Web design trends don’t appear out of nowhere. They come in response to the actual needs that users have at a given time. When the world outside is undergoing changes that can make everyday life more difficult or less predictable, people look for stability and balance. That is what our world looks like at the moment, and the desire for a greater sense of stability and calmness is what we see reflected in web design trends of 2022.
Let us take a close-up look at five of these trends.
1. Immersive Image Design Can Inspire Consumers to Purchase More
As you may have noticed, people all over the world spend more than 2½ hours every day on their smart phones, and another ½ hour at their desktop.
Some of this time is devoted to entertainment, and some is no doubt spent conducting business or simply conversing with someone.
As for the rest of the time, it’s often spent looking for information or shopping for a product or service. If you have or are building a website that sells a product or a real-world experience, you should be giving this some thought. The most effective way to sell something is to let the consumer “feel” it. We’ll cover this in more depth at a later date.
2. Changing Typography Draws Attention to Content
Changes in website typography size, color, and style are often employed to great effect as attention-getting strategies. In 2022, we’re going to see motion added to the text as well.
Motion in an otherwise quiet or still setting is always noticeable, and strategically placed and well-timed motion applied to content can really make a website stand out in the crowd.
Motion applied to text is a strategy that should be applied sparingly and applied only to text you want the visitor to take special note of.
3. Line Art Backgrounds Can Be Used to Serve As Useful Guides
Web designers have been experimenting with various website background trends for years. More recently, the focus has been on the use of dramatic gradients. Background video sliders and dark mode color schemes have also been popular.
In 2022, it’s going to be something quite different. Line art will be used to create visual interest, and just as importantly, will also be used to provide visitors with helpful guidance. Pointing a visitor in a desired direction doesn’t require using arrowheads or pointing fingers. More abstract designs can be put in play that suggest rather than point but end up having the same effect.
The formless shapes may appear to be merely decorative at first, but they subtly guide the visitor’s eyes through the content. When you think about the many ways there are for people’s eyes to scan across a page, it’s little wonder that subtle line art can do wonders for website engagement.
4. Interactive Graphics Provide Added Context for Users
Most commercial web designs address three basic objectives: attracting visitors, engaging them with the content, and getting them to convert. Engaging visitors involves getting and holding their attention, and there are right and wrong ways to go about it.
One very good way is to make key elements look interactive — like making a button look like it’s begging to be clicked, instead of looking like any other flat object on a flat surface; or like making a design element change or animate when a visitor hovers over it.
But you need to be creative. There will be instances where you want a visitor to stop and learn more about something as opposed to using interaction to keep them constantly on the move towards some desired goal. In fact, scrolling has become so automatic that you may need to add clear controls in some cases to get or enable visitors to stop and be able to engage with key or important content.
5. Use Positive Color Palettes to Send the Right Vibes to Visitors
Designers used to obsess over selecting the perfect color to bring about a desired emotion from a visitor. It’s no secret that a given color can elicit a certain emotion given the context it’s being used in, but what is the underlying theory?
The truth is, there are several factors involved, like the shade of the color, its contrast with other website colors, the culture of the observer, and the aforementioned context in which it appears.
A splash of yellow can elicit a feeling of happiness, but splashing yellow throughout a website probably won’t create a happy customer or lead to a conversion.
Keep Up with the Times
Deliver by Linkeo, and Linkeo Ltd. as a whole, designs our clients’ websites with the latest web design trends, helping them capture the attention of consumers looking for cutting-edge brands. Keep coming back for details on web design trends for 2022 that you’ll want to be aware of and your clients will appreciate.