Innovation at Its Finest: Stay Ahead of the Web Design Trends
Are you looking for an update on the most innovative and popular web design trends of 2019? Then look no further—they’re all right here.
We’ve carefully researched the hottest design trends of today and wrapped them up nice and neat, just for you. We even delved into the boldest and most inventive of emerging design strategies for the hottest trends of tomorrow, too.
We’ve stuffed all the information and inspiration you crave in a single, comprehensive, up-to-date overview. Without further ado, here are the top web design trends 2019.
Breaking the Grid
Carrying over from 2018, the broken grid layout remains popular this year too. In this layout, the position of certain page elements appears slightly out of order. You can see where the elements should be, but they don’t quite line up.
This misalignment is intentional because it hijacks our attention. When skimming through the site, we can’t help but to pause and look at these elements that break the pattern of organization on the page.
Asymmetry is in. You’ll soon notice that pretty much all these trends have one thing in common: chaos.
The average American now spends almost 24 hours a week online. That’s more than 2.5 times the average net usage in the year 2000.
The point is, we’ve all spent enough time on the internet to become thoroughly unimpressed with any type of predictable web design pattern. That’s why asymmetry, like the broken grid—anything that violates the pattern of what we’re used to—grabs our attention.
Organic Shapes
Along those same lines, we still see plenty of fluid and organic shapes in 2019.
With the growing popularity of VR and ever-increasing screen resolution, digital content appears more “real” than ever. People are excitedly anticipating that technology will soon be indistinguishable from reality, like The Matrix. So more and more, web design elements are reflecting this trend by taking on more realistic, natural shapes.
Straight-edge, geometric shapes continue to be replaced by undefinable blobs and splashes, as in 2018. These elements help the website appear alive and flowing, like nature.
Animation
Many websites take this a step further. Instead of shapes that appear fluid, animation is granted to the blobs and splashes in the background.
Like a lava lamp, these impressive visuals hypnotically entrance onlooking eyes. This causes site visitors to ogle and linger and eagerly wonder what other visual treats they may find on your site.
It’s a great conversation piece. It adds ambiance. It brings the site to life!
And here’s the kicker: we’re starting to notice it’s way better than video in many ways.
Already, the animated GIF is arguably the average net user’s favorite digital toy. Everyone loves them and shares them, passing them around the internet crowd like a beach ball at a concert.
Plus, these animations can convey as much info as a short video. And they do so without taking up nearly as much space.
As such, many mobile sites are replacing a video with animation to decrease loading time. There are also a significant number of iPhone users who have trouble viewing website videos on their picky device.
3D and Interactive Elements
As we mentioned, there’s a growing interest among net users in virtual reality/realism of digital content. What’s more realistic than elements that react to your input?
Animation is impressive. But what about a 3D animated globe you can rotate yourself, as seen on the Shopify homepage?
Such elements give visitors a sense of control. And they make the company or product tangible for visiting guests. This goes a long way in making visitors confident enough to convert, even if the confidence is at a subconscious level.
And what a great way it is to demonstrate products! An interactive 3D object you can click on to reveal information gives a more comprehensive overview than any video or image gallery could. It’s practically a hands-on demonstration.
For this reason, virtual reality tours are becoming hugely popular on realty websites.
Emulated 3D Design
Here’s a cheaper use of 3D in web design that relates back to fluid shapes. We’re seeing a lot of two-dimensional sites using elements that emulate a three-dimensional look.
Overlapping Elements
One method of 3D emulation is similar to the broken grid strategy. Two-dimensional elements appear to overlap each other. This gives the site a more tangible look, as if the elements were real, paper cutouts assembled manually like a photo collage. This example is the website: https://www.xxix.co/#sn:naming
3D Illustrations
Another interesting example is the use of three-dimensional models in two-dimensional images. For example, instead of using either hand-drawn artwork or 3D animation, the website may use images of original 3D models and characters. It’s original artwork that resembles a still image of a computer-animated feature.
This makes a lot of sense when you consider how important storytelling is in digital content marketing today. An image of 3D characters reminds viewers of the most recent Disney animated epic they’ve watched.
It makes them wonder where the story goes from there. Then they’re curious to explore the rest of your site. The picture on the left is the website:https://2019.lesanimals.digital/en
3D Illustrated Text and Other Design Elements
Other site designs feature various combinations of both the above examples. For instance, aside from images, menu bars or other page elements may be 3D illustrations as well.
You may also see 3D-emulating typography choices. The ARCHE68 website, for example, features two-dimensional texts scrolling across a three-dimensional pathway.
Fun With Fonts
For a long time, heavily stylized fonts were a web design no-no.
In olden times, when screen resolution was low, frilly, fancy, or otherwise frou-frou fonts were a bad choice for websites. It made the text very hard to read on a lot of screens. This was also before responsive design was a thing.
But now that modern technology has eliminated such problems, stylized fonts are making a significant comeback. Sites abound with serif-heavy text and artistic typography.
Concerning typography, you’ll often see several different fonts on a single page. Different elements may have different fonts depending on how they are categorized.
Another unconventional typography choice is text that doesn’t follow a straight line, as in the ARCHE68 example. You’ll also see multicolored fonts, like the gradient fonts used on the iPhone XS landing page.
Sometimes traditional fonts are replaced by hand-written text. This is most common in hero images.
Top Web Design Trends of 2019
And now, your search for design trends is over and you have all the inspiration you need for a cutting-edge redesign. Keep this list and use these top web design trends to modernize, popularize, and sensationalize your website.
Now that you’ve gotten your web design fix, check out the latest SEO trends.
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