Mobility is the way of the future and having our little pocket computers in hand is better than a security blanket and nothing says comfort quite like a well designed website. As the web continues to grow from a technological standpoint, so too has it in terms of design. Having become more advanced and in tune with our societal wants, needs and visual stimuli, new techniques in web design are being introduced in order to keep up and ahead of the game. With this in mind, we can only imagine what might be in store for the future. So looking ahead at trends for 2015 we can only assume that this year, the best is still yet to come.
Responsive or Bust
While responsive design isn’t necessarily a new concept, in recent years it’s made a name for itself as being the new industry standard for web design in general and particularly in WordPress themes. But for the nonce greater emphasis will be placed on performance and user experience, with many sites mimicking the ease of mobile browsing and implementing it site wide. A variety of contributing features have been popping up across the board with this in mind like simplified navigation in the form of hidden, slideout or drop down menus, flexible images, video and typography that resize automatically based on the environment and custom layouts depending on the device. Combined with great content, visuals and a can-do attitude you now have yourself a fine recipe for a website that truly deserves a blue ribbon.
We Are Living in a Material World
The world may be round, but flat is where it’s at. When Google introduced Material Design in mid 2014 it took the web design world by storm and has only gained momentum from there. A simple, no fuss framework that’s easy to apply across all digital platforms and with optimizing mobile performance in mind; in essence Material Design is clean, simple and minimalistic though admittedly not totally flat. Incorporating gradients, layering and animation to create some semblance of the tangible world while still reaping the benefits of flat design, designers and developers alike are jumping on the Material bandwagon and adopting it to meet any end-framework they like with the same unified visual style.
Clicking is So Last Year
As a result of our digital revolution, our attention spans have thinned noticeably and clicking just doesn’t cut it anymore. With the surge of mobile popularity in recent years, many sites are opting for scrolling pages as a means to display content. Creating quick, easy to digest webpages that are user-friendly across all devices, scrolling offers a slick new look that all the cool kids can appreciate and is a breath of fresh air compared to the sites of yester year.
Go Big or Go Home
Type has been used as an element of design since the beginning of time and it’s unlikely it’ll be dying down anytime soon, especially when it comes to web design. While web designers are grasping the full potential of typography and the power of a nice meaty text, we can expect to see a lot of emphasized typography taking center stage as a means to focus attention and enhance the visual hierarchy of the page. If content is king, then typography is the crowning aspect and when used in conjunction with imagery, has the ability to turn any webpage into a work of art.
Simple is the New Black
In short, simplicity is the end all be all. The word itself makes us think of fresh air, open space and clean white linens, translate it into the web and it can have much the same effect. In a world of increasing distractions a nice clean, uncluttered and uncomplicated website can be the digital vacation we’ve been dreaming of. Many designers are taking that into account and removing some of the less essential elements of design for simplicity’s sake and to allow for better navigation and ease of access. For 2015, simplicity is the common goal and each new trend is a contributing factor. From flat design to responsive webpages the future of web design is looking very fresh indeed.