Web Design Trends for 2015
Following on from last year, let’s see what’s continuing to be on trend and what’s been dropped.
Web Design Trends for 2015
Last year we wrote about web design trends for 2014 which was posted on Seomers. Revisiting the subject for this year, we are happy to see that some of our favourite features are continuing as great web design trends 2015.
What’s continuing:
1. Flat Design – well bedded in now, clients understanding the need for cleanliness. Something to watch out for is Blandness! There is a clear definition between a design that is clean and one that is dull. Bespoke graphics and creative interactive elements will help give a site some personality.
2. Large hero images, background images and video are coming to more prominence. My worry is that large video backgrounds could go the way of sliders and just become annoying. Unless they are creative and tell a story, and of course not too long.
3. Interactive info graphics. Encouraging users to engage with your site is becoming more and more competitive. Using flat graphics that tell the user the story of your business, plus enticing them to click and interact is becoming a feature for 2015. If you view this site on your mobile phone in portrait view, the homepage does not show the churches in a horizontal, but loads a smaller image of the doors. Tap on the nameplates and you will be taken to the next page. Designers are beginning to take this idea further with moving elements enticing the user to click and explore. It’s almost as if we are going back to the days of Flash, but using other video and SVG technology instead.
4. Line work illustrations and ghost buttons. Certainly ghost buttons are very much a trend of the moment, however the trouble with trends is that people can get fed up with them very quickly. Designers will need to find new ways of creating ghost buttons and line work illustrations and icons to keep ahead.
5. Fewer clicks and more scrolling. There’s always been a move for few clicks to navigate sites and get to where you need to, but in tandem with that several years ago, was the desire for no scrolling – everything to be visible above the fold. This eventually resulted in cramped websites. Now vertical scrolling is not looked upon as a bad thing, if the site is interesting, users will scroll. Example of an informative one-page site.
6. Responsive web design continues to be the standard, thankfully. As someone who dipped her toe into the Responsive or Mobile format in 2011, I’m pleased to see it continue. Moving forward, the skill needs to be on loading of relevant content to smaller devices and improved loading times. For more information on the thought behind responsive web design, see this article.
7. Interactivity and Usability – key now is making a site design speak to the viewer, get them to interact with your site. Designers will be looking for ways to create websites for their clients that are clearly laid out with key information, easily found, plus the addition of interactive elements. All to give the user a great experience.
8. Web Typography is still growing in importance, the long awaited typography for web is now maturing. No excuses now for Arial and nothing else.
9. Understanding User behaviour has become increasingly important for converting browsers to buyers. User Interface (UI) design understanding needs to lead to a great User Experience (UX) – what we all strive for.
So far web design trends 2015 are looking good. Now we’ll look at what seems to be fading away, and what I’d like to see gone for good.
What’s Not Continuing:
a) Mis-matched graphics!
b) Sloppy design – lack of thought for the client
c) Reliance on the theme to do the job of design
d) Confusing, bad user experiences
