Web Design Trends – Latest Features that will last into 2015


Which web design trends are here to stay?

Typography, video, minimalism/flat design and responsive web design (RWD) all feature high on the agenda for 2015. But as business people and marketers, why do we care? The answer is simple: Of course we do because being on trend shows that you are forward thinking and consistently keeping up with the web design pacesetters.

But how can we predict what will be the biggest web trends for 2015? The long and short of it is that we can’t, but we can have a pretty good guess taking into consideration the look and feel of many of 2014’s latest digital platforms.

Responsive web design

Responsive seems to have been the buzzword for 2014, and with 2015 set to be the year where more people access webpages on their mobiles than any other device, website owners should to be focused on making sure that their pages appear across a variety of platforms. One of the biggest discussion points among web developers has been about how they can ensure perfect legibility and that the whole website can be easily viewed on smaller screens such as tablets and smartphones. Alternatives include a reactive website, a separate mobile website or even an app for mobile.

Devices representing responsive web design

Don’t click, just scroll

Scrolling has taken over from clicking in 2014, with extra-long websites which are geared up for viewing on smaller devices. Of course there is a possible consequence to an extra-long website: Google pays attention to URLs and to the tags so having one long website instead of a number of different pages can have a negative impact on the SEO. This trend looks set to continue into 2015 along with other clever tricks such as parallax scrolling, even if it has been around for a year or two. While we love a bit of parallax scrolling, a computer graphic that makes background images move more slowly than in the foreground, too much of a good thing can destroy the entire effect, so it is worth using in moderation! A smart animation certainly adds style to any website, and it fits in nicely with another growing trend: video.
The popularity of the ghost button, a hidden button that you have to hover over to see, continues to rise, and that is no surprise considering that it also sits so well with larger images and videos. The idea of a minimalist, stylish ‘hidden’ button certainly appeals, and it looks as though it is here to stay.

Ghost Button Representation

Design Trend: Ghost Buttons in Website Design

Typography

Surprisingly, typography also looks set to rank highly on 2015’s must-haves. It may seem simple, but according to experts typography has been seriously overlooked for years. Perhaps that stems from the fact that in the past buying in web-typography kits has been pretty costly. Thanks to Google Fonts typography is more accessible for many web designers and there is more choice, allowing developers the freedom to create readable, stylish designs using words on the screen.

Flat Design

Flat design also comes high on the 2015 must-have list. Its dominant presence is no surprise considering it works so well with RWD and typography. Plus it offers a very clean minimalist framework for your website, a style that has really taken off in 2014.
It is possible, however, that in 2015 we may well see the flat design concept evolve into ‘material design’.
Google unveiled the concept in June, 2014. It states: “Material is the metaphor. A material metaphor is the unifying theory of rationalised space and a system of motion. Our material is grounded in tactile reality, inspired by our study of paper and ink, yet open to imagination and magic.”
To put it simply, this is ‘almost flat design’. The idea is to incorporate some elements of animation and layering within web design to create a ‘visual language’. To find out more on Material Design, click here.

Representation of Web 2.0    Representation of Flat Design

Video and animation

Thanks to some fabulous social media emerging in 2014 such as Vine, video sharing has gone from strength to strength. It has meant that large numbers of people can bring movement to their websites and express themselves in a whole new creative field.

It’s true that web design has come a long way since the early days, but now in (nearly!) 2015, there are no excuses. Whether you need assistance with web development or more help making your website work for you, click here for more information.


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