One of our popular posts is a post from 2010 that looked at the trends in web design of that year. It’s now 2013 and we’re bringing you an updated perspective.
The design basics still hold true: the best contemporary websites have a clean, modern, uncluttered, look-and-feel. They have intuitive, user-friendly navigation, compelling CTA’s (calls-to-action), and strong branding.
Perhaps the biggest change in the last few years is an emphasis on responsive design. Web users are more likely to be visiting your site on a mobile device than on a desktop computer. Responsive frameworks are exactly that – they resize (respond) automatically for the screen size and adjust the navigation, layout and graphics accordingly. See some examples here. We have been building more websites this way. Instead of building one desktop version and one mobile version, we build one unified site that responds dynamically for the size and type of the browser being used. This impacts design as well as the responsive framework is built on a grid system of blocks that can easily be reconfigured for various sized screens.
“Flat” design is a new trend that fits nicely into the contemporary, minimalist aesthetic. Flat design is prominent in Microsoft’s new OS and represents the opposite of skeuomorphic design, which tries to emulate 3 dimensional objects. Flat design offers larger typography, simple icons, flat color areas and carefully balanced, functional elements.
Other continuing trends are the use of large, full-screen images and websites that utilize HTML5 and CSS3 for Parallax scrolling. We were inspired by these creative examples. These long pages display background images that move at a different rate than the scroll or the text on top of them. This produces an interesting layered effect. When parallax scrolling is combined with animation the result can be quite compelling.
The beauty of design is that it is constantly changing and evolving as new technologies inspire designers. In the end, it’s all about communication and staying true to your brand. Send us your thoughts on design trends that inspire you.
Check out this awesome Infographic made by Enfuzed showcasing web design trends for 2013. Check out some of the front runners for 2013 web design trends including responsive, “flat,” minimalism, typography, parallax, infinite scrolling, content first, fixed header, single page websites, and large image backgrounds.
