Stay on top of the latest design trends, see what’s popular, and learn how to create design work that feels modern, current, and up-to-date.
Have you taken notice? More designers are launching websites with no images (or video) above the scroll.
There are a lot of interesting uses of text elements, animated effects, and other divots that keep the result from being boring.
Here’s a look at this website design trend, examples, and how to make it work for you. You’ll be amazed at just how creative you can get, without a single image in sight!
There’s a website and app design trend that’s so subtle you almost don’t see it.
Soft UI creates a frost-style or glassy blur where elements sink and extrude from the background to create varying levels of depth and dimension.
Combine this effect with a softer, more pastel color palette, and the result is a light, “soft” interface with depth in shadows and subtle overall effects.
Here, we’ll look at the trend with examples.
There’s still a debate going on in the web design community on whether video backgrounds in websites are good or bad.
However, we’ve seen a rise in websites utilizing fullscreen video backgrounds in the past few months than ever before. But is it really an effective strategy? Does it help engage with an audience? Does it affect SEO? Let’s find out.
In this guide, we aim to find answers to these questions by comparing the pros and cons of using fullscreen video backgrounds in web design. We’ll also give you a few tips on properly implementing a great video background with examples. Let’s dive in.
Are your designs as inclusive as they could be? Do they appeal to all people of all genders equally?
While design theory can put a lot of emphasis on creating personas for better user experience and design journeys, they can sometimes not be as inclusive as you might like. Do you get so involved in the persona that you forget every other type of user that might visit your website?
The first step toward a more gender-neutral web, is recognizing common practices and changing the way we think about some of the things we design with every day.
The key to making it actually work is authenticity. You have to believe in gender-neutral messaging for it to actually resonate with website visitors.
It’s the website design trend that you see everywhere but might not have a name for: gaussian blur.
It’s present in several other named trends that have been popular this year and for some time, including the frosted glass effect, creating image depth, bokeh backgrounds, and even for various other background techniques.
Here, we’ll look at this design trend, explore different reasons for deploying it (carefully!), along with examples to help you make the most of it.
Let’s dive in!
When you don’t know what to use to illustrate a design, the answer might be abstract art.
It’s a growing design trend that – when done well – uses interesting shapes, colors, and combinations to create something that means almost nothing but is visually interesting.
There’s no wonder that designers are using this concept.
For startup websites without photography to designs for companies that aren’t sure how to represent an almost-post-COVID world visually and everything in between, abstract can be a workable choice.
Almost every year, we kick off with a list of design trends that we think will dominate projects in the coming year. While we’ve gotten pretty good at identifying hits, there are also some misses.
These trends might fade due to a lot of different factors, but commonly they are just difficult techniques that don’t apply well across different types of projects.
It looks (and works) great in one application but is flat somewhere else.
Here’s a look at some of those trends that are fading fast. (And if you want to see our full list of web design trends for 2021 you can find it here.)
At the beginning of each year, Design Shack does a roundup of trends that will likely influence the design landscape for the coming year.
Now that we are halfway through 2021 (can you believe it?) it’s time to look at which of those trends are thriving and which ones you can pass by.
Here, we’ll look at some fresh examples of the trends that are still hot for inspiration in your projects.
While there is nothing new about minimalism as a design trend, the application and techniques are ever-evolving.
Some of the most notable changes with modern minimal designs are the use of space, color, and typography treatments. These design elements can make the overall aesthetic seem new and fresh or show a more dated style.
Here, we’ve put together a guide on how to do minimal design right with some best practices, examples, and tips for creating a modern feel.
Let’s dive in!
If you are looking for a design trend that can hold up over time, consider using a gradient. Every time I seem to think this trend might be over, designers come up with new and even better ways to use color variations for immense impact.
I’m not sure this trend will ever get old because there are so many ways to use it.
Here, we’re going to look at 10 different ways to make the most of gradients with projects that do it exceptionally well. All completely varied, and all completely unique!
Let’s start with a definition. Readability is a measure of how easy a piece of text is to read. The level of complexity of the text, its familiarity, legibility, and typography all feed into how readable your text is. Readability is a key factor in user experience.
Why would we ever showcase a design trend that features text that’s not readable? Simply, because it is popular. Does it mean that it’s a good idea? It… depends!
You can read on, look at the examples, and decide if it is right for your projects.
Art elements rooted in math and algorithms might seem like a futuristic idea, but it’s a growing and popular concept.
Fractal art has been around since the 1980s but it seems to be having a moment with more designers looking to this style for backgrounds and main art elements. Another reason for the growth in popularity? Use of this style as an interior design element for wall hangings and more.
This can be a fun design element to think about and incorporate into projects. Here’s everything you need to know to get started with fractal art.