Web design trends in 2014

I was browsing the thoroughly enjoyable Mental Floss the other day when I happened upon their list ‘17 ancient websites that still work.’ These remnants of The Internet 1.0 showed how much the web has changed in the last 20 years, but it also gave me pause to think about how quickly web design trends in Cayman and all around the world have changed in just the last year.

Responsive

Mobile browsing accounts for around 25% of web browsing and that number is climbing rapidly. Whereas mobile sites used to be the answer, the sheer number of mobile devices and the variation between their screen resolutions means this is no longer useful (not to mention the additional cost/effort!). Websites now need to be responsive, i.e. able to resize naturally to any dimensions.

It’s flat, clean and minimalist

Microsoft might not have the hipster points of Apple and Samsung these days but they were arguably the ones to kick off this fundamental shift. Two dimensional design that uses large, simple icons was first introduced to the masses with the release of Windows 8 and everyone has followed (see Apple iOS 7, Twitter et al.). There is something distinctly nostalgic about this ‘new’ trend as we say goodbye, albeit probably temporarily, to previously ubiquitous elements such as gradients, shadows, beveled edges, reflections and textures.

Single pages are cool

Designers can be slow on the uptake sometimes (even yours truly) but they are finally grasping that we don’t like clicking through links, we all have trackballs and we really do not mind scrolling through a single page. Although some sites feature multiple snippets of information that link to more detailed sub-pages, it is becoming more and more common for an entire site to be contained to a single page.

Parallax scrolling

With the advent of HTML5 and CSS3, designers are incorporating parallax scrolling to create interesting and remarkable effects in a browser. Parallax scrolling involves the background moving at a slower rate to the foreground creating a cool 3D effect as you scroll down the page.

Content is still king

We are not the only creative agency to have a go at defining some of the new website design trends taking over the internet and by the time you’ve read this we may have been proven wrong and shadows could rule the internet once again, but one thing that does remain true is design can only compliment a website that is well built and has great content.

If you’re reading this because you’re thinking about your next web project then we’d love to hear from you – fill in our creative brief and we’ll get in touch to see how we can help you realise your project.