WEBSITE | POSTED ON 14.01.2016
Popular website trends for 2016
Websites need to be updated on a regular basis in order to ensure your brand stays relevant, and that your online offering remains current, engaging and in line with your target audience’s expectations. Here we discuss some of the current website trends that are growing in popularity amongst website designers and readers alike:
Illustrations
Even if you engage a professional photographer, many images still give a sense of repetition, duplication and sameness so a growing trend is that of hand-drawn illustrations on websites. Once crafted, hand-drawn illustrations can be customised and modified to suit your brand, style and tone. Using illustrations eliminates the problem of appearing just the same as every other website and adds another element to the personality to your brand.
Moving imagery
The recent trend of large background images appears here to stay but now they are moving up to a whole new level, literally. Moving images provides the necessary effect (and additional emotional connection) but still uses less bandwidth and therefore less load time than videos. The movement doesn’t even need to be that dramatic, subtle works as well. The slight movement engages the eye in that critical first few seconds in order to entice a reader to stay and connect with your website rather than clicking away.
Scrolling
With the uptake of mobile devices for browsing, shopping and connecting, scrolling has become much more comfortable for users; they are used to it now and even expect it. Gone is the expectation of placing all the information above the traditional fold; readers are quite happy to scroll to find what they are looking for. Scrolling is popular amongst website designers and website owners as it allows them to control the information the reader will see and in which order.
Flat Design
While flat design is nothing new, it is gaining still in popularity. Flat design creates a sense of balance on your website when used in conjunction with simple shapes, bold colours and simplistic typography.
Full screen videos
Even with a slightly slower load time, full screen videos are not reducing in popularity. Advancements in HTML5 are allowing brands to use video in such a way that was not possible just a few years ago. Full screen videos are ensuring that websites are connecting with readers in ways that still images just can’t. Introduction videos, in particular, add real, measurable value to your website and therefore your branding.
To find out more about the website trends that are gaining in popularity and how you can implement some of these trends into your own website, contact the brand agency Liquid Creativity, your local branding specialist.
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