Top 7 Web Design Trends 2015

It is nearing the end of the year and  many of you are looking forward to the fall season, especially in Florida.  This is that time of the year that I love to cook comforting foods and sip on my favorite teas, pumpkin spice lattes and Ghiradelli chocolate cocoa.  You get the picture?  Well this isn’t the only thing to look forward to.  How about the upcoming year new in web design trends  2015?  Now that is something I get extremely excited about!  If you are anything like me, you love to be on the cutting edge.  Knowing the forecast for new trends helps you remain relevant and keeps your blog or website from becoming stale or dated.

Responsive Design or Fail

This is now considered the new norm. Over the last few years responsive design has solidified itself as the new standard now for WordPress or any website.  Users now expect websites to be easy to browse on any device.  Everyday more and more websites are changing to a responsive design.

Ghost Buttons

I know by now you are wondering, “What in the world are ghost buttons?”  Yes, they really are called ghost buttons.  These transparent clickable buttons have taken us by surprise in 2014 and are showing up everywhere.  Ghost buttons are created as a basic, flat shape – square, rectangle, circle, diamond – with no fill and a simple outline.  This is a web design trend 2015 that is sure to provide a sophisticated and clean image.

Infinite Scrolling & Less Clicking

Infinite scrolling occurs when a home page continues to load content vertically as the user scrolls to include multiple pages from the the website in a seamless design.  Infinite scrolling has become a common design pattern in recent years.  With the growing trend of mobile browsing, scrolling has become a preferred method of browsing instead of clicking.   While infinite scrolling can be a trendy feature that gives the user endless content options, it has to be used correctly.  If this is a web design trend 2015 element you would like to try, install the plugin and get started.

Card Design will Continue to Improve

One of the best examples of good card design is a Pinterest board.  Card design is becoming more popular because of it’s modular and simplistic design.  It is a good tool to draw the user in to read more.  Cards are clean, simple and versatile.  You can expect to see a lot more of this web design trend in 2015.

Flat Design

Thanks to stylish trends in web design, we are moving to a new era of design by reaching back to the past.  Flat design is the process of removing extra elements such as gradients, embosses, bevels, and drop shadows to create a flat interface.  Clean and Simplistic is the name of the game.  Flat design tend to use only 2 or 3 contrasted colors  with well crafted vector icons and shapes.

Microinteractions

Websites are now offering microinteractions, positive feedback triggered by an event by the user.  These events are as simple as scrolling or clicking an object.  This interaction compels the user to continue to interact with the website.  An example of a microinteraction is a popup newsletter signup box that sort of wiggles, giving the box a playful personality.  This promotes an increase in user engagement which is exactly what you would want with an email subscription popup.

Typographic Design Importance

Typically beautiful fonts and typeface were reserved for websites with big budgets.  Today type kits have become more affordable and we have more options such as Google Fonts that have made it possible for the little guy to take advantage of this exciting trend.  Websites can have more personality and a font that fits the theme of the website.

Strikingly Beautiful, Large Background & Video –  Parallax Effect

You may have noticed that websites are starting to use strikingly beautiful background images and video.  These aren’t just featured on the top portion of the web page, it is also prominently featured in the lower sections of the website.   Some of the large images and video are used in a parallax effect.  Parallax effect is a special scrolling technique in computer graphics, wherein background images move slower than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth in a 2D environment. For a sample of a parallax effect, visit our homepage and scroll down and note our large sunflower image used in a parallax effect.

Web Design Trends 2015 Conclusion

Many of these web design trends 2015 are already present and may continue on into the new year in greater fashion.  I am looking forward to seeing how they unfold and am anxious to see how designers use them.  Which one of these forecast trends will mature and go on to evolve from a trend to a standard? Which will fade away to be forgotten?  Many questions.  I guess time will reveal.

I hope you enjoyed this review of web design trends 2015 as much as I have.  What are your opinions about the coming design trends?  Can you imagine these elements of design in your website or blog?  Are you currently using any of these trends?  If you have some thoughts about these, please post your comment below.