The web design industry is constantly flooded with new ideas and trends no matter what year we’re in. From dark mode, colourless designs, fluid motions to full-fledged multi-media integration, to no code movement, there’s always something exciting on the horizon for web designers to look forward to. Businesses should know that what works for one brand may not work for another. It’s crucial to keep exploring styles that bring visitors a memorable experience on the web in order to bring in more traffic. Follow the below 5 top web design trends to stay ahead.
Unusual shapes
Creating asymmetric layouts with seemingly mismatching elements and design is not a trend going to be out of fashion anytime soon. It involves creating a design in which the halves are not equal yet there are balance and harmony between different elements. The use of white space to create an off-balance yet aesthetic look is another trend within asymmetric layouts. The idea is to evoke excitement, intrigue, and visual appeal as soon as the user lands on the page, they’re taken in by the unique energy of the design.
Balancing space and motion in the design is crucial. The viewer’s attention should be directed to the elements you most want in focus. Even though the layout is free-flowing, there’s the use of grids in the background to tie all the elements together with the balance of heavy and light.
Another trend to continue in 2022:is the use of geometrical patterns and forms that are out of the ordinary along with floating elements, abstract symbols, and thematic consistency.
Design Extremes
Designers are experimenting with extreme minimalism and maximalism in their design approach. Both have their own charm; while minimalistic design creates calm and elegance, maximalism creates momentum and tension. Using bold and bright shapes, retro font, hidden navigation elements, clashing colors, rich neon colours, and chaotic order are the key features of the maximum design. While minimalism is quite the norm, it does the opposite to achieve the same effect of immersion. Using simple design and negative space, minimalism has been used to create interfaces that get right to the point but do it with high aesthetics. The top luxury brands continue to use this style. Minimalism captivates while maximalism screams. Designers should explore either of the styles depending on the type of brand, product/service being offered. For instance, minimalism is a good option to showcase products on e-commerce, shopping sites. Maximalism can work well if the idea is to create fun with media, entertainment, music, gaming products, although it really depends on what kind of mood you want to associate with the brand image.
Storytelling
This trend uses creative copy along with a sequential flow in order to tell the viewers a story. The copy isn’t trying to impress the viewer but has authentic messaging. The story can be told using scrolling based navigation and animation design. Using high res images, hand-designed GIFs and creative transition with the right balance of text is a truly useful technique when you’re trying to get across an impactful message that is created to leave an impression on the mind of the users. The storytelling should have an underlying intention, whether to create mystery, drama, adventure, or even a ‘feel-good’ factor. However, designers should be careful not to overwhelm the visitor by adding unnecessary, superfluous elements or copy so that the main flow of the story is not disturbed.
Dynamic Scrolling
Parallax and horizontal scrolling continue to remain popular. These keep the viewer engaged and provide motion in an otherwise static design. They should be combined or used separately to evoke different rhythms based on the content of the page. You can use photo galleries along with small preview windows but avoid using text in horizontal scrolling. Parallax scrolling can be more immersive with some 3D elements in high-resolution photographs as backgrounds, interactive animations, hand-drawn illustrations, or stylised catalogs. However, subtlety is going to be key. Adding depth to the dynamic aspects while not making the viewers dizzy and distracted is essential.
3D elements
Animations, soft shadows, floating elements, AR/VR enabled interactive features, combining photography with graphics, toon mascots, among others are some of the hottest 3D trends in the world of web design currently but are going to be even more sophisticated and engaging in 2022. The use of shadows, depth, layers within layers, surprise motion elements, AI-enabled chatbots with realistic NRP are some of the ways in which your web design can come alive, and entrance visitors. Morphing with psychedelic effects, artistic illustrations when combined with clever use of geometry, font and colors are also going to be pervasive.
Any top design trends that businesses want to use in order to provide a better UX/UI experience to the customer should be incorporated after planning the full development with big data/analytics, cybersecurity measures, and the highest ethical design standards.