Website Design Trends for 2018: A look ahead to 1990
We’re just a few months into 2017, but already the online universe and business world are considering what will be the most popular design trends heading into 2018. We have listed some of these below, with some maintaining the momentum that they had gathered heading into this year, with others taking a more reduced role, while one aspect even harks back to the 20th century!
The first of these trends is that stock photography will be taking more of a back-seat. We’re all familiar with stock images and how they can be used for all purposes, but people want more than that nowadays. They want to see real people, in real situations; they don’t want to see clearly orchestrated or recycled photographs. They want to put a face to the company, a personality to the brand. It’s a trend which was in vogue in the 1990s, but given how consumers feel about corporate imagery at this time, it’s something which is predicted to make a comeback and become a very popular trend heading into 2018.
Secondly, grid layouts are expected to become a real trend going forward. Inspired by the well-known social media page Pinterest, grid layouts break up images into sections, providing perhaps different angles or different colour blends of a picture, whilst looking well-organised, neat and artistic at the same time. It’s also something which can be used by businesses for a variety of purposes on marketing material, as well as being cool amongst plenty of different sectors. Look out for grid layouts in 2018.
Then there are GIF files. GIF files have really risen to prominence over recent years, to the point where social media apps and smartphones have GIF integrated as a key function. Once a fad restricted to only the most avid or creative online users, GIFs have become more and more commonplace amongst big businesses, perfectly capturing key moments or images in a short burst, especially when combined with memes. The likes of Photoshop, Giphy and record.it, which can create GIF files beyond people’s wildest imaginations, are the icing on the cake.
Next up, we have what is known as Maximum Typography. It seems like such a minor thing, but it is nevertheless a key factor in attracting the eye of the customer: website typography has slowly increased in size in recent years, with an emphasis on key words drawing interest as opposed to the idea of squeezing in as much detail as possible. It isn’t so much the lesser the better, but the key message should be effective enough that it can be grown to huge sizes on a web page, using the largest typography possible. If you can see it from a distance, it can still catch your eye, and that seems to be the goal for those relying on Maximum Typography going forward.
Finally, we go in the opposite direction, and those who believe in minimalist design. Some refer to it as using cards; in other words, instead of looking for information tabs, text-buttons or scrolling down the page for links, cards are visual prompts which, with relevant imagery or to-the-point wording, can advance you to the page that you would like to visit on the site. Some companies would previously showcase their services through a never-ending list of links, but that’s not what the users of today want; they want their online journeys to be as short as possible, allowing them to find what they want quickly, and minimalist web designs, and the use of cards, allow that to happen.
So, these are the predicted website design trends for 2018 as things stand. No doubt, more trends to look out for will pop up as the year rolls on, and some may even begin to take a dip in popularity. One thing is for sure, the online world is always evolving and just about anything can suddenly become hot, or hot again as the 1990s-style imagery will attest to!
