It can be exhausting to constantly see boring straight lines and perfectly placed boxes on every website you visit. Every simple website looks the same with just a different color scheme, but web design has evolved greatly and new trends are arising for the 2016 year that are unique and can help your website stand out. This blog will describe some of the popular web design trends that we will be seeing a lot more of in 2016.
Custom-Drawn Illustration
A new trend that you may have seen on website is the art work all looks custom-drawn. Having your own artwork on your website truly makes your site unique and elements that are one of a kind. Whether your website is built by a web professional or not, custom-made illustrations are a fantastic way to elevate a design and they also look great on a business card. People can enjoy the authenticity of your site and the illustrations will show your brand's creative side. What makes custom-drawn illustrations unique is all artwork is different. You and 100 other websites could draw a picture of a bee and they'll all possess different elements. Having a custom illustration created specific to your business will help give your business that competitive edge while also displaying your business values and qualities in a unique way.
Moving Images
A big trend that has become increasingly popular is adding high-resolution photos with elements that can move. Your website not only has a great quality photo but now the visual moves making the whole page feel more lively. These are called cinemagraphs. You don't need to add a video to the page just for an appealing component, a cinemagraph gives the best of both worlds without having to add a lengthy video. Cinemagraphs are not all that difficult to make and can actually be as easy as using an app on your smartphone. These images add a lot to a page to keep a prospect interested in what your company can do.
Material Design/Flat Design
According to AWWWARDS, Google recently launched its new style language, Material Design. It uses shadow effects and the concepts of movement and depth in order to create designs that appear more realistic to the user. Material design is used to make the objects on the page come to life in a new modern style. The depth that's given from the shadowing effect, adds a lot to the page without overwhelming the eye. Then there is Flat Design. This trend has been around for a while but seems to still be popular and increasing each year. Flat design features elements such as vibrant colors, long shadows, ghost buttons and minimal elements to make the page look creative without adding too much.
Responsive Design
Another trend that has been around for a while but seems to become increasingly popular, is a responsive website design. According to Smashing Magazine, responsive web design is the approach that suggests that design and development should respond to the user’s behavior and environment based on screen size, platform and orientation. The responsive design typically includes a mix of flexible grids and layouts, images and an intelligent use of CSS media queries. For example, as the user switches from their laptop to smartphone, the website should automatically switch to accommodate for resolution, image size and scripting abilities. In other words, the website should have the technology to automatically "respond" to the user’s preferences.
Parallax Design
Parallax is a type of effect applied to the speed and movement of background imagery. Parallax is a web design technique that allows components of a web page to move at varying speeds when a user scrolls. The effect is created when the background of a web page moves at a different speed from the rest of the elements when you scroll. This is great to appeal to the viewers eye and peak their curiosity. Actually, parallax scrolling was and is still widely used in gaming applications to create 2-dimensional side scrolling effects. The effect is achieved by creating a perspective shift in the way an observer views an object. When creating parallax effect, the aim is to create multiple viewpoints from which you can observe an object against a far-flung background.
Check out the link below to get started with your new web design.
