The 8 Elements of Modern Website design (And Web Design Trends in order to Watch)

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Every year, we observe new elements and styles in website design begin to  arise.

Some elements — when incorporated thoughtfully — help tell stories plus explain your company. Other components work to improve how articles looks on a specific gadget. While it’s not necessary to include every single trend that comes about on your website, many of them have the possible to improve your visitor’s experience.

But with  so many options to choose from, it can be challenging to determine which ones are really worth considering. To help you narrow your concentrate, we’ve detailed eight essential elements of modern website design that you can include to improve your website’s performance.

8 Modern Website Design Elements and Trends

one Unique & Large Typography

Most companies have a particular font  or typography that they use to help their customers instantly identify them versus their own competitors.   In recent years, designers have received a larger selection of fonts to choose from, making it easier intended for brands to more precisely express themselves through typography.  

For example , The newest Yorker is definitely recognized instantly through their use of unique font, Adobe Caslon Pro. While a lot more unique fonts, such as Blokletters-Balpen, have begun to be used by startups and technology companies like Zero.

modern web elements unique and large typography

Why is it useful?

Typography uses one style trend across the website to  lead readers to different parts of the page. For instance, The New Yorker website leads site visitors from one section to another based on the typography and font dimensions.

When creating your company’s brand name, your choice in typography can indicate subtle hints regarding who you are. Are you  fun or serious? Functional or even informational? Regardless of what font you choose, be sure that your designer looks at its applicability across web browsers and computers. Choosing a typeface that is not supported by common browsers and computers can mean that your website displays awkwardly on different devices.  

2 . Large & Receptive Hero Images

You don’t have to go far beyond the popular publishing website  Medium. com to see an example of a large hero picture:

modern web elements large and responsive hero images Large images like this one do away with the concept of above and below the collapse. By focusing on just the picture with text rather than a CTA or social buttons, Medium creates a strong visual experience that encourages you to scroll down to read more.  

Large hero images are also often placed in the background with textual content and other content overlaid on top, like on Uber’s web site. Regardless of the approach you utilize, huge images can help visually tell your story without having to rely on simply text.  

Why is it useful?

Your customers are coming from all over the place and have high objectives. You may not be sure if they are selecting your website from their phone, pill, or desktop computer. The image that Medium  uses above is incredibly powerful, but if it was just visible from desktop computer systems, many people may miss it.  

That said, ensuring your images are responsive makes for a great user experience. Website visitors may look at different images — whether they are the background or product images — and also get the same experience no matter what device they are coming from.  

3. Background Videos

Movies that automatically play in the background can add a lot to a page. They can be used to  tell a story and significantly reduce the amount of  some other content that is needed to explain your business.

Let’s take Wistia’s website, for example. When you property on their homepage a large movie automatically starts playing in the background, and by clicking on the particular play button, you get a much deeper look at Wistia:

modern web elements background videos

This background movie serves as a  brilliant method to get the visitor engaged in order to click-through to the main video.  

Why is it useful?

Background videos focus on appealing the visitor from the moment they land on your page. The video allows your visitor to understand the important thing points about your company without having ever having to read a single line of text.  

Additionally , video is processed sixty, 000 times faster simply by our brains compared to textual content. While people are often hesitant to read heavy blocks of text, videos appear easy and can be consumed in a short time.   It also helps that connection speeds are boosting and mobile device sizes are growing, making with regard to better video experiences.

four. Semi-Flat Design

In 2013, Apple fundamentally shifted to flat design. Simply put, level design is any component that does not include or give the perception of three proportions, such as shadows. Not only will be flat design is easier just for users to comprehend, but it can also load more quickly on websites with no complicated or overly-technical elements.

Following in Apple’s footsteps, many other organizations — both large and small — have shifted to smooth design. However , companies like Uber have put their own spin on the style by having subtle shadows and proportions. As you can see in the image below, the boxes have an element of depth with shadows around them, without overdoing it:

modern web elements semi flat design

Once you scroll over any of the boxes on the Uber homepage the particular shadow disappears and minimizes the image behind it.

Exactly why is it useful?

Flat design helps the visitor understand your articles more quickly, and  adding a few elements of depth can bring this to life. Regardless of whether you fully design your website using toned design or utilize dark areas and other elements, it’s important to be consistent throughout your website. Keep your homepage, product pages, and any other key sections of your website all utilize the same style cues so that visitors can instantly understand what they’re seeing.

5. Hamburger Menus

Really likely that most websites you come in contact with have a long menus of options to choose from. The benefit of this is that the menu can take  the visitor directly to where they want to go. However , the disadvantage is that they generally take up a ton of valuable screen space.  

The hidden, or burger, menu changes this. This menu was common in web applications before making its way to web design — even in Google Chrome you can find a hamburger menu on the right-hand side.

modern web elements hamburger menus Resource:   UX movement

Wondering why it’s  called a hamburger menu?

If you use your imagination, the three lines that are stacked along with one another look like hamburger patties. Get it?

Why is it useful?

The pages of your website  should have a clear path for your user to take. Removing a busy navigation makes the encounter cleaner and distraction free. This improved experiences assist in improving the likelihood that the user will find the information they need to complete a preferred action.  

6. Giant Product Images

You may have noticed that many B2B websites start to display large product pictures on their sites to highlight different features or parts of their product. This  is no chance.  

To give you a better concept of what we’re talking about, let’s take a look at the product page just for the  HubSpot  Website System:

modern web elements giant product images

There is a large featured image at the top  of this page, and as you scroll down the page there are additional in-depth product images. The images are also responsive which aims to ensure an optimized experience for viewers coming from various devices, as we mentioned earlier.  

Why is it helpful?

Larger product images help designers highlight different features of the product in a more efficient and effective method.

This approach  reinforces the benefits of a feature by providing the opportunity to highlight the most  valuable pieces. For instance, in the second image, you will notice that there are numbers at the image corresponding with advantages of certain features.

These large images are also scan-friendly. They will help visitors generate a good understanding of what the different item features do by express them through images rather than words.

7. Card Design

With the rise of Pinterest, designers and marketers alike have become fascinated with cards. Individual cards help distribute info in a visual way so the visitors can easily consume bite-sized pieces of content without being confused.  

Brit + Co’s homepage serves as a great example of card design in action:

modern web elements card design

By breaking up different bits of content into cards, users can pick and choose which usually articles  they want to expand. This can help to keep the homepage sensation clean and organized, without depending on a ton of text.  

Exactly why is it useful?

Card style is becoming more and more popular across B2B and B2C internet sites because it helps to  provide easily digestible chunks of information for users. Using this style on your site can help highlight multiple products or solutions side-by-side.  

Keep in mind that your own cards should be  reactive. This means that as the screen size gets smaller or larger, the quantity and size of cards shown should  adapt accordingly.

8. Short Product or Feature Videos

In addition to background videos, companies are also beginning to use  short product or even feature videos to emphasize a specific use case. These short videos are great in bringing your solution to lifetime, while not overwhelming the visitor with a long experience that they should sit through.

A strong example of this comes from the folks at  InVision. They display this short illustrator of how easy you should use their product by dragging-and-dropping a design on their homepage:

modern web elements short product or feature videos

Exactly why is it useful?

According to Incorporation. Magazine, 92% of B2B customers watch online video, and 43% of B2B customers watch online video clip when researching products and services for their business. Therefore , B2B companies  need to create videos that will explain their products because it is influential in the buyer’s decision-making procedure.

These short videos permit your prospect to rapidly understand value without watching a really long, in-depth encounter. Sure, both have value, but the shorter videos allows for quick understanding that is best for top of the channel.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

   

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