As we enter the closing months of 2024 no-one can deny it is an extremely exciting and adventurous time to be a small business website designer! There’s no room for complacency or sticking to the same old design recipe, because in the first-paced world of digital marketing website design trends are continuously evolving, expanding and intensifying. Take time out to assess whether you’re keeping pace, or pulling ahead in the race.
Understanding UX: The Bedrock of Website Design Evolution
When you work at a digital marketing agency like mine that is focused on helping small and medium-sized local businesses use their websites to win sales, the master key is User Experience (UX). You could say that UX is the tap from which all website design trends flow as we approach 2025.
No innovation or creative craze that takes hold in professional web design circles at present is there just for fun. With our increasing awareness of how the hearts and minds of website visitors can be won over – enabled by data-driven insights – website design trends are largely aimed at improving and enhancing UX, with SEO benefits and brand identity following close behind.
UX inspired design ensures website users have their interest piqued, and become “hooked”, so they can then be reeled in as customers.
2024 Web Design Trends: The Pick of the Mix
With so much going on in the realm of web design it’s difficult to narrow down what’s hot and happening to just five obvious trends, which I have pledged to do in this article – but we know everyone’s time is tight so let’s give it a go!
1. Kinetic & Dynamic Typography
This attention-grabbing tactic brings text to life through movement and animation, creating memorable visual effects, especially when used “above the fold” for titles or headings. It’s important that text animation is used tastefully, aligned with brand and project guidelines, to ensure visual consistency.
2. Dark Mode
It may sound a bit sinister, but actually dark mode is simply a web design trend that uses a dark background to set off light-coloured text and graphics. It’s been found to be easier on the eyes for screen users (black emits less blue light than lighter backgrounds). It’s also energy efficient, saving battery life because it’s saving on lighting up and, depending on taste, most find it aesthetically pleasing.
3. Abstract & Organic Shapes
Website designers are enjoying moving away from straight lights, geometric shapes and patterns towards a more fluid approach, using irregular and more abstract forms. This creates visual interest and can impart a sense of movement. They’re appearing more and more as decorative elements, backgrounds or even content frames, bringing a soft, natural and artistic feel to digital design.
4. Micro-Animations
Used sparingly, these little, subtle animations can make a big impact. An example would be a button changing colour when it is clicked, or an entrance/exit animation to show users the way forward or back. In fact, designers can use their imagination to dream up any small animation that can be triggered by user interaction. It all goes to make a website more engaging – but if its overdone it can become a distraction rather than an enhancement.
5. Web Accessibility
It may not be new, but it is certainly gaining ground as an essential element of website design: making a website perceivable, operable, understandable and robust (acronym POUR) for people with disabilities. This involves techniques like providing sufficient contrast between foreground and background colours (visual aid), offering keyboard navigation for those who can’t use a mouse, or providing transcripts for videos.
When it comes to designing websites though, trends can only take you so far. Here at Dentons Digital, like any good design agency, we give priority to the client’s needs and wants and creating a customised timeless online storefront for their business. We believe we strike the perfect balance between traditional web design principles, essential UX and SEO elements, and forward thinking. Give us a call on 01373 482774 to discuss what we can achieve for your business website.
