Below is a list of web design trends that will likely be most popular in 2017
COLOR: We see bright colors very much the rage in 2017 for websites. From color washes to colorful fonts, get ready for color and stimulation on the websites designed in 2017.
BIG BOLD Fonts: Consistent with the trend in my 8 Graphic Design Trends for 2017 blog, we see the same for fonts on websites for the coming year. Expect them to be bold and expect them to be easy-to-read. With attention spans short, easy-to-read fonts get the point across with little time and effort.
Animations and GIFs: With the rise of video popularity, animations follow the same tracks. Adding spice to websites, but not over-doing it, will come in part through animations and animated GIFs. From animated transitions between pages, to subtle movements upon hovers and clicks, more animation will be in vogue in 2017.
3D Geometric Designs: Google has made these popular and expect to see more of it in 2017. 3D geometric shapes in the background of websites, in the use of icons, and in general are becoming more popular. The style will fall somewhere in between the skeuomorphic years and the flat design that Microsoft made popular with Windows 8.
Edge to Edge Pictures: This has been in style for a good year now and we will see more of it. No longer are we boxing in images. They now go from side to side. A picture says a thousand words, so let’s make them big and full width!
Parallax Scrolling: A very cool look and feel, parallax scrolling has become the rage over the last year or two in the more creative fields of website design. Well, you’re also starting to see it branch out to the rest of the world now, too. This sort of scrolling gives a website a feeling of more depth with a touch of 3d. We will see more and more of this in the coming year. See a good example of parallax scrolling on our author’s home page here.
Content: In a way, the coming year will see websites going back to their basics. With the cluttered and crowded websites starting to wane in popularity, sidebars, banners, ads, etc, will start to go by the wayside and we will see the emphasis put back on content.
Creativity: With the popularity of Bootstrap, and the rise of responsive design, websites have all started to take on a similar look and feel. In 2017 we will see more of the creative and imaginative websites that we used to see when Flash was all the rage in years past. Heading styles, navigation layouts, and geometric masks will bring the creativity back to website design. Yessssss, this is good!
Hand Drawn Imagery: As stated in my 2017 graphic design trends blog, hand drawn images will be more common amongst web design this coming year. It adds personality and flavor to websites that could otherwise seem static and robotic.
Colorizing Images: With the popularity of photo filters, we can expect to see more photographic treatments of this nature in websites. Duotone gradients, exaggerated contrasts, and overexposed photos will give images the edginess needed to stand out.
Landing Pages: Content marketers love landing pages and content marketing is on the rise. They guide the viewer to exactly where the marketer wants them to go. Landing pages are usually either a click through page or a lead generation page. Click through pages usually show information and then asks the viewer to click on to another page, often times a shopping cart. Lead generation pages are used to capture user data like names and email addresses. Thus, lead generation pages are often form-based.
