As we are now truly getting into the swing of things for 2017, we decided to take a look ahead at what we think will be the most influential web design trends for the year.
Not all of these trends will be relevant or recommended for our clients, but they will help shape the way the web looks in the coming year and provide inspiration for our studio team in their design choices.
Here are our designer’s picks for the most interesting and exciting trends in 2017.
Louder and brighter colours
In 2016 Instagram launched a redesign using loud and bright colours. This was a bold move away from their previous muted design, and we are seeing more and more companies move in this direction.
Challenging stereotypes
There has been a traditional lack of diversity in commercial photography which does not mirror the real world in which we live. We hope to see a continued challenge to stereotypes in commercial and stock photography as there is a growing demand for non-stereotypical imagery. An example is challenging gender stereotypes by showing women in non-traditional roles and professions.
Video
Video is becoming more prevalent and according to Syndacast, by this year as much as 74% of all internet traffic will be video content. Demand for original, high res video footage is skyrocketing.
Asymmetry
Symmetrical layouts are becoming less dominant, with layouts that are not perfectly balanced on the left and right sides becoming more common.
Large typography as part of the visual
Large lettering used as a form of decoration, creating a strong contrast between headers and the rest of the content.
Duotones
Duotones are the combining of two colours on an image, usually using bright or contrasting colours. Spotify embraced duotones in 2016 and you can expect other companies to follow suit this year.
Brutalism
Brutalism is a confronting and raw design style that is seen by some as a reaction from younger designers to the lightness of today’s design. This design style will not appeal to all, but the look is so different to today’s most prevalent styles that users are bound to stop and take notice when they come across one of these designs.
2017 is likely to see big changes in web design as there is push back against the clean, minimalist styles of the past few years. It will be exciting to see the new approaches taken, and very interesting to watch the design choices made by the top tech companies with the most resources to test out new ideas.
