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Just like fashion and home decor, what’s trending today is often old news tomorrow. The same is true for your website design! 2022 web design trends continued to focus on elements like whitespace, bold fonts, and nods to ‘80s nostalgia. But as we look to 2023, a clear trend is emerging — it’s time to break the rules.
Let’s dive into the web design trends we’ll see more of in 2023!
Kinetic Typography
The use of the moving type isn’t new, but it’s certainly been on the rise in the last few years. User attention spans have shrunk, and the prevalence of mobile scrolling has conditioned eyes to scan content for standout elements.
To combat this, web designers are embracing kinetic typography to capture and retain user attention. Static page elements like hero images and menu navigation are being transformed with animated headers and responsive text that changes based on user actions.
Maximalism as an Experience
Sleek, clean lines and sparse designs have had their moment; one that’s lasted for several years. But it’s finally time for maximalism to bask in the spotlight, and it’s poised to do it not only with design but also with online experiences.
Overlapping images, playful text animation, and bright colors will aim to take users to the brink of overwhelm without crossing the line — a fine line, to be sure. It’s an almost-anything-goes philosophy that gained traction amid the emotional rollercoaster of COVID-era cultural shifts.
A Return to Y2K
The new millennium said goodbye to the muted patterns of ‘90s grunge and embraced bright colors and bold textures that embodied the optimism of the time. Two decades later, the cultural conversation has now shifted to include the intersection of media design and mental health.
In short? Nostalgia is good for both, and industries from technology to fashion to home decor have taken note.
In another nod to post-COVID life, we can expect more designs with elements like bubbly typeface, neon hues, pixel art, scrapbook aesthetics, and metallic accents as society continues to embrace a renewed optimism.
Revamped 404 Pages
In a perfect world, web users would never encounter a 404 page. These pages are the web’s embodiment of human error, and thus suffer the ire of programmers bent on minimizing their existence as much as possible.
Until now.
The dreaded non-destination destinations, 404 pages, are now being seen less as “oopsies” and more as opportunities to keep users on websites. By embracing these pages as additional branding touchpoints, designers are turning them into more immersive user experiences. Expect 404 pages to have more illustrations, humor, video and helpful links moving into 2023.
Horizontal Scrolling
Years of vertical scrolling have all but established it as the hard and fast rule for navigation, but as we’ve shared thus far, 2023 is ready for rule-breaking.
Thanks to the growing prevalence of mobile-first viewing and swipe functionality in popular apps, web developers are facing less pushback for incorporating what they commonly tout as a practical design choice to ensure proper display across multiple devices.
Horizontal scrolling helps keep users on the page by grouping content together (think photo galleries or product collections) without forcing users to navigate to a different page, and by acting as natural page breaks between different topical elements.
More Accessibility
As cultural norms continue to champion accessibility (and governing bodies mandate website accessibility for public entities), web designers are taking note.
These trends will continue, if not accelerate, a growing emphasis on designing pages that are friendly to neurodivergent, disabled, or cognitively impaired individuals.
Among other ADA-friendly elements, we can expect to see:
- Stronger color contrasts
- Greater use of functional alt tags
- A move away from parallax scrolling
- Voice search optimization
- Hoverable iconography
Compliance aside, we’ll also see greater representation of people living with disabilities in the design elements themselves, including photos and illustrations.
Stay On Top of the Trends
You don’t have to be a design expert to revamp your website. If you’re thinking your site could benefit from one or more of these trends, TechArk can help make it happen! We’ve delighted hundreds of clients for over a decade, and our experts are ready to take your web design into 2023 and beyond. Schedule a call with our team to learn more about our services!
