Read Time
3 minutes
TL;DR
- The ever-changing landscape of the internet demands your business’ digital presence stay a step ahead of the competition in order to remain relevant.
- Designers are starting to detach the navigation menu from the rest of the website’s design and place it below the browser’s chrome (the navigation bars, footers, logos, branding, the search box, etc).
- After several years of designs moving towards grid-based layouts, this year looks to be the year that the grid becomes less common.
- Parallel to the decline of the grid layout, expect to see websites begin to shed their angular designs.
- The processing power of the average mobile device has made leaps and bounds in recent years, so we expect designers to once again embrace animation in designs.
- Another trend to watch in 2018 is the greater use of typography as a design element.
- For anyone with an internet presence, the breadth of stylistic changes we’ll see in 2018 makes it a perfect time to reinvent their image.
The complex and ever-changing landscape of the internet demands that your business’ digital presence stay a step ahead of the competition in order to remain relevant. As designers, we spend more hours than most keeping track of the state of the internet—so check out our predictions of the web design trends you can expect in 2018 below!
Floating Navigation Menus
Having a fixed navigation menu has been a pillar of conversion-focused websites because the main call to action can stay with users as they scroll. This helps to simplify the site’s user experience by ensuring navigational controls are always at their fingertips.
However, designers are beginning to take this even further by actually detaching the navigation menu from the rest of the website’s design and placing it below the browser’s chrome (the navigation bars, footers, logos, branding, the search box, etc). This strengthens the idea that the navigation is a universal object — not a part of any particular page — but there to follow users throughout the site. Expect to see more of this trend in the coming year.
Breaking the Grid
After several years of designs moving towards grid-based layouts, this year looks to be the year that the grid becomes less common.
Used as a means of creating order and simplicity, the grid has become a staple of clean, elegant designs across the internet. However, this will be the year designers break out of the box—so to speak—to create sleek, new, eye-catching designs. They will take advantage of the added flexibility that comes from a more freeform layout to create a whole new style.
Edgy Without Angles
Parallel to the decline of the grid layout, expect to see websites begin to shed their angular designs. Users have grown accustomed to seeing rounded edges in every popular mobile app, and that trend has now spread websites.
Look for the newest designs to begin incorporating curves in their design elements—from illustrations to forms and everything in between. They will help to create a smoother, more inviting look that draws visitors in and holds their attention.
Animation Everywhere
The processing power of the average mobile device has made leaps and bounds in recent years, so we expect designers to once again embrace animation in designs.
They will no longer need to worry about overwhelming underpowered devices when including flashy, engaging multimedia content. In many ways it will be somewhat of a design renaissance, harkening back to the days when broadband internet access freed designers from the chains of users’ slow dial-up internet connections.
The Rise of Typography
Although we expect designers to move towards richer multimedia content in their new designs, they won’t be reliant upon it. Another trend to watch in 2018 is the greater use of typography as a design element.
From custom fonts to the calculated use of off-the-shelf typefaces, get used to seeing varied text styles on websites everywhere. They are a lightweight method of directing a visitor’s attention to vital parts of a website—and they scale well when viewed on smaller mobile screens.
The outlook for web design in 2018 is looking very bright, both literally and figuratively. Bold, expressive designs will begin to replace more traditional, minimalist presentations of years past. For any business or individual with an internet presence, the breadth of stylistic changes we’ll see in 2018 makes it a perfect time to reinvent their image. The trends we’re seeing provide plenty of room for any website to stand out and leave a lasting impression on its audience.
If you’re thinking about revamping your digital presence this year, let us know and our experts can build the perfect solution for your business and budget!
