Now that we are well into 2018, it’s time to review the latest trends you should consider for your website. Web years are a lot shorter than 365 days...If your site was last designed 3 years ago, web professionals tend to think about it as 6 years old in terms of web design. That may seem a little dramatic to the average business, but design trends change so quickly, it is important for businesses to keep their site fresh.
Broken Grids
After years of relying on the grid for perfect layouts, designers are starting to push the limits of the grid system in their web design. This is not to say that the grid is being ditched altogether (we, designers, would likely never do that), but instead, designers are using the beloved grid system to purposefully overlap content in a visually engaging way. Branching out from the grid allows for a perplexing design that will most definitely stand out from competitors. Layering and pushing the limits of overlapping other elements break the grid and can easily grab the attention of your visitors.
Unique Transitions
Animations are all the rage in 2018 and transitions are the perfect opportunity to tweak a site’s engagement in a unique way. The concept revolves around the idea of transitioning to a new “view”, not a new page. Whether it’s scrolling down to another content area or navigating to a new page, incorporating animations that ease the transition in an unconventional way will add that extra wow-factor to the design of your site. Unexpected transitions will excite your visitors and keep them interested on the pages they are navigating to.
Particle Backgrounds
Unlike a video background, using a particle background is a seamless way to add engaging design to your site without the performance issues of a regular video. It involves lightweight Javascript that does not take long to load at all. When added in a minimal and graceful way, a moving image can make all the difference in contrast to a static element. It is also a useful opportunity to lead the eye to the content you want viewers to see first.
Serifs
We are in a new age of robust font support and should fully take advantage of it. Gone are the days of designers looking down on serifs in the web world. With a vast selection of serif fonts comes great responsibility, but when done right, designers add beauty to their site using serifs. Using serif fonts for large titles and headers produce a feeling of refinement and elegance when accompanied by sans serif body font.
Customized Illustrations
Illustrations are a great addition to any site if you want to add a fun experience for your visitor. Take it one step further by adding personality to your illustrations and customize them to your specific brand. This will show your customers what you can do and prove are you unique among your competitors. There is a style to match any brand!
Take these trends into consideration, but understand that there are thousands of other elements to add to your site. Informatics web design experts take every opportunity to stay up to date with all the latest trends in the design world. We are about quality, creativity and most importantly, user experience! Improve your site to set you apart this year by contacting us today.