5 Important Web Design Trends For 2021
A brand new year means brand new opportunities for your business. And if your goal is to improve your site rankings in 2021, you’ll want to get right to work. While you might already be working with a white label SEO company to ensure your site is seen by potential customers, you also need to be certain that your site itself is worthy of attention.
To that end, you’ll want to stay up-to-date with some of the latest trends in web design. Although not every trendy design feature will be a good fit for your site, you’ll want to keep the following five crazes in mind if you want your site to stand out for all the right reasons this year.
Dark Mode
Your smartphone probably has a dark mode setting, which can make viewing websites and apps a little less taxing during the evening hours. But it can also give any webpage a moodier feel, which can be to the benefit of many brands.
While traditional web design is all about white space, many creatives are embracing their dark side in 2021. If you do overhaul your site with dark mode in mind, you’ll still want to prioritize readability and be sure that the design makes sense for your business. Giving users the option to toggle between light and dark mode can often provide the best of both worlds. We expect to see even more sites and apps offering dark mode in their designs this year.
Playful Illustrations
Stock photography has its place, but customized graphics are becoming increasingly popular. Playful illustrations and even animations are really starting to dominate, as they can be created to align perfectly with the brand in a way that seems far more personal.
Cartoon-style illustrations actually inspire emotional connection, which is exactly what many businesses need. Whether due to a sense of humanity or simply pure nostalgia, illustrations are effective at guiding web visitors in the direction of emotional buy-in. When your website has playful illustrations (especially those involving people), your brand will seem creative, unique, and personable. Consider working with a graphic designer or illustrator who can seamlessly integrate these illustrations into the critical aspects of your web design.
3D Elements
Although your website is viewable through a screen, that doesn’t mean you have to stick to flat, 2D design. Three-dimensional visuals can now be integrated alongside 2D elements in a way that brings a sense of excitement and sophistication to your website.
That doesn’t mean you should go overboard with 3D visuals, but these elements can really make your graphics pop. Whether you’re looking to add a sense of realism or you want something a bit more fun and cartoonish, you can work with your designer to create something that’ll jump right off the webpage.
Bold and Unique Fonts
Times New Roman is old news. If you want your site to make a good impression in 2021, you should consider using bold or even customized typography to separate your brand from your competition.
Throwback fonts with a retro feel are becoming more prevalent again, but so are stylized and experimental typefaces. You won’t want to get carried away with too many choices (or ones that aren’t legible enough), of course. But rather than rely on a typeface that customers might already associate with another brand, you can invest in something that’s personalized and unique to you.
Audio and Multimedia
Auto-play videos aren’t a good way to go, but that doesn’t mean your site shouldn’t have multimedia or audio content. Multimedia experiences can keep visitors on your page for a longer period of time, particularly if you keep things simple and accessible to all.
Video content can be incredibly engaging. Since it’s so shareable and so consumable, you’d do well to incorporate it right into your web design. As long as it’s accompanied by closed captioning and transcription, you’ll be able to reach all kinds of visitors. You might even consider creating audio files to accompany your static text and web copy as a way to add interactivity and accessibility. While these elements can be great for content creation, it also makes sense to feature them prominently in your initial design.
Web design trends will ebb and flow by nature. But if you want to make a positive impression on web visitors and search engines in 2021, you might want to consider incorporating some of these ideas into your new site design.