From the boxy page designs of the early 2000s, to the full-width responsive designs of the present, web design is ever-evolving. With design trends changing at the speed of light, it’s important to stay ahead of the latest and most effective new features on the market. 

Good design has the potential to elevate the credibility of your business. In fact, 75% of people who visit your website will judge your business’s credibility based on the design of your website. To help your site make a great first impression, we’ve put together a list of three big trends to incorporate into your design. 

Meaningful Animation

Static web pages are a thing of the past. More and more often, websites are incorporating animation into their designs to draw attention to certain elements or prompt a user to continue engaging with their site. 

What separates meaningful animation from the PowerPoint style animations we all loved so dearly in middle school? Animation used for the sake of motion will only distract from your website’s message. Therefore, each animation incorporated into your site should serve a distinct purpose. 

For example, the website we developed for McKamish uses animation to highlight the businesses array of markets and urges site visitors to click on them to learn more.

Increased White Space

One of the most undervalued aspects of design is white space. While it may seem strange that an essential part of a layout is actually a lack of design, white space is a valuable tool for placing emphasis on certain content. Recently, many designs have shifted toward fuller, more vibrant layouts, but there’s a growing shift back to more open space, and for good reason. 

When surrounded by white space, an element becomes the natural focal point. Incorporating white space into a design also prevents the content from being overwhelming to the user, and gains the color connotation – purity, cleanliness, goodness — that people associate with white hues. 

On the website we developed for The Frick Pittsburgh, white space was used to emphasize the exhibits and create a clean and elegant image reflective of the organization.

Dark Overlays

One other current design trend to take note of is the use of dark backgrounds and overlays on prominent website images. In addition to helping reiterate brand colors throughout the website, this technique can enhance the readability of text that appears over images.

For example, on the website we created for the Pittsburgh Marathon, you can see that a black overlay was applied to the image of the skyline. Not only did the overlay make the messaging pop, it also helped iterate the Pittsburgh Marathon’s black and gold coloring.

A similar effect was applied to the homepage images for the website for Bonya Gazza & Degory Attorneys at Law.

Overall, this design trend is a fantastic tool for brands and businesses of all types. 

Interested in giving your website a facelift? Reach out to Blue Archer Support.