Websites – since their inception in 1991, have been the place for interaction. These days, tech is advancing at such an unimaginable rate, that things relevant today can most certainly become irrelevant tomorrow. So, website making has evolved to ‘web design’, keeping in touch with the latest trends. And now, with the integration of new and powerful ideas, it is moving out of the boring, fixed rectangular screen and entering the real world. It’s becoming more responsive, more engaging, more immersive than before, with the help of the Metaverse, Web 3.0, 3D illustrations, and animations, etc. Check out Creative Fabrica to obtain incredible illustrations!
What are the new trends in web design?
There are one too many. Be it the return of Y2K nostalgia, or the pixel, there are numerous trends compelling everyone working with web design to up their game. Some of the most prevalent trends are –
- The Y2K trend – Y2K stands for the Year 2000. The Y2K art form is officially coming back. Websites in the 2000s used heavy data visuals in different-sized fonts and colors to attract users to them. Fonts used in the late 1990s to 2000s include Sans Serif, Arial, Verdana, etc. The reason for its return might be a retro-based approach to capturing the web design market.
Custom cursors aren’t a novel concept today. Anyone can download a cursor pack from the internet, completely free of cost, and use them freely. In fact, you must even be familiar with cursor effects, that although limited, were pretty fun to watch. But some applications nowadays are offering the users to ‘create’ their own cursors, with no restrictions on creativity. Web designers are now working on creating custom cursors for their websites without using a cursor pack. How cool is that!
- The return of the large pixel and fonts – This is again, not a new concept, but is rapidly gaining popularity among designers. Minecraft, one of the most widely played games in the world, has inspired some to use larger pixels in fonts, typefaces, icons, images, etc. Fonts in use are changing. Specially lettered text, pop colors, curved lines, neon bordering, 3D tablature, mini-animations, etc, all are contributing to fresh, trendy designs, with promising outputs.
Monochrome and greyscale are proposing a simple and minimalistic approach, withholding futuristic designs. Vector art is another facet of web design, which is proving to be much better than plain simple background images. The websites are becoming more and more dynamic, giving the user a wholesome experience.
- Illustrated art with varied confines – There is no denying that visual art has overtaken the need for textual format for representation. 3D visual experience kicked off with the idea of Metaverse. The Metaverse is a digital, interactive virtual world, which may be focussed upon greatly by designers for an immersive experience. The scope for visual exploration will be measured increasingly as its involvement increases.
A new term, clay morphism, has been introduced in 2023, meaning essentially a new user interface style that categorizes and nomenclatures frequently used 3D designs in libraries for easy access to such resources. Human figures of different dimensions are most popularly used in clay morphism.
How are e-commerce websites keeping up?
E-commerce websites are working on a whole different level to provide collaborative features to attract customers. They are focussing on customer choice personalization, customer engagement, and an overall classy simulating experience with the infusion of futuristic tech. Technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, holographic elements, etc. are being actively used.
Some immersive e-commerce styles include animated product divulgence, AI-powered shopping features, personalized options for a particular segment of customers, simplified navigation, a variety of big, thick fonts with bright colors, etc. Dark modes, which help in lesser straining of eyes are preferred over bright modes, animated scrolling using libraries from languages like JavaScript. Transitioning gradients, voice-controlled interface with motion designs, and inclusivity are some of the other features.
The final word
2023 has a lot to offer in terms of designing other related arenas, with more than we can possibly imagine. Comfort and ease are predictably the primary goals, along with a fully immersive experience. Websites will need to reinvent themselves with distinctive authenticity to build and sustain larger user bases. For example, shopping websites will have to aim to provide a real store-like shopping experience from the comfort of their homes, with chat or virtual assistants for easy routing. As for service-providing websites, they will need to focus more on rebranding them to educing a more flexible and complete personalized experience.
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