It’s true that in the Internet age, most of our business is generated from a website. As a designer or a small business, you need to create a good impression with your customers. One of the keys to doing this is through a well-designed website.
Web design is constantly changing and as a small business you need to move with the times. Today I will share with you some of the latest design trends across the web. Innovations that you need to be up to date with.
1. Going Flat
Simple, clean, colorful and modern. I personally love flat designs because of the clear navigation and the focus on the logo and content. These are all characteristics associated with flat design according to research by Usabilla.
However, if you’re planning to use a flat design for your website you need to be careful. Because of the simplicity of the websites, flat designs can quickly appear to be copycats of each other.
Of course avoiding this problem is where your skill as a designer comes into play. It’s possible to create innovative and beautiful designs using flat design. Check out the examples below to see what I mean:
Example:
– Playgroundinc
Playgroundinc uses a solid blue background with white colored text. The homepage design is simple and clean.
– Triplagent
Beautiful, clean and modern design on Triplagent.com. The beautiful photos on the website make it fun and interactive.
– Yourkarma
Your Karma is nicely designed. The video is great, the product description and showcase are very clear.
2. Large Background Images / Large Header
People love beautiful images. Like the quote goes: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Big images can be used to engage your users or readers and convey the message of your brand. This is one of the reasons why large background image web design has become such a trend. Though you should pay attention to the load time of the website and learn how to use large images like a pro.
People tend to enjoy natural photos rather than fake made up photo shoots. Luckily, there are so many sources of beautiful free images that you can access. You can find a lot of beautiful images in seconds and use them for your web designing purposes.
Example:
– Blindbarber
Beautiful image header and also nicely designed icons for the website menu. Neat and looks very nice!
– Veev
Veev, a better way to drink, has a beautiful big image that reflects its tagline.
– Humblebee
Creativity, technology, and design are the message that Humblebee wants to convey through their header image.
And some other examples and tips.
3. One pager – Scrolling is hotter than clicking
Single Page web design became a trend years ago, but now it seems so many websites are using the same concept. Users love scrolling endlessly down the page.
One thing you can take away from this design trend is how the growth of mobile device usage affects design. This is clearly a case where innovation for mobile friendly designs has resulted in changes in the design for static websites.
Example:
– h-art
Beautiful selection of images. The homepage is dominated by white. The site has a clean design and it’s comfortable on the eye.
– squareup
Squareup website has a clean design. It is easy to navigate and understandable.
– kenleyeventdesign
This is one of the most beautiful one page websites that I know of. The size works just right and the placement of each images is great. Who isn’t easily transformed into a buyer after seeing a website like this?
4. Responsive
I know that responsive web design isn’t a new thing, but with all the busy discussions about Google mobile friendly update, then this feature is a must to have. Go test out on your website to see whether it is mobile friendly or not.
Creating a mobile responsive website is not only important because of the Google update, but also because more and more people are accessing your site from mobile devices. You can actually find the number here in this study from Marketing Land.
Examples
– Let’s Travel Somewhere
I am sure that most websites responsive nowadays. Lets Travel Somewhere is fully mobile friendly and it looks great both on laptop/pc or by mobile.
5. Typography
Using big typography or smaller font with a plain background is one of the most popular trends in 2015. Typography is easy to master, but make sure you don’t get trapped with a beautiful-but-hard-to-read font.
As you know, besides the usability of a website, the readability is also important. The font you choose has a big impact on the website readability and as a consequence the user experience.
Example:
– Niedlovs
Special typography that you’ll find on Niedlovs. Is that made from dough? Pretty neat and looks different from anything else.
– Mixd
Mixd uses small font on the site, but it looks pretty, it’s easy to read and it conveys the message clearly.
– Kickpoint
Kickpoint is one of many website that use big fonts on the website. Their message: “Traffic is good but clients are better. See how we prove it” is powerful. The size, colours and types of font are just right to convey their message. They emphasize the “prove” word, which is a great decision.
More fluffy examples: Mariecatribs
Marie Catribs might not be for everyone, but the typography here is so much fun and it is certainly associated with the restaurant and store. It speaks of friendliness and tastiness.
6. Video homepage
If a picture speaks a thousand words, then can you imagine what a video can tell you. In 2015, the trend of web design using video on their homepage is continuing to grow. Of course you should keep in mind that user experience is important so make sure to work on the load time.
Of course anyone who is keeping an eye on Youtube knows about the power of videos to engage an audience and make people money. Youtube states that 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute and the number of hours people are watching on YouTube each month is up 50% year over year. Something for all you Youtube marketers to keep in mind.
Examples:
– Matter.to
Matter.to is simple black and white. It has an extraordinary video, which I really enjoy. The video really speaks about each individual and the work that Matter does.
– Ycoyacht
Despite the looooonnnnggggg load time, Y.co yacht has one of the most beautiful videos ever.
– Wistia
Wistia is one of my favourite sites (also just as a service for uploading your videos). I love the video that is played on the homepage. The video doesn’t have any sound by default, which makes you want to press the play button so you can hear what is going on. It’s simple things like this that make Wistia really creative in the way the convey their message to the audience.
And oh yes, if you fancy more examples, click here.
7. Personal Branding
Personal Branding has become a hot trend for website design. This personal branding is something that is really important within the SaaS niche, as charismatic CEO try to energise otherwise boring products.
If you run a business where the product isn’t exciting (think accountancy software ) then you should really consider getting involved with personally branding. This isn’t just about design of course, but it’s also something to think about when it comes to content marketing.
Example:
– MarieForleo
Marie embraces the spirit of creating a business around the life you love. You’ll quickly see that she is a great communicator and smart just from looking at her homepage.
– DalePartridge
The Daily Positive by Dale Partridge instantly tells people about the brand. It transmits Dale’s personality. I like the quote that is displayed on the homepage:”I hope my writings inspire you to live a life of purpose”. It also reflects the personal branding and spirit that the Daily Positive wants to convey.
– EllensRiley
I love how simple and straight forward Ellen’s website is. You’ll instantly see that Ellen Riley is a graphic designer and that she is fun to work with. The website is also a one pager style. You can scroll down to see several facts like clients who have been worked with her and a glimpse about Ellen.
8. Grid / Boxes
Grid or box based design, which we can also say is a portfolio or Pinterest kind of design, isn’t a new trend, but is still hot stuff in 2015. There are plenty of websites that are using this design to great success.
This design works bst with tidy boxes and a clean background (you can learn some grid theory here). Of course a crucial part of using this design is making sure that the website is easy to navigate.
Example:
– JonathanPatterson
Though I am not a big fan of the icons and the color pallette that is used on this website, I still like how the homepage looks. It is super clear, not confusing and very easy to navigate.
– PeacheyPhotography
I love the idea that all the boxes don’t come in same size. The design showcases beautiful pictures and gives the user a great experience when browsing around the website.
9. Hidden Menus
This last design feature is a trend that supports simplicity. Hidden menus basically mean that the menu only appears when the mouse hovers over an icon (buttons or tabs). One thing to keep in mind, this feature is more suited for laptops and PC rather than mobile design.
Example:
Monograph
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Talking about trend is always fun and also tricky. There are so many things happening and new developments emerging. What do you think are the main web design trends in 2015? Am I missing something here?
P.S. If you want to try Youzign for yourself then head over to the homepage for your free 30-day trial. You don’t need to enter your credit card details. To get started just click here.
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