Web design sits precisely at the corner of good looks and proper function; these days, the trends are giving website layouts a much more artistic and vintage look while remaining clean and fully functional. Let's take a quick look at a few design trends in website design for 2017.
Use of Color and Form
If you take a look at sites such as Wordpress, Wix, or Squarespace, you will find a trend that looks like old vintage photography mixed in with clean fonts and flatness to the overall design. This is done to make one's site feel like it has stood the tests of time, and will last for a long time afterward. This artsy trend is based on a hipster look of bringing the past to the present, often with aged floral looks, modern conceptual art, and a mix of both bold and muted tones.
Menus and Navigation
Where it gets artsy is in the use (or lack thereof) of menus. Presently, it is assumed that most people know how to use the internet well enough to not always need a menu right upfront. Therefore, this opens up the design door to many brand new possibilities. The menu can be hidden, or upfront, or even nonexistent! This allows for a fresh new look that focuses on the photography or artwork used to make the site eye-catching. It all depends on what you want on your site!
Cinematics and Animation
A third great option to draw the eye is to make the site's layout cinematic in appearance and to incorporate animations and stills within the design. The key here is subtlety. The animation and cinematic influence need not be overbearing or showy; merely something to give the site layout a little pop to attract the eye. This can appear as slight movements to the side with text to make room for the image, or an animated loading screen that is more than a simple bar (perhaps a quirky cartoon character instead, for example). As for achieving a cinematic look, think of your site as a sort of cover for a movie or book, or perhaps the title screen for a movie. You want to draw the eye into the site. Make it tell a story!
Gamification
Who doesn't love a good video game? What better way to catch people's attention than to make your site feel like a fun game to play! In this particular trend, people are creating their menu screens, loading screens, and even pages to have the look and feel of a video game, be it 2D side scroller or classic Gameboy style bird's eye view pixel games. The goal of this trend is to be entertaining and engaging by having site goers click certain ways to open up new parts of the site. This is not a highly detailed way of doing things, as simplistic is still better. However, aesthetically speaking, this is a fantastic method of grabbing people's attention without appearing too pretentious or artsy. It adds an element of fun!
These are just a few of the winning website design trends for 2017. Perhaps a few of these gave you a good idea for your site? If you want to find out more trends or ways to build a fun and engaging website, please contact us today. We'd be happy to help you!