Web design has come a long way since it’s humble nubile beginnings. For that matter, sites made even a few years ago can seem horribly outdated today. Web design, like most design, is reflective of an ever changing canvas of creativity and new abilities. So, what’s hot and what’s not?
NOT – FLASH. Flash is like mom jeans for a website. For one, it just doesn’t work well. Mobile devices have a hard time getting on the Flash train. And second, and maybe most importantly, Flash has a lot of security vulnerabilities. It also has a lot of glitches even on desktops. Sure, Flash was a bit more than a flash in the pan (get it, FLASH in the…nevermind). It really was seen as the future of animation at one point but with all it’s issues the rumor mills have it that Adobe has shown Flash the door.
HOT- Video. If you want the effect of animation, good old fashion video is in. A video as a header (replacing the static image or slideshow display) is very trendy right now. It allows for function with a good deal of ability to incorporate SEO as well. Videos are pricey though so unless you shoot it yourself, prepare to shell out a little coin to get a quality video with no watermarks.
NOT – Boxed layout. Holy boxes Batman! The box is so L7. (for you youngins, L7 means square. Get it? square…box? :\ ). The box format has been persona non grata for years now. But there are always those that refuse to give up what they consider the tried and true standard of design. I’d say, unless you are in certain very traditional fields, (e.g. education, dentist, lawyer, accountant, etc.) wide width/full width format is the only way to go. And truthfully even the more traditional fields can absolutely do full width modern designs, but if they don’t they tend to get a pass.
HOT – Parallax. Parallax is essentially an artistic Jedi mind trick. When applied to the background image of a section on your site, it gives the appearance that the image is moving upward or downward as you scroll through the site. Pretty cool huh! It’s very trendy right now and super easy to do.
NOT – Autoplay music. JUST.STOP.PLEASE. Nobody wants to be forced to listen to Enya just because you think it’s soothing to play for site visitors. Truthfully, any music on your site is a serious NOT but if you must, have it set to allow visitors to choose to play it or not.
These are just a few trends in web design at the moment. Soon all the hots could be nots and some of the nots may even be hots. That’s how design goes. I mean, whoever thought we’d be wearing ripped jeans, again. 😉
-RIP Prince-