As we enter the year 2015 and technology continues to grow exponentially, we expect web design to evolve over the coming year. There have been several articles written all over the web about what trends different web designers are expecting in 2015, and Web Design Trends 2015 by unmatchedstyle details the general consensus made by these writers.
Some of the predictions include:
- Holistic navigation design, moving away from hamburger icons and overlaid menus
- More interactive animations (not Flash)
- Improved performance
- Vector graphics over pixel-based graphics
- Improved GIFs
- Modular design over full-layout designs
- Focus on simple/minimal design
I do think that some of these predictions for 2015 are accurate; with the evolution of mobile devices, things like improved performance will continue to be important (I cannot imagine this not ever being important), as well as design that focuses on responsiveness. Modular design will continue to be sought out over full-layout designs, since modular design can more easily respond to changing content and device sizes. Vector graphics will also become increasingly important for this same reason, as vector graphics look great at any screen size whereas pixel-based graphics may look pixellated. CSS3 Animations, though still somewhat in its baby stages, will continue to grow and be preferred over Flash animation since it doesn’t require plug-ins that the user needs to download and install (something that is quite difficult on mobile devices anyways).
However, some of these predictions seem less-than-accurate to me. While I also prefer more straightforward menu designs, I don’t think the hamburger icon and overlay menus are going anywhere anytime soon. They are decent ways to help a designer make use of limited space, and until there are better ways to do the same thing I cannot see this dying out (especially since I’ve seen loads of web apps that use the hamburger icon over and over). Lastly, I cannot see GIFs really growing in the way the writer expects them to; I’ve seen GIFs primarily used for trendy meme-type applications, not for serious design. CSS3 Animations could probably do the same animations as GIFs, but it will be easier to control, is not limited in colors, and is more interactive.
Source: [ Web Design Trends 2015 ]
Rachel Sheffield 