Coastal Creative’s Design Trends for 2016
Posted on March 4, 2016 | Updated on January 25, 2023
Web design acts as the first filter for visitors, responsible for drawing them in and keeping them engaged. Every year, our tastes change — and consequently, so do the web design trends. Coastal Creative, an all-inclusive print design studio based in San Diego, released for its second consecutive year, the Design Trends Infographic. Hubspot included the 2015 release on its Best infographics list of 2015.
The 2016 infographic dives into staples that have long formed the foundation of successful web design and explores the shifting requirements of what it will take to capture your audience in the changing digital media landscape.
Staples continuing into 2016 include:
The Rise of Flat + Material Design
Flat design is design stripped down to the bare essentials – function is the end objective. Flat design flourished with the rise of digital media, as the focus shifted to making navigation seamless.
Material design plays off the simplicity and minimalism of flat design, adding a layer of depth and movement. The addition of the effects of light and motion on objects indicates moving parts of the design.
Background + Full Screen Videos
Another design trend of Coastal Creative is including video on your website. This enables a quick delivery of your message; a critical tool as the volume of content visitors come in contact with increases. Video can communicate the ethos of your company and leaving a lasting imprint by showing – not telling.
Mobile Apps + Social Sites Will Dominate
As mobile continues to dominate by reach and usage around the world, designers are faced with the challenge of designing mobile friendly interfaces that are easy to interact with across devices (e.g. your smart phone, smart watch and even smart TV device).
Responsive Design With Better Performance
Responsive design adjusts based on the layout of a site’s content and the size of the device used to view it. It not only supports the new standard in multi-device users, but simplifies the updating process for developers who can make changes in one pass.
Correct Typography: Fit The Theme
Typography is an expanding art form. In addition to carrying your brand, typography is responsible for guiding visitors through content. Be adventurous and stand out – typography is a great way to show your brand’s personality.
Increased Minimalism: Stripping It Back
User experience has taken center stage in the web design conversation. Designers are flocking towards minimalism to provide users with functionality and refocusing back on the content.
Storytelling: Designing Personality
The average web surfer can only process a small fraction of the content they come in contact with during a single session. Sharing the narrative of your brand as opposed to writing out your message in paragraph style can do wonders in making your message stick.
Card Based Interface Design
Design is moving towards content that is broken up into individual components that are more intuitive as opposed to separate pages. Card based design gives the user choices up front to decide what is most important to them.
Check out the infographic below:
About The Author
Eleanor Hecks is the Editor-in-Chief of Designerly Magazine, an online publication dedicated to providing in-depth content from the design and marketing industries. When she's not designing or writing code, you can find her exploring the outdoors with her husband and dog in their RV, burning calories at a local Zumba class, or curled up with a good book with her cats Gem and Cali.
You can find more of Eleanor's work at www.eleanorhecks.com.
