in the most advantageous light. Besides, it shouldn’t be intrusive—although it should be spectacular—and it should contain a clearly perceived message to the viewer.
This is a type of video or GIF that progresses in a continuous loop as long as they appear in sight. Their popularity has somewhat decreased lately, but they can still be considered among the website trends that give life to otherwise static page content and keep people scrolling. Today, cinemagraphs are best employed as components of complex layouts in a small window.
For decades, it has been considered a rule of thumb in web design that sites should be minimalist and intuitive, containing only the crucial information and elements that simplify the user journey to the utmost. In 2023, we are likely to witness a rebellion against this deeply-entrenched stereotype and the advent of digital maximalism as one of the novel website design trends.
The basic principle of this concept is the overstimulation of the viewer. It’s achieved at the expense of shrinking the white space and crowding the page with oversized fonts, animated foregrounds and backgrounds, flashing pictures, color splashes, click effects, etc. Such an unorthodox approach allows no one to stay indifferent. Just make sure the page where it is practiced is WCAG compliant and conforms to the accessibility principle.
This is another convention breaker among the web design trends of today. The 404 error page is probably the worst nightmare for any site owner when people can’t find it on the web. Making it a part of the site design is a kind of black humor designers indulge in. On top of that, they excel in amusing viewers when such a page features interactive mini-games, funny graphics, or engaging animations. We are all familiar with the Dinosaur Game integrated with Google Chrome’s 404 error display.
Yet, the exploitation of the 404 page has a more overarching goal than entertaining viewers and inviting them to stick around. Its mission is to urge people to find room for positivity among depressing news and events that upset us every day. Naturally, it will not make the world a better place to live in, but it’s an opportunity to let us look at the brighter side of things.
In the face of the astonishing scientific and technological advances symptomatic of the civilization of the early third millennium, many people still feel they miss the good old days when life was much simpler. Scrapbook aesthetic and DIY elements used in website design take us back to those times. Such web pages sport handwritten lettering, cut-and-paste collages, sticker graphics, doodle drawings, and other “handmade” pieces. This is one of the website trends that brings together physical and digital experiences, thus showing that intimacy and coziness are still alive in our high-tech society.
Yet another appeal to nostalgia, when the internet was in its infancy, was spotted among last year’s website trends, and it is likely to linger into the next. It is revealed in the design techniques characteristic of that epoch, for instance, vivid menu color blocks or pixelated desktop icons. What adds to the creation of the bygone atmosphere is the presence of artifacts from the nineties, like CDs or video cassettes. Even if modern users were not a part of this experience, they have a chance to savor the now-antiquated romance of the epoch that is no more.
From the not-so-far-away past to the future within our reach. AR technology is cutting-edge know-how, the implementation of which will enchant high-tech fans. Leveraging it, you can provide site visitors with a unique experience with elements of gamification.
In our smartphone-ridden age, when the number of these devices is almost equal to the total population of the planet, neglecting the mobile experience of consumers is a felony. That is why, mapping out the design of your site, you must realize that the vast majority of its visitors will access it via their mobile gizmo. To make such interaction comfortable for mobile owners, you should make it thumb-friendly, placing principal keys (menu, navigation bar, contact button) within easy reach of a user’s thumb.
No future-oriented brand can ignore the growing presence of artificial intelligence and its underlying mechanisms. In particular, generative AI and the deployment of machine learning in the cloud across many IT products enable powerful yet sustainable software capacities.
For one thing, a chatbot as an AI-driven brainchild is an indispensable element of the innovative web design trends where it becomes a chatbot guiding visitors across their user journey and keeping them abreast of all upgrades and new developments that your brand offers to your clientele. The usage of chatbots enables companies to save a pretty penny on paying salaries to a humans performing the same function and takes customer support to a new level.
Another use case for sound-related AI software is the integration of a voice search with the website as an alternative to the more traditional text search harnessed by most sites.
The chromatic aspect of web design offers a wide field for experimenting. What color trends will be popular in 2023?
The impact of colors on human emotions and attitudes has deep psychological roots. So before picking a color scheme for your brand, you should probe into this realm to keep on the right track. Typically, cool and soft colors (like pastels and shades of gray) are chosen as a background palette, and warmer and bolder hues (reds and oranges) suit CTAs best.
Instagram’s rebranding in 2016 set off a powerful boost for this trend which influenced design as a whole. Now, it’s applied not only to gentle color overlays but to eye-catching backgrounds as well. On top of that, innovative tools for generating gradients are employed for logos and typography, too. So in 2023, designers have a great opportunity to display their creativity in adding depth or texture to illustrations or providing a striking background via the workmanlike use of gradient color schemes.
This approach is increasingly practiced when designers want to create a clean and simple appearance and pinpoint important information, pushing viewers towards necessary actions. To produce this effect, bright CTA elements are set against monochromatic or pastel backgrounds. Monochromatic gradients make such design compositions powerful, whereas bold fonts and hover animations stand against a pale gradient backdrop. Here, gradients succeed in looking visually interesting but not distracting, with the site obtaining a fresh and modern guise.
Its usage has a three-fold purpose. Practically, it helps minimize eye strain, which is important for gadget-obsessed people of the 21st century who spend long hours looking at (often small) screens. Aesthetically, it’s a second-to-none instrument for creating an ultra-modern appearance for the website. Functionally, it solves the problem of highlighting interface elements when instead of making them brighter, you darken their surroundings.
A recent fashion in applying the dark mode is placing a light-to-dark toggle on the screen to let users switch between modes and choose what look of each site page they like better.
This is another tool in the designer’s arsenal which serves the same purpose as gradients for backgrounds. The blurry shape of elements behind the frosted glass overlay leaves the text over the image still legible and adds color to the area.
Internet-driven businesses of the 21st century go out of their way to attract and engage consumers, thus pushing them toward necessary steps and buying decisions. The exquisite design of their website is the major tool in this ordeal that is called to create an attractive appearance of the page, surprise and please visitors, and involve them in active interaction with the site.
2023 will usher in or carry on numerous web design trends where, when leveraging animations, videos, images, fonts, and colors, designers can draw customers’ attention and oblige their aesthetic feeling at the same time.
This is a no-nonsense job that can be performed only by high-profile professionals in the IT industry. Indulging in the benefits of outsourced web development, you’ll be able to obtain a top-notch product that is moderately priced and will impress your clientele with smooth functionality and an elegant look. The site of your dream is within easy reach; all you have to do is contact us.
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