Web Design; Is there Something New I should Know About?

It’s Never Static

Web design trends are in a constant state of flux. New technologies are emerging every day, and new styles of interface are improving all the time. It’s important to keep an eye on this perpetual change, and implement when and if appropriate.

Think of it as an army of programmers and designers all over the planet, who are constantly turning out new ways of interfacing with customers, and you will realise the necessity of keeping a close eye on the topic. Change is, after all, the only constant.

Less is more

Minimalism is one of the key trends for 2013. It makes sense too if you give it some thought. The inclination to over-design sites, and add too much information is all too evident. Website owners who prefer to err on the side of information overload than insufficient details are the norm. Keep it clean and minimal. Aim to make the user experience refreshing and easy to digest.

You may have a million things to say but your visitor can only digest so much. This design trend is less conspicuous with Asian sites such as in China, where information overload is very much the standard. This style may change as younger internet users challenge the prevailing tastes for information consumption.

Design for Mobile Devices

The advent of ubiquitous mobile devices such as tablets and mobiles, has forced a change in the design of websites. Older sites are often unreadable on mobile devices, so make sure your designers and programmers are creating sites, which identify the hardware they are being read on. Some features automatically resize to a fixed mobile format that doesn’t change, but other applications can resize the screen to fit perfectly with the device irrespective of screen dimensions.

Make yourself familiar with the latest devices and get into the habit of using the internet on mobile screens, so you can understand the design challenges not evident when surfing from a desktop or laptop.

Parralex Design

This style of web design uses an impressive background photograph or image as more than just a stage prop. The image is integral to the sites key themes and the user is encouraged to look at it more deeply than traditional easy-to-identify graphical user interfaces. The aim isn’t to make it complex, but to encourage the user to appreciate the choice of background visual used, and realise that it is part of the total user interface.

The users mouse will hover over the visual a bit more than traditional sites, and will instinctively want to discover features rather than know immediately what they are. This kind of design works well with storytelling sites such as a book or film launch. The background visual must be carefully selected to have areas of interest that guide the user into and through the narrative.

Using Professionals

Building and designing websites is no easy feat. Although there are many free web builders on the internet, these are best used for blogging, or building small, one to two page sites. If you are looking for a professional looking site for your business, you will need to seek the help of someone who knows how to build a site from scratch, and importantly, how to design it.

PPCnSEO is a digital marketing company based in Pattaya who are experts in both web design and search engine optimisation. If you are looking for a professional website for your business and help building your brand online, contact PPCnSEO for a no obligation quote on 038 412 067.