Ahhh, remember the good ol’ days of the internet? Let’s take a short trip back in time, to Christmas Day, 1990, the day the first internet browser was launched. Just three months later we saw the first website, an archaic scattering of text and hyperlinks used to explain to the awestruck masses what this World Wide Web thing was all about and how to use it. We were all simply amazed and more websites followed the same pattern.
Then things got really fancy in the mid-90s with columns that transformed websites into pages with images and (gasp!) graphic icons. Then came Adobe’s Flash in the late 90s, the futuristic web design mover and shaker.
We thought we had entered a new realm of the future but as we are now well aware, technology never sleeps. Every six months, some hot new web design trend or internet revolution sends a shock wave through our high-tech world, booting out the old stuff. (However did we manage with Windows 3.0?)
It’s not always a requirement, or sometimes even a good idea, to excitedly jump on every new web design trend that comes along but it is smart to be aware of what’s out there to get the most marketing bang for your buck from a website. So, what’s red hot in the web design world these days?
Mobile-first
Just look around at any random crowded area and a good majority of the people in it will be looking at a phone. Mobile applications are dominating the web design industry, with roughly 55 percent of all web traffic generated through mobile phones. The user base is rapidly expanding and those users want compelling visual effects and convenient search functions.
Creative imaging
Gone are the days when a fancy photographic image was the main tool driving web design. Today, illustrations are making a huge comeback and designers are leveraging the popularity to create marketing programs to inspire website customer traffic.
Illustrations are a powerful partner to attention-grabbing photographs, and illustrations offer new design components such as creative latitude to modify background and colors.
Visual storytelling
Visual storytelling converts a confusing part of your company and turns it into a clear and simple visual story. Easy to understand=happy customers.
Speedy loading
Google searches are all about speed and let’s face it; most of us are impatient as a little kid at Christmas time when waiting for a site to load. Today’s web design must consider site loading speed.
Giant footers
All users don’t interact with website the same way. Some like reading text while others enjoy photos or watching videos. Another group just wants everything in one place. A great big footer lets visitors choose how they want to delve into a company’s offerings.
Say goodbye to these trends
Complicated website layouts are instant turnoffs for consumers. We want to see simple design with few distracting details. Web pages cluttered with a dozen different font styles is another design that drives away customers. Today’s designs need to be clean.
And the big parallax scrolling fad of a decade ago is history. Customer experience was low and it took forever to load a page. Parallax is when background content such as an image moves at a different speed than the foreground.
Keep it simple and direct, with a dash of sophistication.
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