With another great year in the books, January is as much a time for looking ahead as it is for reminiscing about the past. Because of this, here we are daydreaming about what 2014 may bring to the table. Last year, we wrote a piece discussing all of the great innovations happening in web design, and this year, we look forward to seeing what the top designers are bringing to the table.
As with anything, some trends continue into the New Year, often with new ways of looking at them. Let’s take a look at the top web design trends you can expect to see in the year 2014.
The One Pager:
Long scrolling websites are going to grow in popularity (and length) in 2014, that much is sure. How long the trend will stick around (it’s been up and down for a couple of years now) is still up in the air, but 2013’s influx of responsive websites have set the stage for continuous scrolling, and continuously loading content.
One-page sites are also growing in popularity. Sometimes, a deep website is unnecessary—often, it comes down to the way you organize the content. Anchoring text to the top navigation, or using smooth scroll to control the way, and speed at which content is viewed can make all the difference, and helps to keep your site simple and clean.
New Typography:
This up and comer in web design has been gaining traction fast within the industry. As we’ve said, web typography used to be a nightmare. With new web outlets come new options, and we have to say, the Internet is a much livelier place because of it.
After all, sometimes, there are things Helvetica just can’t convey. Experimentation is one of the greatest aspects of new typography, as new fonts and script styles are created every day. By giving your viewable content more personality, you’re given the option of engaging your viewers in ways that weren’t possible before. Accentuation and persuasion are often aided by the addition of visually appealing fonts, so it’s a valid piece to the puzzle.
Going Mobile:
The world continues to focus more and more attention on mobile devices, and so too will web design. There are currently more than six billion mobile subscribers on the market. Six billion! That's equal to 87% of the world's population—a staggering statistic. And with responsive web design’s increasing adoption rate, that can only mean good things for mobile web browsing in 2014.
Flat Design:
You knew this one was coming. The minimalist in all of us is excited due to the recent rise of flat design among the web and tech worlds. Look no further than Apple’s iOS7 update. And it isn’t just Apple: tons of companies, from Google to Microsoft are utilizing this style among their products and websites. We ourselves jumped on the flat design wagon for a medical website of ours, http://www.diagnosemeonline.com. Dropping gradients and shadows from your sites design won’t be ending anytime soon, as we see 2014 as a big year for the flat design trend.
Web Videos:
I know videos aren’t new to the Internet. My Youtube history alone is a testament to that. But 2014 will bring new ways of engaging viewers through video. Parallax videos, and creative embeds will pave the way for less text and more visual content. If infographics proved anything in 2013, it’s that visual dexterity is an important commodity for marketing and advertising among web viewers.
That means you’ll see less text and more talking heads in 2014 as the paradigm shifts. The breakdown in difficulty of video production has opened previously unsurpassable opportunities for companies around the world. Stratus Interactive just recently began experimenting with video production, something we’d never thought of before. But with the advent of products like the Go Pro and improved mobile cameras, engaging viewers is just a click away.
2014 is sure to be an interesting year in the web design space. There are tons of new outlets to discover, and an ever-increasing amount of new terrain that begs to be explored, but it all comes down to what works and what doesn’t. This time next year, it’ll be interesting to see what made the cut, and which underdogs came out on top.
