It’s one thing to want to build a website and another to decide on how it will look like. Website design has the power to frame your brand’s image and elevate it to a level that will fulfill your digital marketing goals.
The realm of website design has gone through so many style evolutions, thanks to the many creative web designers that have explored the unknown, created trends, broke a few style rules and introduced new ways of presenting web content to the world. Here are some of the best websites to draw inspiration from and the trends that are taking over the internet this year.
Serifs are not just for print
In the past, any website designer worth his salt would tell you that when it comes to fonts, the serif fonts will always be great on print media but sans serifs will dominate the web. Fast forward to 2019, the serifs found a place in website design.
This is not to say that the clean curves of the sans serifs are out. It’s just that web design has learned to embrace the decorative serif font’s ability to emphasize certain types of content such as callouts and headers.
Vibrant colors to reel users in
Studies have shown that color has the ability to increase brand recognition. This is probably why website owners are no longer afraid to play around with bright and vibrant color schemes. High contrast has taken over from the soft monotone color schemes of the previous years. If you’re looking to implement this trend on your website, go for warm tones such as golden yellow, orange, and purple because these shades tend to appeal to emotions.
Black and White Stays
This might sound contradictory to the previous trend but black and white palettes are continuing their rule in website design this year. If you’re a fan of minimalist designs, this might be more suitable for you. They evoke strength and simplicity. Here’s a popular web designer tip: to break the monotony of the black and white look, combine it with a pop of color on callouts and elements of the site you want to emphasize.
Video background for user engagement
A lot of websites designers have jumped on this trend of late. Using video backgrounds as part of your web design is a great way to engage your users. Do a video featuring highlights of your portfolio if you’re a service provider or give your audience an inside look into how you do business.
Attractive Typography
Web designers are also exploring new ways of presenting content through bold typography that grabs the user’s attention. Good typography combined with a punchy message and attractive visuals has the ability to get the message across to your user effectively.
Play around with different font styles on your content but do adhere to the age old web designer guidelines of selecting only a maximum of 2 types of font for the entire website. If you want to add emphasis to certain parts of content, playing with font sizes instead.
Micro-interactions
Micro-interactions refer to the little animations or visual responses that are triggered when a user performs certain actions on a website. These effects, small and minimal as they are, can improve user engagement on a website. Micro-interactions can be as simple as a button changing colors when a user clicks it or animated graphics that flash when the mouse hovers over an item as shown on the Femme and Fierce website below. Web designers advise against overdoing the micro-interactions on your website, however. Start by making a list of the common interactions users make on your website and think of ways to make such simple tasks more engaging.
It’s important to note that trends come and go. Adopting a web design element simply because it is on-trend is not always advisable. Instead, go for website design trends that are aligned with your brand’s values and image. Choose those that will help make your content more impactful and get your users to stick around and pay attention to your message.
