Technology changes fast, and the same goes for website design trends. Website features and design elements that were once modern and innovative may have become cliched, tired, and overdone in recent years. The last thing you want as users arrive at your site is to lose conversion because your website ignores critical web standards or looks outdated. It is essential that you keep up with all the latest web design and development trends to create a highly functional, easy-to-use website that performs well and looks fantastic.
Web design trends for 2021 and beyond
There will always remain aspects of web design that are never going away—user-friendly navigation, data security, and fast load times should be a given on your site. However, you can keep your website at the forefront of design and search engines by adding some of these innovative website elements and features. Here are some of the latest web design trends and predictions for 2021.
1. Flexible/Scalable vector graphics
The primary source of aesthetics on any site is multimedia. A web page that contains fascinating illustrations or photos is always rated higher. Websites saturated with content take much longer to load, especially on mobile devices. One of the ranking criteria is indexing sites on mobile devices, making adaptability more in demand than ever before. The issue with GIFs and PNG images is that they lose quality when resized. Refusing them means killing saturation. SVG is not pixels but a vector image based on an XML markup language. The SVG format allows you to scale the image to fit the screen while also maintaining the original graphics’ quality. This format is becoming a critical trend for both adaptability and web design.
2. Asymmetric layouts
For many years, websites have been built on a grid. This approach helps streamline the structure and focus on key elements. However, this also reduces the uniqueness of a site. Therefore, the upcoming trend is asymmetric design layout. Asymmetry is an opportunity to change traditions and move to individuality, brutalism, fun and shaky energy. But even here, designers will need to find balance. To create a sense of balance, you must conduct user testing. The goal is to ensure that no part of the page looks “heavier” than the rest. It is important to remember that regardless of the approach, the viewer’s eyes are always fixed on the larger elements.
3. CSS grids
CSS grid formats have simplified processes and have emerged as one of the most critical responsive design trends. What is awesome about the CSS grid is that it allows developers to present a high-quality experience to visitors irrespective of the size, type, or nature of the device used to visit the website. CSS Grid provides a layout system to organize content into rows and columns. The grid structure offers more freedom to create creative layouts and helps brands enhance visual presentation. CSS Grid is one of the top responsive design trends to capitalize on web design in 2021.
4. Soft shadows and floating elements
One of the best ways to grab users’ attention is to upload a video to the main screen’s background. Technology allows you to combine this approach with high page loading speed. Using soft shadows and floating elements of images makes web design layered and more interesting. It also increases the depth of the design elements. This effect can be used for designing headings, body text, individual images and illustrations, and active buttons. You can thus add shadows and floating effects to any web design element. The key feature is that it looks aesthetically pleasing against the general background. This approach allows designers to dilute SVG illustrations’ uniformity and make the design more unique.
5. Dark mode/theme
Dark theme web designs serve a couple of different functions. On the practical end, they help reduce eye-strain, a concern for many as we spend more and more time looking at digital screens. On the aesthetic end, dark mode easily creates an ultra-modern and sophisticated look for your website while also giving you the ability to highlight other design elements just by darkening the elements that surround it. A simple colour change makes the design elements more visible as it increases the contrast ratio and makes for a more elegant look. This trend is spreading and becoming increasingly more popular in all areas. Dark shades also allow you to create creative elements using a neon glow, one of the leading graphic design trends in 2021.
Bring creativity and performance into your business
Trends and technologies are changing fast, and so too are customers’ expectations and demands. However, stuffing everything on a single plate is not good practice. Therefore, adopt design trends that will help you meet your customers’ current requirements. Captivate your audience with Key27 web design and development services for websites that look great and lead to customer conversions.
Whether you are building a multi-page e-commerce website or simply giving a facelift to your existing site, we will provide the most creative website design to convert solutions to fit your goals and your budget. For more information, contact us today for a free consulting session and discover how we can help you.
About the author:
Octavian Nastase is passionate about internet marketing and he is the KEY27’s website conversion optimization specialist. With over a decade of experience in the field, he has helped businesses getting more clients from the online world and convert more of their website visitors into customers. Octavian is known for his creative approach to solving problems and his ability to break down complex concepts into simple, actionable steps. In his free time, Octavian enjoys reading, traveling, and being part of his children’s lives.
If you’re looking for someone who can help you get the most out of your website, Octavian is the person you want to work with.