About 75% of your consumers will judge how credible your business is based on your website’s design. Thus, you may be losing customers before they even give you a chance to wow them with your products and services. Today, the percentage of the population that forms the largest portion of your visitors – and thus, potential customers – belongs to a generation that has grown up with internet access.
Don’t underestimate the importance of good website design. As a recent study showed, almost 97% of consumers do their research online before they make a purchase. When they land on your website directed there by Google, wouldn’t you like them to be impressed?
We thought you would, which is why we have collected some of the latest trends in website design for you:
Asymmetrical layouts and broken grids
This trend was in last year as well, and it has stuck around in 2019 too. Don’t know what a grid is? Then think of an imaginary plane that is divided into sections by horizontal and vertical lines drawn across it. These lines assist in the layout of a page or screen’s elements.
Look at any website, and you will notice that the logo, content, and title are all aligned in a line. They look and feel rigid or as if parts of something whole that was smashed into pieces. A broken grid, on the other hand, such as this one found on the Times Talks website, is unexpected and asymmetrical.
A broken grid and asymmetry helped websites stand out back in the day. But as Webdesign Services will tell you, now they have become the norm.
Dimensional illustration
An increasing number of websites are now throwing the weight of their brands behind 3D illustration. It might surprise you since you probably think 3D is old-fashioned. Well, the cut-out illustration style of 3D might have been that, but websites today are looking to bring a touch of realism and a hidden depth to their graphics. It is as if they want the borders between the physical and digital worlds to blur.
If you want to see this kind of illustration live, then check out Pitch’s hero section. You can even grab the icons and graphs in there and manipulate them manually. Could it be that in the light of what Facebook says about its users being its products, the designers are bent on proving otherwise?
Animated GIFs
Another trend that has been bobbing close to the surface this year in web design has to do with “instant gratification. This mindset is prevalent today, which is why when a customer wants some information, they’d better find it. Say, they land on your website for something that entertains or attracts the eye. Will they find it? How long do you have to catch their attention? A very small window is all you get to provide them with what they are there for.
Instant gratification is possible when the animated GIFs come out to play. They not only entertain and engage your target audience members. GIFs also make it possible to convey complex ideas relatively quickly. What’s more, a GIF will play on most browsers and mobile devices today. Thus, no matter how eclectic a slice of the general population your target audience happens to be, GIFs are accessible to everyone!
Check out the car identification app called CarLens. On its website – in the hero section –, you will find an animated GIF. The GIF is there to let you know the kinds of information on cars you can find while using the app. Not only does the company deliver their message, but they also increase engagement via the GIF.
Serifs on screen
Sans serifs used to be relegated to the screen while serifs were for print. That isn’t true anymore because that is what design trends do, i.e., shake things up! Today, the clean readability quality of sans still makes it a favorite choice for long sections of website copy. However, if website owners want to attract the attention of their audience quickly, they can now turn to bold serifs in headers and callouts. The decorative nature of the series makes them ideal for emphasizing the things that the website owner wants focused upon!
You might be thinking now why we are even talking about something as outdated as serif. But the truth is, the high adaptability and the possession of loads of character has made serifs come back in fashion. Check out the rounded serifs that are a part of Mailchimp’s cheerful branding. Do they look like an outdated mess to you?
Emotional Design
If there is one thing that is common across fields and industries these days, it is the need of creating an emotional connection. Whether you are thinking about customer service or web design, you need to be able to create such a connection with your users.
This is where emotional design comes in. This year, we will say farewell to many websites and apps that haven’t established an emotional connection with their users. Design Shack categorizes the types of emotional connections as four, i.e., joy vs. sadness, fear and anger, trust and disgust, or surprise and anticipation. When you are having your website revamped, think along the lines of emotional connection. Which ones of these groupings do your content fall into? Can you improve the strength of the connection by using certain colors, user interface, or imagery?
When you are selecting visual elements that will be a part of your website’s design, we’d suggest using those that cue your users on how they should react. For instance, this bike app displays motion. Ideally, a user looking at it would want to ride along. The Sprout website displays a woman with a smile, which is their way of forming a positive connection with their users.
Are you ready to enter 2019 with a better than ever website? Follow these trends and hit us back later for more news on what is current and what’s not!
