Web design is constantly evolving. Check out these five predictions for web design in 2017.
Storytelling isn’t just for content writing
Storytelling has emerged as the way to communicate values and benefits within content. It’s also now becoming the standard for web design. Merging design aesthetic with messaging delivers a better user experience. One way brands are evolving into stories are those who have shifted from an “About Us” tab to an “Our Story” tab. This small messaging tweak opens big doors for web designers to create a warmer, more personable look and feel through custom design.
Custom visuals will become more popular
Unless you’re using stock photos to make fun of … stock photos … we foresee those awesomely horrible images as a thing of the past. In 2017, look for more custom visuals than ever before. With While visuals have long-since been a critical part of good web design, the brands of today are swapping out tired stock photos for more descriptive and unique custom illustrations for page headers and more.
Expect unexpected grids
Gone are the days of the “hamburger” drop-down menu. Today, customers want less of the tried-and-true and more of the visually interesting. As such, companies are starting to get creative with their web design, adding menus and grids in unexpected layouts, and making the most of clean and crisp, modern styling.
Learn to love lazy loading
Lazy loading sounds archaic, but it is actually a better way for web pages to render. It allows chunks of a web page to load at one time, rather than having the browser attempt to load the entire page at once. While this is critical to increasing page load speeds, it’s also a great way for website owners to simplify the viewing process and cater to today’s focus on lightning-fast media and instant load times.
Flat (or semi-flat) designs
Flat design is a web design tactic that removes depth and dimension to provide a one-dimensional, “flat” appearance. While not all companies are going fully flat, many are opting for at least a semi-flat design. Companies using this approach include Apple, which was one of the first to the game in terms of flat website design.
The future of web design looks bright, and these unique changes, along with many others, will make up the bulk of what we’ll see in our favorite web pages in the coming year. From flat or semi-flat designs to innovations designed for faster load times and unexpected, modernist grid structures, there are many exciting things in store for websites in the coming year.
At Thrive, we specialize in custom web design and content. Contact us today to overhaul your site in 2017, or to learn how we can help you improve your online presence!
