5 Web Design Trends for 2016

2016 is just around the corner, so everyone immersed in the world of web design is looking forward to seeing what the future holds for this realm. What new trends will emerge in the new year that will influence how we develop and design websites?

Here are a few web design trends that you can expect to pop up in 2016.

1. Semi-Flat Design

While flat design is by no means dead, it’s certainly been altered to a semi-flat design over the years. The flat design trend came with its fair share of usability issues, which is why it lost a good deal of steam. By incorporating depth and dimension through subtle shadows, tile concepts, and transitions to help guide users, the goal of semi-flat design is to get rid of the issues that flat design generated.

2. Micro-Interactions

Things that you do without even thinking about it are known as micro-interactions. Whether it’s hitting the snooze button on you alarm or hitting your remote car starter every chilly morning, micro-interactions happen all the time, and they help web designers do a number of different things.

For instance, micro-interactions help communicate a status, get some feedback, see the results of a task, or assist the user in managing something on the website. Micro-interactions are a essential component to any web app, and they’re certainly a trend worth keeping an eye on well into the new year.

3. Continued Responsive Design

Responsive web design is huge these days, and for good reason. Everyone an their mother uses a mobile device to search the web, and if a site is a nuisance to navigate on a smaller screen, users will back out. And as popular as responsive design has been in the past year, expect it to continue to grow in popularity in 2016.

It represents a simple and affordable way for businesses to build a fully-functional site. But it’s of paramount importance that responsive web design is carried out properly, and is designed to work as optimally on smaller screen as it does on PCs and laptops.

4. Cinemagraphs

Have you been noticing more and more pictures on websites with components that are moving? They’re not videos – instead, they are what’s known as ‘cinemagraphs’, and they enhance the mood of a website to provide an additional component of elegance and sophistication.

While they have a similar effect as videos, they don’t use up all the bandwidth that videos do. And they’re much more interesting than still photos are. While cinemagraphs have been around for a few years already, they’ll be picking up steam in 2016.

5. Custom-Drawn Images

Taking an image off an already-existing pack from the internet definitely does same time and money, but there’s something more interesting about custom-drawn images and illustrations that brings something more to the table. Hand-drawn illustrations that are incorporated into web design play a key role in telling a story and creating a positive and enjoyable experience for readers.

It’ll be interesting to see what new trends 2016 has in store in the world of web design, and which trends will fizzle out!