WEB DESIGN OF THE TIMES: “A NEW ERA OF DIGITAL CREATIVITY”

Industry Insights

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Industry Insights

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3 min read

In the inexorable race to elevate customer experience, web design is blending new and old to be bigger and better.

Build it and they will come: the paraphrase of the famous movie line definitely applies to web design. With all of the focus and effort to drive traffic to a company’s website, marketers should make sure visitors find and enjoy an immersive, interactive and inspiring online experience. In 2024, continued technological innovation and an even greater focus on user engagement have brought the following web design trends to the fore.

Denser, Richer Graphics

Web design is moving away from the clean and minimalist designs of the past decade toward denser and richer graphics. Credit the goal of a more immersive user experience and the increased technical capacity for more design-intensive sites. Processors, graphics processing units and web browsers have advanced to a point where, according to Webflow, designers are empowered “to create visually captivating and emotionally resonant websites, unfettered by previous constraints of slow load times and performance issues. We’re entering a new era of digital creativity.”

Adding Some Hype to Your Type

With design components such as layout, size and color constantly evolving, in addition to the usage of more dynamic and interactive elements, it’s no surprise that typography is following suit. Not just about messaging and communication, typography is now “a character on the screen,” Webflow asserts.

“In 2024, we expect to see a blend of classic and modern fonts, large and bold statement typefaces, and experimentation with overlapping text and mixed media,” the SaaS application firm forecasts.

Web design seeks to create visuals that engage and move the audience. Kinetic typography or moving text is not surprisingly a popular tactic to do so. With the field moving from information conveyance to an engaging visual element and webpages that are simply informational to the experiential, designers can use kinetic typography to “promote accessibility and inclusivity” while maximizing narrative-driven designs, especially landing pages and campaigns, according to Webflow.

New & Improved Techniques

In 2024 and beyond, look for design methods that create a more dynamic visual experience and help provide a familiar, seamless and more intuitive user experience. Parallax scrolling, where background content moves at a different speed than foreground content, adds depth and movement to the user experience. While the technique is not new, incorporating more live and video content instead of static designs and imagery is a fresh, bold move to stimulate consumer eyes and deepen the level of engagement.

Skeuomorphism is a way to make a webpage more user-friendly by using elements that imitate real-world counterparts in look, feel and function. A trash bin icon and the shutter-click sound made by most camera phones are prime examples. Webflow calls the revival of skeuomorphism “an emotional response to the over-digitization of our day-to-day lives. With so much of our current lives operating in a virtual space, users are increasingly drawn to designs that mimic a pre-digital world.”

AI-generated designs

As everyone knows by now, AI is on the rise and it’s no different in the design world as the technology is poised to revolutionize the digital landscape. Think about the possibility of, rather than every user having the same content, custom graphics based on user data and design systems delivering a level of personalized experience not seen before. AI design tools can achieve this dynamic delivery while also significantly speeding up projects at reduced cost.

“Web design is evolving from the crafting of beautiful window scenes along the customer journey to creating full-on, immersive experiences,” said Michael Rivera, infinitee’s VP, Creative Strategy. “While thinking bigger, marketers, with their designers and developers, still have to master those tactical elements, from typography and various techniques to microinteractions. It’s an exciting time for creative branding and we can help your firm make the most of it!”