I remember when we first started out designing websites 10 years ago they were boxy, fonts were limited, home pages were all about content and not appealing to the eye. Websites have come along way!  Website design is a lot like the fashion world, new trends, ideas, and new dos and don’ts largely dictated by developments in technology. As web platforms change websites change and now we are able to design some really beautiful sites while conveying the message!

Not a lot changed in the world of website design since last year and most new sites are being designed with a minimalist approach. But developments behind the scenes have been unbelievable and well received by designers. So how will the latest changes affect you and what can you expect if you are planning to build or revamp a website for your business?

CSS3

CSS3 modules can now be used in popular browsers. This means that layouts won’t look different on various browsers, and the underlying code will be more reliable and a lot simpler. A good thing if you choose to maintain your site on your own. So your website will look the same across all browsers such as Safari, Chrome, Firefox and IE.  What is CSS3: the latest evolution of the Cascading Style Sheets language and aims at extending CSS2.1. It brings a lot of long-awaited novelties, like rounded corners, shadows, gradients, transitions or animations, as well as new layouts like multi-columns, flexible box or grid layouts.

Videos

Web design is all about telling a story and conveying the right message. Great web design leaves no stone unturned in its bid to connect and interact with its users. Sending out the right message is what separates great web design from good ones.  And when it comes to conveying a message, nothing beats videos! More and more video content is being generated today, and modern internet users often prefer videos and images over plain text. So, incorporating a video background in your web design can actually go a long way to bringing your design to life.  Done right the video will tell the story about your business and keep your audience interested.

Hamburger Menus

It is becoming increasingly commonplace to view web content on mobile devices. Because of this trend, many web designers have started creating ‘hamburger’ menus, so navigation is hidden from view until expanded. It is cleaner, more aesthetically appealing site and there are some beautiful ways of handling the Hamburger menus.  But it isn’t right for all websites pending the kind of site it is. One negative is users might not discover all the content on your website, and for another, users are more likely to give up if navigation pathways are not in the forefront.

Big, Bold and Beautiful Fonts

Up to now, designers have mostly stuck with safe fonts in the web world. But with the great fonts and technology now available this has opened doors to use fonts like we never have before. There is nothing wrong with plain and boring if you are building a corporate website, but for everyone else, expect to see an explosion of large, colourful fonts in 2016, which should change the way we view text online. Big Headlines with beautiful “readable” fonts are here to stay. A nice example of this is Reynolds & Rowella which we launched last week.  The homepage sends out one clean message with a big clean font.  We are in the process of building a new site for for Ahl, Berrien & Partners, Consultants in Executive Search using his technique with clean bold fonts and will be launching soon

Scroll Sites

Long scrolling, single-page sites, and infinitely scrolling sites are becoming more and more common. Web design in general has been moving in this direction for awhile now, and the recent popularity of long scrolling is the decisive result of current functionality issues and user tastes.  Scroll sites are great for mobile devices, smaller screens and they tell a story about your product and or services very well. Long scrolling sites are incredibly adaptable, allowing modifications to include a wide range of attributes. They open a lot of new doors to designers. However, this style is not without its drawbacks. Consider your site’s goals, limitations, and overall structure before moving ahead.  A good example is PalmersDarien.com which we launched and designed a few months ago.

 

Thank you for reading our blog!  Give us a call if you have any questions.

Website Design, Graphic Design, and SEO, servicing Hartford, CT and all of Connecticut and New York.