A new year is upon us, and with it comes a lot of change—especially in the technology and design industries. This past year, 2022’s popular website styles were packed with minimalism, scrolling effects, and kinetic typography techniques, and these ultimately laid the groundwork for the emerging trends of 2023.
While your site design should follow your brand standards and create the best journey for your users, the upcoming trends can be incorporated in varying degrees to fit the individual needs of your website. If you’re ready to create a website that enhances user experience and creates powerful visual interest, let’s dig in!
1. Dopamine Colors
The first web design trend forecasted for 2023 is the use of dopamine colors. While it may be self-explanatory, dopamine colors are colors that are known to spark joy in viewers. This trend originates from the idea of “dopamine dressing”, which was a reaction to the dreary past couple of years. People started wearing bright and bold colors to boost their mood, and now brands have begun to adopt these mood-boosting colors into their products, packaging, and even overall branding.
Given its history, it’s not a surprise that the use of dopamine colors is trending in web design. The bright colors are great for grabbing attention, and who wouldn’t want to look at something that makes them feel happy? Implementing dopamine colors is not going to work seamlessly for every brand, but if you’re going for eye-catching designs, this trend is perfect to incorporate. You could also consider adding them as secondary or tertiary colors to spice up your existing palette.
2. Single-Page Design
A single-page web design is a great idea if you are looking to make content easy to consume through a single user path that prevents users from getting lost. This kind of site design is best suited for portfolios or event-related websites, but they can also serve as captivating landing pages. On the other hand, a single-page design might not be the best option if you have a lot of content and information you would like to share with users.
Single-page designs can be as clean-cut and simple as you would like, or they can be full of interactive elements. That way, users can find what they need at a glance but also have the chance to experience web browsing in an entertaining way.
3. Storytelling and Interactive Web Designs
Another way design can help make content more easily consumable is through storytelling. Storytelling, sometimes called “scrollytelling”, and interactive web designs are also trending for 2023. With this design, users can scroll vertically or horizontally through a series of visuals and content, almost in a storybook form.
This design technique is all about incorporating animations and art to tell a story or present a concept or idea in an immersive way. Every business has a story to tell, and presenting it on your website can be a great way for your audience to connect with your brand.
4. Brutalism
Remember dopamine colors? Great! Now put that idea aside because the next trend we’re going to talk about is Brutalism. In many ways, Brutalism opposes previously discussed trends as it focuses on stark utilitarianism and prioritizes function over aesthetics. The word brutalism comes from the French word ‘brut’ which means raw, so the design elements include sharp edges, raw text, unedited photos, system fonts, and muted color palettes.
This trend is easy to confuse with minimalism as they both lean toward the simpler side of things. The main difference is that minimalism still aims for beauty and balance, while brutalism strips everything down to a bare minimum and does not worry about being visually pleasing.
By implementing a brutalist style into your website design, you’ll be sure to stand out amongst your competitors and actually load more efficiently as the lack of elements allows your site to run faster.
5. Integrated Typography
If you have ever searched for the perfect font, you know it can be quite a challenge to find the right one (but worth it in the end). In recent years, there has been a shift from the text being just words to being incorporated as an element in a design. On top of that, maximalist fonts are especially gaining popularity after years of stripped-down minimalist designs reigned supreme. Maximalist fonts have an added layer of expression that clean and simple fonts couldn’t provide.
Overall, integrated typography can truly elevate your site. Every website needs text, and incorporating the words in a unique way is very valuable when trying to bring in meaningful traffic.
Micro Animations
Last but not least is incorporating micro animations to add depth. You might not realize it, but you are most likely experiencing these daily. Micro animations are the subtle hints of movement that occur when you interact with a web page. Here are some common examples:
- Scroll bars
- Typing bubbles
- Progress bars or symbols
- Toggle switches
- Pull to refresh
- Fade-in/out effects
These serve many purposes, but the most obvious one is that these elements bring a design to life. They create visual interest in an effortless way all while helping users navigate the page. What’s even better is that micro animations are completely customizable and can be added to any website!
Work With a Top Web Design Company in Des Moines
If you’re ready to take your website to the next level, let Webspec help! From design and development to content marketing, we can handle anything along the way and provide you with a professional website that keeps your business moving forward. Our experienced team is here for you, so contact us to get started!
