As technology grows so does the need for new techniques and modernized design elements that work well with upcoming new devices, software, and programming language upgrades. There are many design tips and tricks that are becoming very popular in today's electronic society, including full-page video backgrounds, interactive drag-and-drop layouts, and responsive web designs.
In today's post, I'll be listing only a few of the exciting web design elements that are found on the most popular sites available on the web, and are must-know trends for any savvy web programmer.
Image Sliders
Usually used as a type of "introduction" to the site, image sliders make it easier to put important information on your homepage without it seeming bogged down with text and other content. Image sliders allow you to post images of your products, as well as add quotes, pricing, and sales information in a "hover" tag over the image. Many sliders offer the ability to click each image for "fullscreen" view or link to other pages based on image clicked.
Using image sliders is nothing new, but it seems that the popularity in the trend is continuously rising. These things are popping up everywhere! Article sites like PCGamer use image sliders to showcase their most recent news and videos, while store sites like Steam use the slider to make their best sales and new items easy to see and find for purchase.
Flexslider is a great downloadable jQuery toolkit that makes it SUPER easy to create a no-bells-and-whistles image slider in minutes! Simply download the "tutorial" files, add your own images, change the code around a bit to fit your needs, and BAM! You have a nice image slider that took you about as long as it would to cook dinner.
Minimalism/"Flat" Designs
I don't think I need to tell you guys how popular designing for mobile has gotten. People love their mobile devices and programmers picked up on that early on, adapting and developing new ways to allow sites to be viewed on any device without issue. Now the trends for mobile are carrying over to the PC with the popularity of "Flat Design".
Flat Design = Minimalist Design. It's all about keeping the layout looking interesting, while also being clean and simple. The integration of CSS3 allowed for responsive flat buttons, natural box shadows, and text shadows that scream modern.
Microsoft is seen by many as a "PC God" and the company tries to stay up-to-date with popular trends. Windows 8 is the perfect example of how far flat design has come. The simple, flat "buttons" have great color contrast and pop-out from the background. Nothing is too complicated, and you can tell what you're looking for based on icons alone.
Flat Design = Minimalist Design. It's all about keeping the layout looking interesting, while also being clean and simple. The integration of CSS3 allowed for responsive flat buttons, natural box shadows, and text shadows that scream modern.
Microsoft is seen by many as a "PC God" and the company tries to stay up-to-date with popular trends. Windows 8 is the perfect example of how far flat design has come. The simple, flat "buttons" have great color contrast and pop-out from the background. Nothing is too complicated, and you can tell what you're looking for based on icons alone.
Parallax/Single-Page Scrolling Sites
Speaking of mobile design, as the mobile market continues to grow designers are forced to continue to design websites that make it easy-to-view on a mobile platform. Scrolling through a page is easier than linking to sub-pages for every reader.
The ability to scroll from side-to-side, add 3-D type elements, and create depth using image placement added a sense of flair and adventure to seemingly simple and boring websites.
A good example of single-page parallax-scrolling would be Apple's iPhone 6 showcase. The site is very clean and simple, but the parallax-scrolling gives the user the option to read at their own pace, while also adding a "motion graphic" feel to the site.
As technology advances, so will the need for new design trends. It's important to keep ahead-of-the-game when it comes to web development, and know what elements and trends you should be expected to know.
For more information on Web Development Trends, please visit the links below:
http://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/resources/web-design-trends-to-look-out-for-in-2015
http://www.creativebloq.com/web-design/hottest-trends-2015-11513980
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