As we are nearing the end of 2019 the dust has settled, and we are able to look at what design choices have been popular throughout the year.
Keeping up to date with the latest design trends is important to ensure that your website looks as good as it can. For many businesses, their website is their biggest sales platform and need to be engaging to potential customers. Often, to implement one or two of the latest trends, you don’t need a total re-design, you just need to make a few tweaks to your current site.
Here are 2019’s top 5 website design trends
1. Natural/Organic Shapes
Just because your screen is square this doesn’t mean your site has to be. Using organic shapes can create a sense of calmness and comfort but also adds a sense of playfulness to the site. Moving away from using grid like systems can allow you to take your users on a fluid journey through your website. This design trend works great if your business or product allows for this playful or calming nature.
2. Motion
Notice we have used the term motion and not video. With browsers like Google Chrome coming with up with updates that automatically mute auto-playing video, the ability to use sound is reduced, but don’t let that stop you!
Adding motion to your site is a great way to add visual interest and can make it feel alive and engaging. Moving content is now more commonly seen in Home Page ‘Hero’ sections, a trend that has allowed designers to be much more imaginative with their designs. Whether you are a hotel and want to show the beautiful surroundings it is set in (Heythrop Park) or maybe you want to give the audience a taste of what they may see at your attraction (Crocodiles of the World) motion is sure to improve your website’s user experience.
Motion can also be added by incorporating interactive animations, for example images that appear from either side of the website as the user scrolls down the page, or moving buttons that can help dictate the user journey of your website. Animation and interactions can be a great way to bring your website to life.
3. 3D Illustration
Moving away from the flat designs from a few years ago, designers have started to add some depth back into their work through the use of drop shadows. This is a great way to show priority of information. With the addition of 3D illustrations, the boundaries of what is reality are blurred. Draw your user in by creating elements on your screen that are almost tangible.
Pair these 3D illustrations with some movement and you have a recipe for total engagement with your audience.
Take a look at this great example from Get Welly that shows how 3D illustration and Motion can be incorporated brilliantly into a website.
4. Breaking the grid
Rules are made to be broken…and so, it would seem, are grids! Grids are great, they keep everything organised and neat, but they aren’t very good at giving the audience a suggestion of where or what they should be looking at. By breaking the grid and having a few boxes within a grid misbehaving it is much easier to define the user journey of your website.
This is a trend that has been seen in print for many years, but only recently have we seen websites incorporating this design.
This is a great option if you have a product that you want to highlight. Make the image within the grid slightly larger and remove its constraints. This will ensure your users eye is drawn to your highlighted product. Or, if you have got something important to say to your website audience, allow the text to start outside of its designated space. Again, this will draw in the eye of the website visitor.
Note: It is important to keep design in mind! If you overdo this, the website can end up looking like a mess. Less is more with this trend!
5. Illustrations over Photo
Photos are great, they are literal, but they aren’t always very engaging and quite often sourced from stock libraries like www.shutterstock.com. If your product or service allows for it, illustration is a great alternative to using photography and it can help give your website a voice and make you stand out from the crowd. We have a team of fantastic illustrators and is no end to different styles that can reflect the ethos of your business.
Have we got you feeling a little trendier? Want to update your current site to be more up to date and contemporary? Fill in the Form below or give us a call to start a conversation with us and to see what we can do for you!
By Keir Nicholson, Designer at XIST2
