Next year’s web design trends revealed
As we’re quickly approaching 2016, it should go without saying that technology across the board should be quicker, easier to use, and look better than ever. While hardware like smartphones, gaming consoles, smartwatches, tablets, and laptops usually receive most of the attention in terms of judging upgrades, software still deserves its moment in the sun. And hey, even children are being taught web design, so it must be important for our future.
It was also recently announced that WordPress is now powering 25% of all websites, outright crushing Joomla and Drupal at 2.8% and 2.1% respectively. By teaming up with domain hosts like www.1and1.co.uk, getting WordPress projects off the ground can only get more effortless as the content management system develops and expands.
WordPress’ founder, Matt Mullenweg, spoke of the news: "Sometimes it goes up and down through the course of a month, but it’s still a pretty fun milestone that we can now say about one in four websites are now powered by the scrappy open source underdog with its roots stretching all the way back to a single person in Corsica, France. We should be comfortably past 25% by the end of the year."
Yet, in terms of how a website looks and functions, creativebloq.com discussed their top picks for how innovative and attention-grabbing interfaces will likely be in 2016.
It’s widely believed that 'cinemagraphs' will be seen far more often. Essentially a time-lapse photograph with both moving and stationary elements, cinemagraphs are seemingly simple, but look absolutely gorgeous on a large screen. Many advertisers are beginning to catch on to the pulling power that these cinemagraphs are capable of, hence why sites like flixel.com are flourishing, as their tool assists designers in creating these moving pictures. It’s also thought that colours on the page will get brighter overall and typography will get bigger and bolder, as web designers employ a range of tactics that they hope will get users’ attention.
Imaginations that wish for a longer leash will be happy to hear about the rise of illustrations used within websites. Cute and inventive graphics can often better show the vision or process that a company is trying to convey. A more heart-warming and relatable approach to design can often be a larger draw for websites, with internet users instantly being interested in a lighter approach. Strangely enough, it’s thought that this method may help with being more realistic, as creativebloq.com writes: "With illustration it's often easier to place yourself in a scene than it might be when a photo features horribly well-dressed, perfectly manicured models…it's a falsehood that doesn't align with their own experiences."