Web design trends for 2017

The Web is evolving at a rapid pace and it is important to be on top of trends in web design, particularly if you plan on redesigning your website in 2017.

How will new websites look this year?

1. Mobile adaptation :

We cannot stress it enough, if your website is not responsive, it is time to get on board. This year Google is launching Mobile-first indexing which will index the content of mobile websites and rank them accordingly. Don’t be left behind.

2. Content will always be king this year:

Did you know web attention span is around 8 seconds so think about condensing your information to increase speed and ease of reading.

3. Design inspirations:

Flat Design is a recent type of website design with pastel colours and minimalist icons with no symbolic reference to the real world. Internet users got bored of this trend to the benefit of Material Design which fundamentally is the same as Flat Design but with the addition of perspective, geometric shapes, shadows and movement. Benefit: This type of design is very legible, simplifies the content and reduces website downloading time.

Remember that loading speed is now part of the primary criteria to get better referencing on Google. As for Almost Flat, it proposes a variation using shadows and depth and movement effects. Benefit: A more realistic design for users, while staying light and simple. The minimalist trend called typo first proposes XXL typefaces, extravagant sometimes with numerous dynamic texts and layer images which will work together with website’s parallax scrolling. With the Edgy trend, colours, shapes and visuals become more and more extravagant. This latest trend comes from the Edgy Art movement and it’s all about using strong, even provocative, images. It uses Pop Art codes but without the shocking intent. Keep in mind that these web design styles do not work for all types of companies or brand images. Focus on Skeuomorphism, this trend, launched by Apple, is about imitating real objects shapes to represent digital apps with the same feature.

4. New colours:

2017 will be a year for boldness, contrasts, with a mix of relaxation, vitality, vibrant colours and being close to nature. It is the end of pastels and cold colours.

Sources: pantone.com and engelvoelkers.com

5. Animations, micro-interactions, scrollingfor more engagement:

We’ve noticed a strong come-back of GIF images bringing interactivity to push your promotion further, your blog posts and newsletters (to be use with care). Parallax is also a new trend in 2017.

Micro-interactions

• Social Network toolbar to encourage visitors to share your content.
• Animations on your call to action buttons such as a mouse over change of colours to increase the urge to click and increase conversion. Do not over do it.
• Vertical scrolling is still in the game.

We also see being added a column with a grid structure with boxes or screens in multiple images to cut through and lighten content. In a nutshell, we’ve noticed the addition of animations and dynamic effects as well as progressive reduction of graphic elements known as statics.

Final advice

• Personalize your logo or brand on Google Maps: it is a good way to distinguish yourself from your competition in particular in large cities such as Montreal.
• Consider adding a completely autonomous conversation platform with chatbots or a simple chat/SMS system with representatives behind the screen to answer your clients in real time.

If you are planning the design or the redesign of your website in 2017, get in touch with us. We’ll tell you about our complete WordPress website design service.