Like any other field, the arena of web designing has its own set of challenges and trends that fly by every year. With 94% of a visitor’s first impression of your business being design-related, it’s more important than ever to keep an eye on web design trends and what they might mean for the upcoming future. At Brucira, we have done the same and compiled a list of the top 5 web design trends in 2021 that will help you come up with innovative and yet accessible designs for your projects.
1. Dark Mode
With popular social media platforms like Instagram and Twitter rolling out dark mode to reduce strain on people’s eyes after they have sat in front of a computer screen for hours on end, this is a welcome web design trend that is catching up and will be there for a long, long time. With more and more people working at home due to the pandemic, websites in dark mode enable people to work in low-light conditions, an advantage for all those whose work stretches till late in the night.
For websites that have a lot of copy, blog content, and numerous pages, dark mode is a must-have to help improve user experience and enable them to spend more time on the site. It is also a welcome move for all those who want to avoid eye strain but dislike the muted color palette that web designers are making use of a lot this year.
Here’s how the dark mode looks like on Apple’s website.
2. Videos in home page headers
When a visitor first comes on to your website, you have mere seconds to prove to them that your website is worth staying on. A video can be a great way to capture your visitor’s attention and convey your brand message in an innovative way instead of having a long wall of content. Here are some best practices to keep in mind if you decide to go with this trend:
- Make the video appealing to the user and instead of having long lines of content, focus on brief and to-the-point statements.
- Instead of bombarding the user with a loud sound (jeez, what if the person is in a meeting), make sure the imagery in your video speaks for itself.
- Instead of having a play button for your video in the home page header, run it on autoplay.
- Have a CTA button in the video to boost conversions.
3. Making use of 3-D elements
3-D elements bring alive the website and add a different touch. Websites that rely heavily on visuals for their products and services should incorporate 3-D elements to provide a more immersive experience to the visitors. By placing these elements wisely in your website, you make sure they do not act as distractions and instead, blend in seamlessly with the overall website experience.
Here’s an example of how Yaya incorporated a 3-D element into their homepage with a quirky animation.
4. Parallax scrolling
Parallax scrolling is a web design technique where the website background moves at a slower pace than the foreground. This results in a 3-D effect and adds depth and movement to the browsing experience. Instead of adding too much movement to the parallax effect, the trend will be more focused on coming up with subtle and creative movements. If you decide to go ahead with this technique, make sure it complements the website flow instead of distracting from the important information on your website.
Here’s an example of how Barco Sorriso incorporates this trend to bring to the mind different layers and depth of animated films and video games.
5. Augmented Reality (AR) experience
Augmented reality connects the real world to the virtual world and helps create a more immersive experience for your user. With the help of smartphone cameras and webcams, users can try on different products and can get the feel of a virtual dressing room. All customers need to do is point their smartphone camera toward themselves and try out the product. It is being used by even automobile companies to empower their potential customers and provide them a pressure-free experience away from those bustling car dealerships’ atmosphere. In the years to come, we’ll see more innovative ways in which AR can be tied around web design.
Here’s how Lenskart makes use of AR to allow its customers to try various glasses before making a final decision.
These five website trends are sure to make a huge difference in the years to come. Try these for your web designing projects and see the difference for yourself.
If you need expert guidance for your web design projects, reach out to us at [email protected]
