As a business owner, you must understand that your website is a chance to create a great first impression on a potential customer. There are millions of websites on the Internet selling the same products or services as you are. Therefore, if you want to grab a user’s attention, you have to ensure that your website stands out from your competitors.
Irrespective of the industry, a website must be aesthetically pleasing, provide relevant information, and tell a story about your brand. A website must follow the current trends to achieve all that. So if you want to create a website that truly stands out from your customers in the new year, these are a few trends used by professional web design companies these days.
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Asymmetrical Layout
It is time to ignore the rules of symmetry and introduce a little anarchy in your web design. Asymmetric layouts are not only more dynamic, but they also offer freedom to design.
However, asymmetry should not mean a lack of visual balance for the website layout. If you want to achieve visual harmony through asymmetry, you must consider the usual designing elements, such as size, color, and placement.
Extremely Minimalistic
Minimalistic website designs have been thriving for the last couple of years and will continue as a trend. In 2021, we can expect extremely minimalistic websites that rely on simplicity and sheds away any excessive elements.
The less-is-more approach to web design can not only create a user-friendly impression on the target audience, but it also has several other advantages. For example, you can make a minimalistic website accessible to users with disabilities and offer a better user experience.
Maximalist
It looks like maximalist designs will share the spotlight with minimalistic websites into 2021. There is a sudden obsession among the present youth for striking designs that lack the traditional order of visual comfort. You can use maximalist website designs to invoke young sentiments aggressively.
You can also use visual effects, videos, animations, and unconventional layouts to entice the young audience. However, remember that you should only use a maximalist design if you have a young target audience. The trend inspires freedom of expression through bigger fonts, visible layers, and 3D elements. But the biggest challenge is to manage a visual design without overwhelming the audience.
More Videos
Images have become a thing of the past when it comes to website design. In the earlier days, web designers advised against adding videos as it made the website slow. The new cloud-based web hosting technology allows a website to be fast despite having a video file.
These modern technologies can play videos faster than traditional MP4 streaming. Images are often insufficient to describe the use of your products or services. But you can easily demonstrate that to your target audience through a video. Videos are also more engaging and compel the visitor to spend more time on your website.
If you add a video to the website, we would advise you to disable the autoplay feature. Autoplay videos are not only more distracting, but they also present accessibility issues.
Vector Art Instead of Images
High-res graphic images can enhance the visual appeal of a website, but they also make a website slower. On the other hand, vector arts are the perfect solution to improve aesthetics without sacrificing image quality and the website loading time. Vectors get uploaded in SVG format, which allows the website to scale up the image according to the device screen size without losing graphic quality.
Abstract Designs
You will find that abstract and arbitrary designs are becoming more popular on websites than traditional ones. These abstract elements can be part of the background to add a splash of color to the web page and help the text stand out.
You can also use it to achieve a visual balance to an otherwise dull aspect of the website. Abstract illustrations can be a powerful way to strengthen your brand identity for the target audience.
Black and Pastel Themes
People spend a substantial amount of time gazing at their phone or computer screens these days. Using black or pastel colors on a website can manifest a calming effect on the eyes. Many people use dark mode on their phones and computers these days to reduce the strain on their eyes.
A black color theme will ensure that the visitor has an unaltered user experience on the website. You can also use pastel tones to provide a muted effect so that your target audience can enjoy a delicate visual experience. But if you use black or pastel colors on your website, you should stick to a minimalistic design.
Accessibility
Accessibility is not only a current trend, but it is also an essential requirement for a business website these days. Failure to make your website accessible to people with disabilities can result in an expensive lawsuit. Making a website accessible is neither costly nor complicated these days.
You would need to ensure that your website has easy to read texts, adequate background contrast, and predictable navigation. If you add images or graphics with essential information, you need to provide the appropriate alternate text. You must also support videos on a website with transcripts and closed captions.
2020 has been a year of radical changes which has compelled us to adapt in several ways. Most aspects of our lives have become reliant on smart devices and the Internet. Therefore the competition for businesses to survive and thrive has also become challenging. You can follow these design trends to ensure that your website stands apart from your competitors and generates more revenue.
