Web design is a great land of many opportunities. Following these trends of 2021 can literally breath life into your digital space. Yet one should be careful about what feature to apply and in which context.
The analysis of user’ wishes in 2021 showed that they are seeking new inspiration and therefore want to see something they have not experienced before. Therefore, today is the time to ditch the common trends and try new tricks and use them on your website.
What trends will be introduced for the first time ever? What outdated features may be spoiling the user experience? What trends will become absolute hit and dominate the next few years? We will focus on telling you more about these innovative web design trends for 2021 so that you are ready to apply them.
Flexible Graphics Concept
The main source of attraction on any website is multimedia. A web page that has vivid illustrations or photos is always visited more often.
It used to be that websites with additional content took significantly longer to load, especially on mobile devices. But Google has made it much easier for the users by adding one more ranking criteria that reviews the results of indexing sites on mobile devices.
This has completely changed the approach to web mobile versions and made adaptability more in demand than even a year ago. Many faced minor problem with GIF animations and PNG images when they lost quality once resized. To remove them completely means to lose position in the Google ranking. A possible way out of the situation is to implement a new trend-vector illustrations.
For instance, SVG format allows you to flex the image to fit the screen, while saving the quality of the original illustration. That is why this format is currently one of the most followed trends in both variability and web design in general.
Interactive Data Visualization
Arguably, users began to rely on data analytics and its results more than usual. Thus, IT leaders now are interested in increasing the focus on informative design structures. In addition, they are increasingly invested in offering design that can layout and provide structured project data.
First of all, such design can help you personally review your company’s data. This way you are equipped with all the necessary information to make important decisions faster. Moreover, this approach is a great chance to keep the reader’s attention on the page. And search engines want the user to spend as much time on the site as possible as it increases the indexing rating.
In order to come up with such design, your team should be working on the following areas:
- smart data processing and placement;
- formatting data sources;
Building a concise data-driven design also requires taking into consideration various business aspects and forces. So that you can reinforce your analytics with specific events and circumstances.
Data as a key component of web design enables smooth and constant communication with your users. Therefore, this approach has the capacity to re-charge and revive your project.
Asymmetric Design
For many years, developers depended on a particular standard to build their web layout around. It worked great for instances when you did not need to focus on the structure and mainly targeted the key elements. However, it significantly reduces the unique, essential points of the site. That is why, another upcoming trend we discuss is an asymmetric design.
Asymmetry is a chance to change conventional perceptions of design and move on to individuality, new energy, and stay open to experiments.
However, even with this notion, it is important for designers to find a balance. In order to create that sense of balance, it would help to conduct user testing. The aim here is to make sure that no item on the page looks dissociated from overall view. For instance, as a rule, no image should be significantly larger than a block of text.
It is also essential to keep in mind that regardless of the approach, the viewer’s eye is typically laid on on the large components. Thus, in an asymmetric design, it could be just enough to simply expand the size of the blocks that you want users’ attention on.
Mixing Soft Shadows, Layers and Floating Elements
Another way of attracting the user’s attention is to upload a video as the background of the home screen. Thankfully, current technologies allow you to combine this approach while maintaining high page loading speed. This is also true for mobile devices. One question that remains still though is how to use SVG illustrations and at the same time keep the high volume of images?
The answer is to apply soft shadows and floating image elements. They secure the multi-layered structure of the website and make it look more appealing. Additionally, it increases the depth of the chosen design component.
This method can be used when decorating:
- main text;
- headlines;
- separate images and illustrations;
- random active buttons;
To put it simply, you can apply shadows and floating effects to any web design item. The key thing is to ensure that it still looks visually pleasing against the overall page background. Using this approach, designers can forget about the uniformity of SVG illustrations and make their creations more distinctive.
Mixing Photos and Graphics
The use of real photos combined with illustrations or graphics help to convey an individual message of the site. It could be a photo of a product or a person, it will help to maintain any sort of branding. Moreover, it is a great way ensure you website looks exceptional and stand out from the crowd. Introducing mixed photos and graphics can also:
- Create a special visual effect.
- Create unique collages.
- They can be applied to add more appeal.
- You can avoid using complex attributes to expain abstract concepts.
- It is considered a great way to customize site and add your personality to it.
Additionally, you could style illustrations and graphics to match your brand’s identity. This would greatly affect how user interpret the photos. For example:
- if you are looking for a playful photo to support entertainment site, you can opt for caricature graphics;
- in case you are styling an online store of classic clothing, complex geometric shapes are recommended;
- restaurant websites can be perfectly enhanced with retro-style illustrations.
Conclusion
2021 is a year of experimenting and tackling new user requirements. It is most likely that in 2022 web designers will change most trends, making websites look refreshingly different.
