A great website design can captivate, inspire and engage visitors, leading to improved brand awareness, sales leads, transactions, subscribers, and more. A great design draws the viewer in, keeping them interested, and wanting more.
In general, a “web design” is a complete and structured layout compromised of numerous elements that come together for a specific intent, or purpose. It all must come together in a way that creates the look and functionality of the website or user interface, or UX as we say in the eCommerce world. Nowadays, it’s common place for a web design to adapt to the different types of digital devices where the website is viewed, e.g. mobile device, tablet, smart tv, or desktop computer.
A website design brings together aesthetics, style, and aims to create an appeal and almost magnetic attraction to the prospective viewer. As if that was not a difficult enough task, it literally all must happen within an instant. Website visitors instinctively determine the appeal, trustworthiness, brand affinity, and their confidence in an entire business based on their view of the first page they see of a website. With such high stakes, the best-in-brand companies dedicate enormous time and resource into developing great website designs.
The solution to overcoming a hesitant potential online customer is simple, create a website that is simultaneously functional and visually appealing. Web design trends in 2022 will evolve in reaction to changes in taste and style, just as fashion and architecture do. In 2022, the eCommerce Institute, through a survey and interview process of digital agencies across the United States, predicts that we will see a combination of technological integration along with bold, eye-catching designs.
Animations:
Because of the use of animation, design is becoming more dynamic. When used properly, animation produces a terrific experience attracting users to visit a website and encourages them to look more into the company’s product or service. In addition, people react to movement and interaction to build anticipation for what’s to come. This year expect to see the use of more animation on leading websites as well as becoming the standard on any newly developed websites.
The surge in animation is springing from the recent emergence of animation tools that have become user-friendly for graphic designers and web developers. Until now, incorporating animation effects into a website required high-end javascript coding or the talents of skilled animators. Another reason why we expect to the see more animation his year is due to advancements in website browsers, which can now render CSS animations on-the-fly.
Some of the most useful animation tools can be found in the website addon tool for Elementor called JetEngine, as well as the Adobe Animate design tool that is now incorporated into Adobes Creative Cloud suite of applications. Adobe Animate works well with tools that most designers are familiar with like Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop or Premiere Pro. Using the Adobe Animate tool, designers can create animated SVG elements to be incorporated into a website’s design. JetEngine, on the other hand, adds the ability to animate parts of the webpage itself. Some common types of website animation that will become more common in 2022 include Welcome Animations, Particle Animations, Background Videos, 3D Animations, Scrolling Animations, Image Gallery Animations, Sidebar Navigation Animations, Warning Animations, Button Animations, Hover Animations, and Story Telling Animations.
Mobile-Friendly Design:
Responsive website design has never been so critical! As a result, web design businesses increasingly focus on developing mobile-friendly designs. Most eCommerce experts already know that Google now uses a “mobile first” index algorithm, which indexes a websites mobile version. If the mobile design does not meet Google’s standards for design and functionality the website will not rank as well as it could. Also considering that over 50% of all website traffic worldwide is from mobile devices, it’s in the designer’s best interest to create a mobile friendly website design.
Websites must run smoothly on PCs, tablets, and phones, with no lag time or data loss. Google is in control of more than 90% of the global search market, has implemented two new core web algorithm updates that specifically analyze and prioritize mobile user experience.
Retro Revolution:
Today’s up-and-coming web designers are drawing inspiration from those old’n days when the internet was just a wee baby – the 1990s. Bright backdrop colors, clunky table layouts, and robotic typefaces like Courier marked the so-called Web 1.0 of the 1990s. Even though all of this was the long-ago, some of us who have been in the industry this long can’t wait to see how this generation of designers will pay homage to the design trends that took plae at the dawn of the internet. We expect to see web designers of 2022 are resurrect this trend with the extra benefit of over 30 years of cumulative design experience. In 2022 all that is old will be new again, as the saying goes. Those “mom jeans” may never come back in style (uhhhh wait, they did and my 13-year old thinks they are great!), elements and design inspiration from the 1990s will make an appearance in many 2022 website design concepts.
Motion Graphics:
Motion design will be more useful in 2022 as it is being used to create great stories in which the user can sit back and watch an emotionally engaging story unfold. In addition, companies strive to create brand concepts that tell a visual story that attracts their customers while also being mobile-friendly.
Abstract Design:
One design trend that’s becoming popular on the web these days is abstract or brutalism design, which employs a variety of textures, images, collages, and other components to create an overall look and feel. However, in 2022, designers challenge traditional design aesthetics to enable a more ‘guerilla’ appearance to websites with no natural flow or order and no regard for accepted design standards. While brutalism is not a new notion, its implementation in web design provides a harshness and disrespect for a convention that prides itself on being anti-WordPress or Squarespace.
Conclusion:
The web design trends for 2022 mark another stride forward, but that’s nothing new on the internet. In today’s world, the future moves swiftly, and digital designers frequently pave the way. The focus on creating joy, though, makes these movements feel refreshing.
The purpose of this year’s web design trends, no matter how unique their approach, is to provoke a momentary sense of amazement, whether they are bringing back a bygone decade, delighting the user with interactions and animations, or offering something handmade.
