Searching the internet to stay up to date for the latest trends in design and technology, is something I like to do. Having my own business, it means you need to be involved in everything around you.
There are changes in the air for web designs. I’m a member of the online magazine Frankwatching, which is a Dutch company that blogs, writes and give trainings about everything that do online trends, tricks and tips. It is a very interesting website with a lot of content that is actually interesting.
This time, they summed up their view of what the 2016 web design trends will be:
- from flat to material: Skeuomorphism is back? Not really, the colours will still be flat, but creating depth with a different shade or using it for shadows creates a material(ish) look. Though drop shadows are back, but subtle. Google is using it again for their icons so we can use it too.
- Micro interaction – “motion provides meaning”: creating buttons that have subtle movements or different sizes when you click on them. It wasn’t really new, but it will still be used in 2016 to create a better feeling for the users.
Frankwatching - Use of mobile elements on desktop: the hamburger menu isn’t a great idea for desktop as it is too small on some screens but it is used more nowadays. We also see that we are used to swiping and scrolling. That means, we don’t have to put all the important information above the fold. It’s ok now to scroll.
Frankwatching - Hero image on the homepage: we’ve put up with the carousel or the slider but we still use them. Even though everyone knows that putting 5 images in a slider isn’t effective and not all of the images will be seen. Using one image, illustration, video or even just a few words is very brave. Using a short and direct message can do a lot. Hurray for the Hero Image!
Frankwatching - Editorial design: Content pages are getting less boring, hurray! We used to let all the pages look like each other but that changed. We can use different types of headings, illustrations, quotes and so on. A striking detail is the remarkable alignment. We web designers are comfortable to a fairly rigid grid. In editorial design you’ll find surprising alignments. If you look closely, you see that the alignment is much more playful than we used so far.
Frankwatching - Fonts all over the place: No more dull letters, we can use every font in every way. As long as it rich and many. The combination of a serif and a sans serif are basics this season. For the headings, choose rich fonts with a distinctive character. Even if you are a bank or an insurance company.
Frankwatching - Nobody’s favourite colour: The colour palette is edgy. We looked out on freshness and clarity seems shallow to us. The colours for 2016 are dirty, they scour. If you have a colour that is no one’s favourite, than you’re in!
Frankwatching - One-size-fits-all: Beautiful trend: websites that fit on any screen, without spacing or cutting losses. Websites that fill any screen, whether they are shown on a large laptop, a huge screen of a designer or something that is in between like a phone and tablet. We’re not talking about ‘just’ responsiveness with different versions for different devices. The one-size-fits-all site without maximum width is much more scalable.
Frankwatching - A little bit of yellow: Yellow is the detail of 2016. Anything that can use a little more spirit, we provide a little bit of yellow. Does your black and white site needs something? Opt for a yellow menu item. Too little tension? A yellow half-transparency photos do wonders. Colour your button or text bright yellow. Make it nice and noticeable!
Frankwatching - Wired models: wireframes, schematic connection between points and geographical contours; they have something really cool and I’d like to see more of that.
Frankwatching