ROUNDUP: The Future of Web Design

Modern Web Design Styles

SUMMARY & CONCLUSION:

 

At this point of our discussions on modern web design trends, we have already covered 30 style categories. Now we have reached the final destination; to draw some general conclusions based on these discussions.

 

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We know that technology has advanced a lot since the start of the 21st century. So has the web industry. The web has become increasingly more integrated into people's lives in recent years. It has led to significant changes in the way people access and utilize a website. Consequently, new web design trends and concepts have emerged. We have reached a point where sole web presence does not actually work. To be successful, the incorporation of a few features — such as usability, functionality, and dynamism — is essential. As already indicated in the introductory article, a modern web design includes most of the following features:
Simplicity, Content-oriented, Interactive, Subtle colors, Customized typography, Parallax effects, and of course Responsive layout as an inevitable feature. To summarize it, modern web design has become more straight-forward, simple, human and aesthetic; each included as a part in larger perspectives of usability and functionality features — which weigh much more than before. As we know, the good news is that there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Thanks to the emergence of all new techniques, creating a website from scratch does not fit into a true definition of modern web technology. Even if you wish to entirely customize every single detail, it is still much easier than the way it was in the past.




The future of web design

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What about the future of web development?

In which way is it heading?

Considering the above interpretation of modern web design, I predict that the eventual new web design trends are going to address the same concepts. They will emphasize on simplicity and even more content (call it message) hierarchy. I think the following design styles and features will be the dominant trends in the coming years.


  • Minimalism:
    I can say for sure that Minimalism is going to retain its position as a popular design trend for many years to come — especially among many business owners. The challenge of Minimalism in modern web design is to maintain its integrity against the temptation made by the emergence of popular visual and interactive effects. As an important feature of a clean design, we will see even more white spaces in websites of the future generation.

  • Flat Design:
    Flat web design has been a favorite choice for a good while and I think it is going to be that way even in the years ahead. It is a design technique emphasizing minimum use of stylistic elements and provide users an eye-catching and engaging experience. Most importantly, it fulfills the speed requirements that search engines are demanding these days; it delivers information fast. In it’s most fundamental form, Flat design is very close to Minimalist style.

  • Parallax:
    We know that interactivity is an important element in modern web design. Parallax style is based on such a feature. As the visitor scrolls vertically or horizontally, an illusion of movement and dealing with live elements is created. Accordingly, an interaction materializes between a web page and its visitors. Parallax is a relatively new trend that is going to be a favorite choice even in the future, especially for business sites. The major drawback of this technique, like Flash, is that it usually takes a long time to load the content.

  • Big Photography Background:
    We know that anything which is big in size on a web page easily captures the visitor’s attention. Utilizing a big background image as a focal point on a website mainly belongs to modern web design. I think this trend is going to be popular even in the near future. Besides having a modern look, these attention-grabbing images also convey an underlying informative message.

  • Typography:
    Along with form, color, texture, scale, and space; typography is classed as one of the basic elements of web design. It does not either fall in or out of favor, rather it has always been there. As mentioned above, big elements on web pages are eye-catching and invoke a user’s curiosity. This fact applies to over-sized typography as well. Therefore, it is safe to say that both Typography and Super-large Typography styles will continue to be still major trends in the future.

  • Grunge:
    Grunge style has been around for a while and I do not think that it is going to disappear anytime soon. It stands apart from other design trends by giving a web design a less uniform/structured layout; hence, it creates a fashionable unorthodox look which seems somehow old and worn out. It is not true that Grunge layouts cannot be controlled in web design. As a matter of fact, they can be incorporated into specially prepared grid layouts. If done properly, it will result in an terrific web design.

  • Desaturated and light colors:
    It is really hard to predict what colors are going to be the most common at any given time. However, desaturated and light colors will more than likely dominate the color palettes of new websites and mobile apps. Also, white and gray colors are expected to be used as the primary colors even more in the future.

 

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What about those web styles that do not seem to have a real chance of surviving in the coming years?
I think the following trends are not going to belong to the future; at least not in a way that they are prevalent today.


Kitschy Skeuomorphs:
Considering the fact that modern web techniques are pushing the boundaries of creativity — specifically regarding the usability and functionality features — superfluous Skeuomorph designs do not appear to be a realistic option. Although it seems to be somehow popular at the moment, this popularity is going to fade away over time. Based on the conception of association, this style utilizes visual items that remind the users of real life objects. It is mostly used in order to facilitate a user's transition into new mediums. However, web technology is established enough to not be considered a new medium anymore. Since the web technology is growing at a fast pace, web users — particularly the more experienced ones — are likely to find redundant skeuomorphs unnecessary and gaudy. Therefore, I do not believe that the future of web design incorporate a focus on pretentious skeuomorphic designs that we have seen a lot in the past. If it happens to appear as a successful layout in the future, it has to be a completely innovative one.


Flash:
Flash days are done; the future of the Web does not have a place for it. Considering the disadvantages of Flash, it is essentially dead — especially with respect to tablets, smartphones and touch screens. Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox have already disabled default support for Adobe’s Flash Player plug-in in their web browsers. In addition, Apple decided to remove support for Flash from its iOS operating system. Flash tried to hang on for a while, but in the end, gave it up; Adobe has announced that they will stop updating and distributing the Flash Player on December 31, 2020.




* POSTLUDE *

It goes without saying that web design technology has changed a lot over the years — thanks to the evolution of AI (Artificial Intelligence). Nowadays, AI is taking the Internet world by storm and rapidly transforming the future of web design trends as well. Therefor, I consider the articles discussed here as live documents; they are subject to future revisions. Depend on my further studies and observation, I am going to successively update them. Enjoy your further reading and thank you for following us through these articles.


To round up our notes on web design trends, the following list is presented. This is a summary of web style categories previously discussed. All images are clickable and will lead you to related articles.

 

 

Minimalism Design Trend

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Photo-Realism Style

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Retro/Vintage Design

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Skeuomorphism in Web Design

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Flat Design

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Grid-based Design

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Minimalist Grid-based

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Breaking The Grid

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Parallax Effect Design

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Big Photo Background

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Typography Style

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Big Typography

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Handwritten Typography

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Transparency Web Design

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Grunge Style

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Texture & Pattern

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Illustration Design

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Animated Wbsites

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Collage Style

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Magazine-style Design

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3-D Effects Trend

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Watercolor Effects

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Ornamental Style

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Abstract Design

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Surrealist Style

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Nature-inspired Background

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Water-themed Background

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Image Navigation

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Flash Technique

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Modern Business

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