Trends in Web Design: Part 3
So, we’ve covered big, bold fonts and color. We covered multimedia and interactivity. What I have left in the visual part of web trends is a little of this and a little of that. You will never use all of these trends in one site (I hope!), but as perhaps you have seen in the samples, it’s not uncommon to combine several of the elements.
1. Another take on fonts is hand lettering. Hand lettering equals human presence – it’s sort of like captcha for the whole website. It indicates a human presence. Speedo has hand lettering plus video – utterly compelling. Speedo is a huge, multinational company, right? But the hand font says each athlete, even though part of a team, is an individual. Speedo is saying they’re all about human beings, from “goggle familiarization training” (kids in the tub with goggles on) to swimming in the Antarctic to raise awareness. And talk about interactivity…! Speedo invites customers to send pictures and talk about their experience in water. I love this site!
Basekit also uses hand lettering on top of (some rather unexpected) video. It also adds in a bit of “big”.
2. Professional, high-quality, custom photography – Don’t you hate it when you see the same image again and again? Especially when it’s on your site, too? Hire a photographer for a day or half-day to take pictures that will represent your company and its products. No samples here – everyone knows that cheesy grip and grin photo or the oh-so-serious business execs around the conference room table. Does that represent your office? I thought not. So hire a good photographer to hang around all day and take pictures. It makes a difference. All of the sites I’ve mentioned in these three posts on web design trends have had top-notch photography.
3. Fixed-width, centered site layout – An old idea made new. The page is 100 pixels wide and you can see the edges. This focuses attention where you want it. MadeWithCode, a site to encourage girls to learn code, uses this beautifully.
4. Video background – Supposedly portrays emotions and intentions, and can be more revealing and engaging than still photography. Some of the animation is in the header, Basekit again. Maaemo.no uses video to draw you in, as have many of the previous trends I’ve talked about. As I think I said earlier, most of these websites combine more than one idea to achieve maximum impact.
5. Flat design – Flat design is avoiding drop shadows, highlights, or illusions of depth. Flat design is as close as the icons on your mobile. Iconic, diagrammatic “flat” imagery for information-rich concepts. You’ve been seeing this already for a year or so. If you include the icons used on highway signs and other directional signs, you’ve been seeing these your whole life.
6. Ghost buttons – A basic, flat shape – square, rectangle, circle, diamond – with no fill and a simple outline. It is completely, or almost completely, transparent aside from the outline and text. They contain, of course, links. Land Rover combines ghost buttons, storytelling and interactivity to create a website that draws you in. Scotch & Soda uses ghost buttons, video and hand fonts to create the just-right vibe for their custom denim.
So, while you should adhere to your corporate graphic standards and brand, when it’s time to update your website content, choose one or two of the devices above to update the look of your site as well.
Missed the first two posts? Here’s Part 1 and Part 2.
Bart Levy is co-founder and marketer for NimblePitch, a web design company.