31st Jan 2020
Minimalism
After last year's chaos, web design is a little more stripped back and minimalism on the rise again. Compared to last year however, minimalism is leaning towards a more monochromatic black and white look. It'll be a sleek and classy take on the old trend this year.
With mobile traffic on the rise every year, website navigation is getting more accustomed to the growing number of visitors using mobiles instead of desktops. Here, minimalist navigation steps in, with UX designers reconsidering the clunkiness of previous styles. It's simple - less time spent thinking about how to move around the website, and more time actually looking at it.
Illustrations
Illustrations should be very precise this year. Line art is in-keeping with the clean look and feel for 2020, but still very much creative. Mixing line art with photography makes for a modern, playful image, or used well could project a professional and sophisticated image - whatever you want it to be.
Going hand-in-hand with line art, abstract illustrations will help make a website stand out in a unique way. Introducing abstract art into the website is a striking way to interpret your brand message. As long as the visitor knows what's going on, of course.
3D
3D is still in the mix this year - in a big way.
With VR becoming more mainstream, websites will be a little more immersive than usual this year, drawing the visitor in more so than before. Take a look at Max Mara 'Bearing Gifts' - the 3D interactivity makes it an experience, and not as boring as merely showing the clothes off.
Even if the 3D is static, it's still making an impact. With the advances in 3D technology, everything looks clean, realistic and not as clunky.
White space
Gone are the days of full bleed layouts. In 2020, white space is making a comeback, giving websites a more spacious design. Primarily used to highlight the important sections, like your calls to action or your products, it can give a website a premium feel (Apple have been doing this for years).
A nice breath of fresh air for 2020.
Typography
Typography will experience a slight growth spurt this year. 'Maxi typography' (or rather, typography that is very large) will take control with web design, often married perfectly with a minimalist design. There's no doubt it will be eye-catching, with your website's messaging pretty much big enough for the world to see.
There are a few websites where typography dominates entirely, with images secondary. Not in 2020. Just look at The New York Times Food Festival website. Yes, there are some images (you can't entirely escape them), but the custom typography, with a bit of animation, sets the website off nicely and reduces the need for images to overpower the site.
You can see that most of these trends haven't gone anywhere from previous years. But this year we're expecting a little more refinement and perfectionism. It's all very 'grown-up'. Of course, these are only trends, so if you still want your website to be full-page neon pink with flat imagery and chaotic typography, be my guest.
Here at Storm12, we're looking forward to where 2020 takes us with web design.
Have we missed a glaringly obvious trend? Don't dwell on it and let us know.
