Web design in 2020: what’s new
The main thing which helps us operate on the Internet is the websites. We open hundreds of pages everyday just looking for a birthday present, for example. The quantity overwhelms us really quickly and that’s when the importance of the web design clashes in. You will remember better not the website that opened in 0.5 seconds (although the mechanics of the pages are also important) but the one that was more visually appealing.
It is scientifically proven that our first impression matters the most, leaves us with a certain amount of trust to that website and makes us stay on the page longer. Nobody wants to order from the poorly looking website. The question is – how to keep a page looking good?
The internet changes really fast, whether we admit it or not. This era is widely known as a ‘hype’ or ‘fast-consuming’ one: the thing that is trendy today, will be forgotten completely tomorrow. That is true for every area of our life: news, celebrities, style, food, etc. Everything comes and goes really fast and to adhere to these tendencies and stay on the top you have to be really speedy as well.
You have to follow the newest inventions every day. Of course, if you want to succeed or to keep your business attractive for the new clients. That’s why you have to follow the trends in designing your website, but not blindly changing everything each month, when a new style arrives. You can choose general rules, color schemes and the vibes of your page and just slightly change them once in a while to stay modern.
The list of the latest web design trends can surely help you with developing a particular strategy for your online operating. Best web design techniques and tools are trending in 2020: you just have to choose and look wisely.
What’s trending on the web?
Let us outline the best inventions of web design in 2020, note the flaws as well as the benefits of the particular style. We also provide some tips on implementing the design into your website. You have to remember that not every trend is compatible with your page. However, the slightest modifications can help you to achieve the perfect website look you have wanted.
- Dark theme
Since Apple introduced the night mode in their production, every app and website have developed something similar. Actually, it was very appealing even before it was introduced so widely. The text and the pictures on the dark background look awesome thanks to many different reasons.
First, the eyes ultimately focus on the picture and the text, and background draws no particular attention. Then, it just looks way more elegant and unique to have a dark website or app. The brain decides that it is something special, when something is not written on a plain white or some other bright background. But just turning every page to the darker color scheme will not work as efficient.
The best way to use dark mode is to combine it with minimalistic style icons, matte secondary colors and simple fonts. The latter is the most important – you can ruin the whole dark look by using an awful cursive.
Also futuristic elements look more aesthetically pleasing when used in a dark theme.
- Neon colors
If you were a huge videogames fan back into the 90s, or just generally enjoy the retrowave style – good news for you because neon is on top again!
Luminous color schemes are features that will turn every boring landing page into a futuristic and fresh-looking one. Blue, pink, light green and luminescent purple – mix them a little bit to develop an optimal style for your web-page. They go equally well with the light and dark background. Neons easily create a futuristic style, which is highly recommended by Akveo to use. Especially if you have a website dedicated to tech or IT business. It creates just the right impression for the first-time visitor.
The thing you have to be careful about is too many colors. Don’t use every possible tone and don’t try to color everything on a page. It is better to stick to the particular repetitive scheme that will also help the usability and the intuitiveness of the website. The most creative websites are the most easy ones.
Also a sprinkle of neon is useful even if you generally don’t use many colors in your web page. Just make the highlighting of the words neon or include a little colorful feature – the users will love it!
- Minimalism
You can never get enough of the minimalistic style. And that is not only about the landing page of the website, of course. If you really want your page to be among the best modern designs – stick to minimalism. It is the simplest yet challenging thing to do.
The main problem here is to keep the website usable but not overwhelmed by content at the same time. You should stick to the simple icons, really plain fonts that do not draw too much attention and soft colors. The main goal of minimalism is to provide the full user experience but without constant switching of the attention span. Minimalistic style helps to enjoy the experience on the website rather than bombing yourself with the challenging user process. Or even bright and overloaded design.
If you want to keep minimalistic, try to make everything on your web page simple yet really high-quality. If it is possible to display the information without having to click multiple times – do it. Do not make the lives of the users harder, and they will gladly come back to your website.
Also the pro-tip – if you can change the text to an image or an icon – do it. Visual information that is consumed immediately makes more impact. Not everyone likes to read, make their lives more simple too.
- Two-colors schemes
Continuing with the simplicity, we move onto the colors. The tones of your website can have greater influence than the texts or the graphics. No one likes using crucially bright websites or with the boring colors. Not investing in the good palette is a huge mistake causing the loss of a great users’ part.
That is why the two-color website schemes are so popular lately. It is way more convenient to build the whole website around two already defined colors. You can predict how the certain icons or images would look with the particular tone. More to that, it would be easier for a user to adhere to a particular pattern that color signifies. For example, you can use yellow for highlighting the crucial points, and blue for clickable links.
