Staying in the loop when it comes to the latest design trends is beneficial whether you’re a professional web designer, an industry rookie, or an entrepreneur who wishes its business website to ooze quality.
Besides, incorporating the latest and hottest web design trends will guarantee your website to look modern, updated, and actually taken care of — a big plus when it comes to leaving the impression of reliability in your clients’ eyes.
We have outlined the web design trends that will dominate 2020, along with some pro tips on how to successfully implement them in your design.
1. Dark mode
How could something so simple as placing light-colored text, icons, and UI elements on a dark background be so powerful? Dark mode is the web design trend that has undoubtedly dominated in 2019, and it seems unlikely that its reign will end in 2020.
Dark mode swept the online world off its feet flat-out, with top apps and websites such as Facebook Messenger, YouTube, Instagram, Viber, WhatsApp, and Chrome, as well as the latest releases of Android and Apple operating systems, turning the lights off one after another.
The color-scheme’s popularity lies in its multiple benefits, from offering users a more elegant and sleek working environment, to positively affecting the device’s battery life and energy consumption. Meanwhile, the so-called night mode is also favorable because it reduces the use of light pixels, which in turn lowers the overall brightness of a screen, causing less eyestrain, and easing reading.
Tip: To create a visually stunning website, mix dark mode with minimalistic, white elements and clean graphics and typography. For more aesthetically appealing vibe, add some vibrant, accent color schemes, glowing neon typography or futuristic elements.
2. Minimalism
A blast from the past, minimalism is a classic web design trend bound to stay. While forms and features of minimalism have changed over the years, its essentials stay the same — winning over the hearts of both designers and end-users through elegance, usability, and simplicity.
Minimalism in web design can mean a plethora of things — from minimalistic graphic elements, and narrow color palettes, to a bare minimum of text and website navigation.
The trend rose to prominence as a way of accommodating ebbing screen sizes and attention spans. Usability and navigating throughout the website are alleviated thanks to the extremely minimalist menu that take away much of the difficulty, shifting visitors’ focus from how to find certain information on engaging in information itself.
A good way of achieving minimalism in web design is ditching a heavy paragraph for a high-quality image or a video that would convey the message of the text in a more enticing and straightforward manner.
Tip: Minimalism and functionality come arm in arm, so when designing website navigation, avoid cramming up unrelated information into one section. Make it easy for your visitors to find services you offer, contact page, or FAQ while keeping it light.
3. Black & white
2020 will be the year of minimalism, even in website color schemes. Black and white, paired with a very narrow spectrum of grayscale are everlastingly elegant, aesthetic and modern.
To avoid your website getting dull, add some high-quality black and white photographs or artistic illustrations.
Tip: 50 shades of gray might be a literary bestseller, but in website design, it’s a flop. If you opt for a black and white website with grayscale-colored elements, stick to two to three shades of gray.
4. Bold typography
Over the last years, providing a pleasurable user experience has been the main aim of web designers. One of the most important aspects of a good UX is clean, legible typography. Bold, all-caps fonts, monochromatically colored or transparent with an outline are the hottest trend today.
Cursive fonts are hard-to-read and it’s very easy to mix similar-looking letters, so such typography has nothing to do on a fresh, modern website that aims for good UX.
Tip: Large typography is great for captivating your visitors’ attention, but make sure the letters are properly sized on all devices, from desktops to smartphones. One letter taking up the entire smartphone screen is a bad, bad user experience.
5. 3D elements
Probably one of the most enticing web design trends is entering on big doors thanks to massive technological advancements in recent years. 3D elements are fun, engaging, and tend to keep visitors longer on the website.
Depth adds to the sense of realism, a quality that can be especially beneficial for e-commerce, where 3D imagery can be utilized in presenting products from various perspectives or in practical use.
Tip: 3D elements can be quite heavy to load, so don’t get overexcited while adding them to your website. Moderately employed, they can do wonders; excessively, they can sink your website’s SEO efforts.
