By Jim Clanin
The web is constantly changing in technology, functionality, and design, and keeping up with the newest trends is what we love! The web looks and functions completely different than it did even just five years ago and staying current with the newest design trends will help your business compete in an ever-changing landscape.
The greatest web design trend for 2015 has been minimalist design. This is mostly due to the dramatic increase in mobile Internet usage in recent years. The smaller screen size of mobile devices affects everything from text and images to overall layout and navigation. A minimalist website design allows everything to fit no matter what size screen the website is being viewed on while still maintaining an elegant design. Below are the five hottest trends in minimalist design for 2015.
Typography
Most websites used to use a simple serif font for most of the website text, but more recently web designers are now using fancier sans-serif fonts. Sans-serif fonts have become more popular since design has become more minimalistic because it adds an elegant touch to an otherwise simple website. Higher-end fonts are much less expensive than they used to be, making their usage much more widespread. A higher-end font can be very pleasing to the eye.
Flat Elements
Flatter elements have become more popular in conjunction with the minimalist design. This includes flatter buttons and simpler menus and removes elements with a 3D effect such as shadows. Removing these types of items reduces the amount of clutter on a website and makes room for large videos and images. Videos and images with subtle movement such as a parallax effect can add an elegant touch to a simple site. Subtle movement works very well with a flat design and can be very attractive to users.
Menus
Menus have become much simpler in recent years, by removing items such as picture icons and extravagant text. Newer menu design trends include minimalist designed thumbnails and grid layouts, with simple expandable navigation. This newer design works better for mobile design as well.
Responsive Design
Responsive design is the newest trend with the surge in Internet usage on mobile devices including smartphones and tablets. Responsive design allows a website to adapt to the user’s screen size, rather than designing a website to a specific screen size. It used to be customary for web designers to create a second mobile site in addition to the standard desktop site, which is not only time consuming, but costly for the business owner.
Due to the incredible popularity of mobile Internet usage, it is now very important for websites to integrate with the needs and functions of smartphones. How does your business website look and function on mobile, and how do you stack up against your competition?
If your website isn’t working properly on mobile devices, it’s time to talk to a web designer. DoubleDome specializes in minimalist website design and has helped hundreds of businesses upgrade the design and functionality of their website, and better compete in the marketplace. Call us at 888-799-6067 or fill out our consultant contact form for more information.
