11 Predictions for Web Design Trends in 2016

Designers from Medium predicted the most noteworthy design trends in 2016 in this article, and the veteran design blog Designmodo also has its own views on this. New technologies and new design trends will emerge one by one in 2016, but in general, they will still gradually evolve along the major trends of 2015. It is foreseeable that in 2016, more websites will use video backgrounds, more interface designs based on the Material Design style, and slideshow interface switching will continue to be popular.

Designmodo predicts 11 design trends for 2016, many of which are indeed similar to what Medium sees. The two should help you understand them better.

Vertical Scrolling

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With the repeated explosion of mobile traffic, web design has begun to lean more and more towards mobile devices, and more direct vertical scrolling pages have become the general trend.

A few years ago, vertical scrolling pages were popular. At that time, many people were not optimistic about this "too simple" page design method. However, after the mobile terminal flat trend, the mobile terminal was on the rise, and the vertical scrolling page design made a comeback and carved out a niche. On the mobile terminal, page scrolling is an intuitive interaction for users, so vertical scrolling pages appear more natural and direct.

More card-style interfaces

Card-based interface design is a design technique that has gradually become popular under the inspiration of Material Design. It first appeared in APP design, then became popular in web design, and even influenced many graphic design works. Card-based interface is an interesting and useful innovation, because the existence of cards can better organize information and allow users to interact more clearly. Card-based design implicitly conforms to the idea of ​​modular design, both in structure and visually, which also makes it easy to become a carrier for cross-device interaction. Stacking, moving, and transmitting can all be done logically and clearly.

Video Background/Video Header

The design trend of video backgrounds has been heating up. It has always been the expectation of designers to make web browsing have the same user experience as watching movies. However, due to the performance shortcomings of digital devices, designers have been unable to realize their ideas for a long time. But now it is different. The processing power of mobile phones and computers is already quite good, and short video backgrounds can also be played smoothly on mobile phones and computers. In addition, the popularity of smart TVs has given the use of videos a larger space and more possibilities.

Small animation

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Like video backgrounds, motion effects are also a hot trend at present. Video backgrounds require higher bandwidth, while small motion effects are truly performance-intensive, but fortunately they do not put too much pressure on current digital devices. Small motion effects can appear in various corners of the web page, consciously attracting the user's attention to a specific place, allowing the user to linger, creating enough surprises and bringing a pleasant experience.

Of course, the most important factor in motion design is its purpose: why do we design such a motion and what is its real purpose?

Focus on interaction

The most closely related to small motion effects should be interaction. It is interaction that makes applications and interfaces truly connected with users. It is a bridge of communication. A truly excellent interaction is subtle and silent. It can be unnoticeable and subtle, but it must be natural and effective for users. From the simplest reminder to the complex and beautiful pop-up box, from the obvious control interface to the subtle rebound micro-interaction, interaction design defines the logical relationship between people and machines, connecting interfaces, motion effects, content, and operations together. Now designers pay more attention to unified interaction design, and are also fascinated by how to fully combine micro-interactions and motion effects. I believe that in the new year, this is also the focus of everyone's attention.

More beautiful typography

The simple and intuitive interface has left enough space for beautiful typography. Huge, stylized font titles and logos still dominate the mainstream of European and American web design, and more domestic designers are beginning to choose such designs. Beautiful typography design will not only be more visual, but also leave more room for other elements. There is one issue in typography design that is particularly worth noting. Font typography must take into account the fun of the design and the readability of the content. Excellent design not only has excellent design ideas, but also pays special attention to the matching of fonts.

Illustrations and doodles

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Illustrations and graffiti can often make web pages interesting and infuse them with whimsy and imagination. There are many types of illustrations with various styles, ranging from the background of the entire page to the icon in the corner of the page. The most wonderful thing about illustrations and graffiti is that they give the web page character and make it more personalized. It is this personalization that often resonates with users, which is also an important basis for its popularity.

Bold and bright colors

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Retro has always been popular. The popularity of retro colors is obviously one of the popular elements that have returned in recent years. The popularity of Material Design and flat design has given the bold and bright colors of the 80s a new stage. In the past 2015, these bright colors have been proven in monochrome website designs and users have no objection. In 2016, these colors may reproduce the atmosphere of the 80s.

More hamburger icons and logos

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Icons have always been the highlight. They are used to show off your skills. Web design, UI design, and graphic design also require a variety of icons to support them. More and more UIKits are beginning to add icons, and icon collections are also beginning to integrate major icon design projects, package them for download, and even make them into independent icon tools. Thanks to the format advantages of SVG, many super-large icons can also be used in web pages and UIs in a smaller size.

The boundary between reality and imagination is gradually blurring

Does a website have to be designed to be realistic or full of animation? In web design, the boundary between reality and imagination will become increasingly blurred. Real materials and imaginary elements will be blended in one interface and presented in a more dynamic way. In fact, this integrated presentation of real and virtual content will give the web page a more personalized browsing experience. For designers, this approach has greater design space.

Slideshow web design

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The carousel of a website is nothing new, but if it is extended to the entire screen, it will form a page similar to a slideshow. Each slide that occupies the entire screen can carry different content and different designs. It can be made into a scrolling page or add time-delay effects. Users can swipe left and right to switch slides, which is an interactive experience close to physical reality. Like many design trends, this web design is more simple and intuitive.