Awesome Web Design Trends You Need to be Aware of in 2017

Web design trends come and go. From the emergence of flat design to the rampant use of GIFs, we’ve seen it all. The lovely infographic below by designhill spells out eight web design trends we can expect to see more of this year. Keep reading for my thoughts on why these design trends are so important. (I also threw a couple of my own ideas into the mix.)

~ ~ ~

MOBILE-FIRST APPROACH

Do I even need to talk about we’re living in a mobile-first world? Or mention that Google’s search results index will prioritize mobile results first? Everything, including design, will soon need to reflect the new mobile-first reality we live in. Designers typically think about the desktop first but this year we’ll definitely see a shift towards approaching projects by starting with mobile visuals. Mobile-first is no longer a special feature of some agencies but rather a vital strategy.

VIDEO

Back in 1979 we knew that video had killed the radio star. Fast forward almost 40 years and the content arena is still continuously being flooded by videos. Google predicts that a whopping 74% of all web traffic will come from video content in 2017. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sees the future of video going much like the mobile revolution. Companies that don’t adopt video and incorporate it into their ongoing marketing efforts will be left behind. Shareable content like video is a digital trend that’s not going away.

UNIQUE TYPOGRAPHY

Until recently, it seemed that the internet was dominated by simple typefaces, a la Helvetica. Simpler styles were in. Beautiful unique type seemed to be saved for offline assets, like save the date cards, wedding menus, product packaging, or magazine spreads.

But now, we’re seeing web designers using bolder type, contrasting pairing of typefaces, even animated texts. Check out Nike’s current homepage; it incorporates several trendy design pieces. Here’s hoping that big, bold lettering will never go out of style. I think we’ll continue to see rich, custom typography for a few years coming.

BOLD COLOR COMBOS & VIBRANT DUOTONES

Creating a website that stands out is becoming a challenge and there’s no room for subtlety. Let’s hope more websites adopt color combinations that pop. Combine that with some big text and you’ve got an eye-catching site that is bound to grab a user’s attention.

When Spotify redid their branding, I wasn’t sure how long the duotone color palettes would stay. But the more they use it in-app and in their advertising, the more I like the bold and colorful brand identity. Now, duotone won’t work for every company but we’ll begin to see websites combine authentic photos with colors that pop for a stunning visual impact.

OPTIMIZED LOAD TIMES

This probably seems like a given; we know how important load times are. But animations, videos, glossy images all negatively impact the speed with which a website loads. The more beautiful content your website has, the slower it loads and not everyone has access to super duper high-speed internet. While features like parallax scrolling, background videos, and rich animations are fun techniques, they can backfire if overused. So let’s stave off poor user experience by incorporating optimal load speed into our web design.

~ ~ ~

I’m interested to hear what web design trends you feel are increasingly important. Flat design, neutral color palettes, gradients, simpler homepages, tactile design? Comment below!

And now for the infographic: