5 Web Design Trends in 2016

5 Web Design Trends in 2016

Nathan ImhoffWeb Design

Let’s take a look ahead toward what we can expect in web design trends in 2016.

For some of us, the GIFs of the ’90s web design or midi background music still haunts our internet user dreams! Nothing like listen to music and the website you just came to starts competing with the music in your headphones!

1. Similar UI Patterns

A big side effects of an increase in mobile devices and Google’s emphasis on responsive websites has been many sites look alike. The shift toward responsive design isn’t solely to blame the booming business of WordPress theme market, and responsive frameworks and UI kits have made responsive websites easier to create than ever.

Gone are the days of letting the sky be the limit in the web design, designers now need to consider how the site is going to look and function on many different devices.

2. More Hamburger Menus

Despite UI legend, Jakob Nielsen’s dislike of the Hamburger menu, there is no doubt that it’s widespread use makes the function easily recognizable for users. In fact, the hamburger menu is making its jump to prime time and appearing on full-screen browser windows as seen on sites like Forbes and CNN
Forbes Hamburger Menu | Santa Clarita Web Design

3. The Long Scroll

Now that the myth of placing important elements above the fold has gone the way of those hideous 90’s GIF sites, we now know these days users are very accustomed to scrolling thanks to massive growth in mobile browsing.

The long scroll technique works very well for sites that want to engage users through storytelling and splitting what in past years would be a muli-page site by breaking the scroll into distinct sections.

4. More Flat Design

Some people love it some people hate, one thing is clear flat design is not going away any time soon! Flat design has been around for the few years and tends to pair well with minimalism and responsive web design.

While web design trends tend to come and go, principles are timeless! The idea behind flat design is to make things appear as if they’re lying flat on a clean surface, is a popular trend. However, it does tend to keep web designs lean and easy load with is always a fundamental principle of good web design.

5. Responsive Design

Responsive web design (RWD) is more popular than ever especially with mobile internet usage taking up a larger percentage of website traffic. Please do not confuse responsive web design with having a mobile site which was a trend that thankfully died a few years ago. Responsive web design (RWD) take a website and re-arranges and resizes various elements in the web page to work better depending on the size of the screen that is viewing the content.

Responsive web design has become less of a trend and more of a best practice, there is no reason a business wouldn’t want their website to be responsive.


About the Author

Nathan Imhoff

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Bringing to the table a tried and true method for crafting stunning website, branding portfolios, and artwork, Nathan offers all of Stark Social Media Agency’s clients a solution to fit their businesses needs flawlessly!