Web Design Trends for 2017  

A regular evaluation of your current web design is an important annual maintenance task because it ensures that your site consistently reflects a modern look. In order to continue reaping the benefits of an effective web design, however, it is important to understand what the latest trends are so that you can incorporate them into any tweaks or redesigns you make during your annual website review. Web design is always changing, often for the better, as technology advances and visitors’ needs change. By using some of the most recent web design trends to deliver your content, you ensure that your website remains a place where visitors want to be. Following are a few of the leading trends that you can expect to see in 2017.

Minimalism in Web Design

Recently, minimalism has made an appearance in web design. This trend focuses on removing any unnecessary elements from a web page. The goal is to create web pages whose content and graphics work together toward a single goal. The result is often a stunning design that delivers a single, focused message. Minimalism may have already made its appearance, but it looks like it will be sticking around for 2017. A 2012 study by Google found a correlation between the simplicity of a site and the number of conversions it received. That discovery, in addition to the beautiful and focused look that minimalism gives, guarantees the minimalist movement’s presence in web design in the coming year.

SEE ALSO: How to Simplify Your Web Design

Increased Presence of Animation in Web Design

Early on, animations on websites consisted mostly of GIFs. Nowadays, however, technology (such as improved scalable vector graphics, or SVGs) offers businesses many more sophisticated options when it comes to building animations into web design. As a result, beautiful, informative, and interesting animations are becoming more prevalent on websites. The key to effective animations is to match the animation to your brand. The tone, look, and placement of the animations should be in keeping with the brand that you are building. To this end, the replacement of GIFs with more sophisticated animations provides a way for websites to replace cheesy animations with more brand-appropriate items. By creating brand-appropriate animations, you create a cohesive web design that integrates animations into your overall messaging.

Prevalence of Bold Features in Web Design

While web design is moving toward a minimalist look that strips unnecessary elements from the site, there are other trends that are adding boldness and brightness. There are three areas, in particular, that promise to become bolder in 2017: Images, typography, and colors. Images, for example, are becoming larger and more eye-catching. There is also a tendency to place one or two bold images on the web page instead of multiple smaller images. Typography is also growing larger. Shorter, more focused messaging makes room in the web design for the typography to take up most of the web page. In addition, web designers are beginning to add in more hand-drawn typography, as well as to animate and layer it for more beautiful effects. Finally, color is becoming bolder. In particular, bright colors will become more dominant in 2017. Often, a bold look and a minimalist design go hand in hand. For example, many minimalist websites utilize a single bold image and one or two bright colors that stand out all the more because they are free from clutter and distraction.

Web Design that Utilizes Authentic Photos

Effective web design has always depended upon conveying a sense of authenticity and genuineness. However, the trend in 2017 is toward even greater authenticity in web design. For particular, instead of stock images, more and more websites are choosing to use their own images. This trend means that the presence of photos that either 1) look the same as the images on other sites or 2) are of poor quality are increasingly being replaced with unique, brand-appropriate, and high-quality photographs. These authentic photos allow businesses to improve the overall quality of their web design. By embracing original photos, websites are increasingly choosing to convey their brands as original and uniquely useful to their target audiences. Plus, the high quality of professionally commissioned photos adds to the overall beauty of the site and to its ability to engage visitors.

Parallax (Long Scrolling) Web Design

It used to be a rule of web design that a web page should be limited in length. Requiring the visitor to spend time scrolling was thought to discourage them from engaging with the web page. Plus, it was thought that long scrolling web pages lost the interest of the visitor, who was more likely to read only the top part of the text (whatever could be read without scrolling). However, as we move into 2017, long scrolling web pages are becoming more and more common. In particular, a form of long scrolling web page, called parallax, is looking to become a major web design trend for 2017. Parallax web design makes the background move more slowly than the foreground in order to give the illusion of depth. Plus, this type of design adds beauty and interest to the web pages. As a result, the parallax design makes scrolling more interesting and the overall content of the web page more engaging. As 2017 approaches, new trends and the continuation of current trends promise to bring increasingly beautiful web designs to the fore. By keeping track of and implementing these trends as appropriate to your business, you can create a more modern and effective site. In particular, consider implementing minimalism, more sophisticated animation, bolder features (such as color, typography, and images), authentic photography, and a long scrolling form such as parallax. Choosing from among the many new trends set to dominate web design in 2017 may require the assistance of a professional web design or web development company such as WEBii. Their support can guide you through your options, help you think through the features and trends that will work best for your particular business, and give you access to the expertise necessary to implement the trends you wish. In the end, the right trends combined with the right support from a web design company can help you to create a website that is set to succeed in 2017.