Now that we’re more than four months into 2009, we’re starting to see the emergence of a number of design trends that are slowly filtering their way through to the web. Here are the biggest online trends right now and tips on how B2B marketers can stay at the forefront of web design.
1. BIG typography
Finally – we’re no longer restricted to using point size 11 in design! Large typography is increasingly being used in the business environment to communicate messages on the web. Attention to detail including leading, kerning, choice of font and positioning, to name a few, are all vital.
2. White space
This allows for clean, crisp and minimal web design and improves the general flow and structure of sites, especially for text heavy designs. News and blog sites are a classic example of the impact that a bit of white space can have on drawing attention to your messages. Padding of 20 to 25 pixels is becoming rule of thumb, although more is very often considered acceptable.
3. Magazine look
Multi-column layouts (3+) are a fundamental part of current design trends, and given the increasing levels of information-rich content online, the traditional magazine look is already familiar with our offline reading experience and provides a simple way to organise large amounts of content.
4. Media blocks
Advances in broadband and Internet access has meant that more media can be screened in dedicated blocks on a website – namely via video streaming. Whether it is news, videos, step by step guides or presentations, the user can quickly and effectively consume information with minimal effort.
5. Carousels
Put simply, the carousel is a quick, easy navigation tool. Ultimately, it allows the user to save time by browsing content without having to search through a multitude of pages for what they are looking for. New carousal formats are being developed all the time and are becoming a fundamental part of any effective web design.
6. Web apps
These are appearing more and more frequently on creative, user-friendly interfaces. Web apps are increasingly acting as a gateway page to a brand’s social media presence and with the increasing proliferation of mash-ups, are now also contributing to the design and functionality of websites themselves.
7. Social icons
The bigger and the more attractive, the better! A great way to spread the word about your online content, social icons not only make your website look up-to-date, but they also contribute to increased web traffic. Ones to watch include areTweetMeMe, social shopping sites and wish lists.
8. Large, larger and larger still!
Similar to the typography design trend, it seems that massive, vibrant graphics are beginning to dominate web design too. More space is being dedicated to capturing the user’s attention through use of these visuals, whether in headers, backgrounds or basic design assets.
9. Graphical approaches
It’s true that what goes around comes around again sooner or later, and web design is no different. Grunge is back for 2009, with the use of organic textures, tiles and photographic backgrounds, price tags, badges, watercolour, ribbons and handwriting all prolific online at the moment.
10. Lightboxes
As the ‘second generation of pop-ups’, a light box highlights key areas of a site by appearing as an independent modal window that sits on top of main content. As always, presentation and functionality are key, with designs including transparencies, drop shadows, ‘close’ ‘next’ and ‘previous’ buttons, this design trend is a must for 2009.
So big and bold themes look set to dominate web design for the remainder of 2009 and as the lines become increasingly blurred between traditional business and consumer web design, B2B marketers need to make sure they embrace the latest trends with open arms.
