2020 was a tumultuous year – the pandemic has changed everything around us. Technological developments have affected design trends as well, especially where creating faster websites is concerned. This year, there are a number of emerging trends that are set to map out the future for web design in 2021 and the years to come.
Here is a brief look at some web design trends that may dominate in 2021.
Dark Mode Trend
In 2020, the dark mode became a hit and is set to retain its popularity in the coming year. Dark mode has been widely favored for several reasons: for one, it looks trendy and super modern. Secondly, dark mode highlights and allows various design elements to be emphasized.
These days, most people love to scroll through their phones in the dark at night. The dark mode is a savior in this situation as it helps in reducing eye strain even when using your device in low lighting conditions. It even helps in saving battery life on OLED displays as black pixels hardly draw any power. Currently, several platforms like Apple, Facebook, and Twitter now provide their users with the ability to select the dark mode.
Voice Over Interface
The way users search for information online is quickly changing. These days, users are now asking questions through voice commands to Google instead of typing a specific search query. This implies that any web design should continuously be adjusted to stay updated with virtual assistants and emerging voice chatbots. More and more websites are now including voice search, provided as an option beyond the traditional text search. This entails that the voice-over interface trend is here to stay for quite some time.
Minimalism
The characteristics and forms of minimalism have changed in the past few years. Though various elements keep changing in order to win the hearts of designers and users alike through simplicity and usability, minimalism is one classic trend that will never lose its value. Remember that minimalism can be applied to many things: it can be in the form of minimalist graphics, a monochromatic color scheme, or just simple navigation.
A minimalist design is easy to achieve and can be done by replacing large chunks of text with visual content in the form of an image or a video clip. Removing unnecessary elements to maximize negative space is also a key feature of minimalist design and really helps to direct users’ attention where it is needed. As more websites are shifting towards this design trend, minimalism may be here to stay for a long time.
3D Elements
3D elements have always bewildered website users for several years now. Due to the emerging and evolving technology, web designers are now continuously trying to step up their game. 3D elements are now widely being used as VR and AR technologies are gaining momentum. This technology is here to add visual appeal and in turn, impact the overall design. The results of which are quite stunning.
However, successful 3D graphics design requires a high-performance website. The platform has to be well-optimized and needs to load quickly else it may not be able to support such rich content. Otherwise, the website can become unresponsive and slow.
Smart Content Loading
Nowadays, websites are more content-heavy and rely on various graphical elements while the presence of third-party integrations often tends to slow a website’s performance even further. To combat this, there are different ways of developing smart sites to help in downloading the content which any user needs.
A notable example of this is lazy loading; a web design standard that is commonly used today and usually seen on one-page sites. Lazy loading technology is a trend that is expected to dominate this year. It ensures that any specific web browser downloads only the content that a user is required to see, hence saving valuable time wasted in downloading unnecessary content.
Bright Color Trends
In contrast to dark mode, bright color schemes have also been gaining immense popularity in recent years. Bright colors such as pink, purple, and blue have become quite popular as these colors help make a website stand out by providing a stylish and futuristic feel. As bright colors tend to be eye-catching, website designers are increasingly using these modern color schemes to enhance the visibility and aesthetic of any website.
In the year 2021, we may expect to see bold and striking websites that use mixed media and lots of animation to help intensify user experience. It is the year of improving user experience and enhancing page speed but without compromising on the website design as well as its user-friendliness.