Plus, it is an optimal amount of colors to add the spice into your website but at the same time keep it modern and professional.
Of course, you can not only use the pure colors, but also the undertones that are slightly lighter or darker. Experiment with matte and glossy tones. The most important part is to stick with two tones you have chosen.
And of course they have to perfectly match. You may look at thousands of examples before you find the one that works for you. Don’t always stick to opposites on the color wheel, try various combinations. Even with the tones you would not normally use – they might shine differently when in a combo.
Also, try to avoid using colors that are really common. Facebook shade of blue or Google Chrome red-yellow. You don’t want your website to be associated with plagiarism.
- Hand-drawn elements
One of the latest web design trends is definitely the custom elements. Instead of using standard graphics or icons, try spicing up your web page with the hand-drawn pictures or even backgrounds. The drawings look really authentic and personal, bring soul to the web pages and are more appealing for a user that came across the website for the first time. They seem like an island of humanity in the world of soulless machinery. They also can easily highlight the parts of the page you want to draw attention to.
Also it is quite useful to tell a story with the hand-drawn elements. For example, draw a section of “how to make an order” or a process of delivery. Even the smallest elements make a huge impact overall.
Including the elements done manually make your website look more down-to-earth and humanistic. That is the best intention you want to create.
Moreover, the drawings just generally look really unique, and you want that. Someone will remember the website “with that cute fox on the main page” and will come back to you.
- Overlap layers
If you want to create a true multidimensional experience, you need to try this. A huge amount of layers adds the depth to the web page. As well as helps you to include more features in a single area. Generally, it creates the image of a website that has a lot to offer. And when it appears while scrolling it is the highest level of user engagement that we all want. Plus it makes your website look unified and really structured.
You can overlap images and text, videos and headers, everything combined – just make sure that everything is readable and clickable. Don’t try to overdo yourself and include everything at once. Too much information at once is also hard to comprehend. Stick with the optimal amount that does not influence the usability.
Also remember about the color schemes. It is more trendy to use text boxes or contrast layers that help you to divide different appearing blocks.
- Gradients
Back to the colors! Another feature which was trendy once but vanished for a long amount of time is coming back. You can use them everywhere, from small icons to the huge text blocks. It is an optimal option for the background if you are not sure what to choose. It brings a lot of the light and the contrast to your website.
It is easy to use even in the limited colors themes. The absolute win is the pastel gradients which create enough color but at the same time don’t draw much attention from the content.
Be careful when opting for the gradient. As usually, you have to be optimal and not just do everything gradient. Plus, do not choose the monochrome options. They will not give you the desirable effect and will leave you with the boring layout instead.
- 3D graphics
Technology is evolving, and the web design trends tend to follow it. 3D elements are the feature that keeps users more engaged with your website and keeps them longer. It can be a simple element on the main page, or a whole designed unique feature that you can get access to when placing an order.
Even simple 3D icons and images look really trendy when used as the smallest elements. Huge features can take a while to load, so don’t overplay with them. Also if you want to keep the minimalist style, it is better to keep only the graphics and get rid of the engaging elements.
Whatever you will choose for your website will anyway look really modern and high-tech, so don’t hesitate trying some 3D.
- Bold fonts
When talking about the visuals, the fonts are no less important than the colors. Even if you don’t have a lot of text on your website, you want every word to be noticed. Plus it is quite irritating when you can’t understand what is written.
The latest trend of the fonts is the boldness. Clean, sharp-edges typography is among the newest design features. The text should be clear enough for a user to comprehend instantly.
Also the typographic features are really useful for attention drawing. It sometimes works even better than the images. But you need to make sure that it looks equally good on all of the devices and doesn’t contradict the general style of the page.
How to choose?
As you see, there are a lot of modern website trends going on right now. If you are just launching your website, or want a complete redesign, you may get a little bit lost. Don’t be afraid to get the references from the websites of the famous companies. They follow web design trends for sure, and you may come across some useful features.
Also, it is not mandatory to stick just to one trend. It is more common to choose multiple, for example, minimalism, dark theme and hand-drawn elements. These trends almost all follow one main idea of simplifying the experience, humanistic approach and user-friendly interfaces. That’s why you can experiment with everything before developing the style and the combination of trends you want to follow.
Of course, your website should be unique, not just a copy of something else. Before blindly following the trends, at first highlight what is crucial in a web page for you.
What do you want the users to see first? How long do you want them to spend on your website? What impact do you want to leave with your website?
These and many more questions are more important than simply combining the trends in your website. But, don’t be afraid to try them all – they sure will be actual for a long amount of time! Be ahead of everyone else and implement them now.
