In regards to visual landscape, we haven't seen a huge change in design trends in 2015. However, technology is a relentless driver to change and the technological platforms that underpin much of what is produced have been evolving.
This means that in 2016, more than ever, the web is a playground for designers to push the boundaries and experiment with user interfaces. We have put together some of the design trends we expect to see in 2016. Do you agree?
With smartphones becoming the principle and first device used to access the web over desktop or laptop, we have already seen vast changes in the design of web pages and the user experience. We have seen a strong shift in the adoption of Google's Material design as a basis for UI presentation and development. Flat design paradigm has evolved into a robust Material Design movement and many apps have been utilising this new design language. We expect to see more websites utilising material design in 2016.
Cinemagraphs are nothing new, but they are now being brought to the forefront of designers minds. This is no surprise with the popularity of gifs and video content, that images are now too static. Cinemagraphs capture a little movement in a photo so that when viewed, the static photo appears to come to life. We expect 2016 to bring a lot of photos that have movement while continuing to offer the benefits of a static image.
As visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain than text, it is no surprise that imagery is so important when it comes to web design. However, people are tired of polished, cheesy looking stock photos. We expect to see more natural looking imagery that connect with people on a whole different emotional level, as well as more illustration replacing photography. Illustration can sometimes be easier to place yourself in a scene than a bad stock image, creating more of a personal, minimalistic style.
Typography has always been known to be very important in conveying a message appropriately, but we believe in 2016 Typography should be at the forefront of a designers mind. As of late, Typography has become bolder and designers have been more creative with fonts, and expect to see even more of this happening in 2016! So get ready to see lots of creative typography treatments in bold and brash colours!