Well it’s here again-- a New Year, out with the old and in with the new right? This isn’t always the case. With Web Design Trends it’s not so much a shift from old to new as more of a subtle transition. In most cases I find it’s re-interpretation of current, hot trends.
Trends help us evolve as designers. When working on a new design It has to look its best. To us, it’s a piece of art we have crafted over many hours. Simply by adding a personal touch or creating a subtle detail that is fresh can polish a design and bring it to that next level. Researching and staying on top of these trends keep us current and in touch with what the level of a great design really is.
We also have to take into consideration that technology is growing every day. The Internet changed so much in the last year, and we can only expect that it will do so again in 2012. A great example of this is how JQuery and HTML 5 have pretty much wrote the eulogy for Flash development within the last year. See Joe Labrie’s Blog post “Should we start writing Flash's Eulogy?”
Although the new year’s trend list isn’t always a drastic change from what was hot in the year before it showcases trends that will grow leaps and bounds. After reading the trends below you may start to notice a few one day while leisurely browsing the internet.
Some trends that are lining up to be Hot this year.
• Mobile Websites
• No more flash—think CSS3 and HTML5
• Slick Typography
• Circles in design
• QR Codes will explode
• Huge images, big headings, rich typography, larger icons
• Rich surfaces, gradients, shadows, sense of depth
• Fixed width, fluid feel
• Footer: no longer an afterthought
• Social media
