Web design trends come and go, and there are constant changes to what is considered great web design. With new designers and new technology regularly joining the market, there are always new web design trends to use for your website. Keeping on trend can help visitors know that your website is current and updated.
Here is our list of seven hot trends that are gaining in popularity:
1. Clean homepages that get to the point
Cluttered homepages are a thing of the past. The best websites have a main page that gets right to the point, leaving extra details for other pages and unnecessary information off the website entirely.
2. Flat design
Following on the app icon designs that were bundled with the iPhone 5, flat design is the big trend at the moment. This means ditching the drop shadows and bezels that have long signified buttons and letting the images stand on their own. For web design, it's also a matter of getting rid of unnecessary decorative elements and allowing users to have a clean, easy to use experience.
3. Focus on mobile sites
With more and more people browsing exclusively from mobile devices, every website needs to keep mobile users in mind. Whether it's using responsive design or deploying a separate mobile version, it's worth putting serious effort into how mobile users will see your website.
4. Less text
Less is more when it comes to text. The long winded paragraphs of a few years ago are out, with the current trend being for bullet points, symbols, and infographics.
5. Bigger, better images
With bigger screens and higher resolution, images hold a lot of value on a great looking website. The current trend is not just for big images, though; it's also for better images. This means a step away from stock images, with the best sites using great quality images that are unique to their site.
6. Interactive navigation
The bar across the top is a thing of the past, with the best navigation design being interactive. The current design trend is to integrate navigation into the images on the site in a creative, interactive way. This encourages visitors to check out more of the site as they become engaged with the navigation itself.
7. Parallax scrolling
For a cool, futuristic website, look no further than parallax scrolling. This technique gives a sense of depth as the foreground and background images scroll at different speeds. The result is something that visitors will certainly want to share with all their friends!