Designers, coders, and developers are constantly coming up with revolutionary web designs. This can make it difficult to keep up with the newest techniques. However, an awareness of the latest trends is critical if you want to stay relevant and achieve your goals.
That’s why we’ve compiled a list of this year’s top web design trends to help you transition from last year’s popular approaches. This arsenal of design strategies can help you create an attractive and contemporary website.
In this article, we’ll discuss six web design trends to watch out for in 2022. Let’s get started!
1. Retro-Inspired
Retro-inspired websites use nostalgic elements to create their layout and design. This can include vintage photography, typography, and colors. For example, Caava Design’s website features a faded background image that mimics an old photo with an overlay of kaleidoscope-colored triangles:
Using vintage fonts and color schemes can help you achieve a retro design. For example, an 80s-inspired website might use neon colors and bold fonts with geometric shapes.
Black and white illustrations and washed-out images are also classic features of retro style. You can even incorporate imagery of pop culture references and old-school devices such as old televisions, radios, and phones. However, you’ll want to make sure your retro design is aligned with your brand and your product.
2. Neo-Brutalism
Neo-brutalism is characterized by minimalism and directness. You can achieve a neo-brutalist design by focusing on large, bold fonts and plenty of white space. The H. Lorenzo website, for example, has a predominantly black and white color scheme with over-sized headings:
This style may be a little too raw and rebellious for some websites. Typically, neo-brutalist design features a notable emphasis on daring typography and straight lines. However, this style abides by no clear rules.
Therefore, using a local development environment can be helpful when working through your design. If you have a managed WordPress host, such as WP Engine, you can use their staging tools to experiment freely with your audacious designs in a risk-free environment.
3. Scrollytelling
Scrollytelling is a unique, modern trend that utilizes infinite scrolling to display content. This design style brings your website to life with immersive visuals that are triggered by scrolling.
This type of design organizes large amounts of information in an interactive format that is easy to understand. For example, the Beauty of Brewing website uses the scrollytelling technique to illustrate the beer brewing process:
Scrollytelling is a great way to keep your site’s visitors engaged, but creating this type of site can be time-consuming. However, you can install an infinite scroll plugin such as Ajax Load More to help you.
Furthermore, this design often includes the use of high-quality images, illustrations, and animations. Unfortunately, these elements are notorious for slowing down web speed and performance. However, a reliable WordPress host can help create an optimized scrollytelling experience without sacrificing web speed and performance.
4. Image-Free Homepages
Image-free homepages are another minimalistic design trend in 2022. This type of page is ideal when photos aren’t the best way to convey your brand. The Spotify website offers a great example of this:
Oversized typography, abstract shapes, and animations can help you create an interesting page that’s free of images. However, if your website is advertising a newer company, then this trend may not work for you. That’s because your business is likely still building brand recognition, which can be tough to do without photos.
What’s more, if you offer a physical product, it might be a good idea to include some images of it upfront. Therefore, image-free homepages are likely best suited for established brands that offer straightforward services.
5. Mega Footers
The mega footer trend offers a great way to share large amounts of information. For instance, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has a well-organized mega footer that contains an exhaustive amount of resources:
This type of footer is ideal if you have a lot of information across a large number of webpages. However, adding too much content to a mega footer can make your design seem crowded.
To avoid a disorganized mega footer, you can separate it into sections. On the WWF website, the top section of the footer (black) contains three columns next to a comprehensive sign-up form. Below it (white), you’ll find further details about the organization, social media links, and standard housekeeping content.
6. One-Page Websites
Single-page websites are all the rage this year. This trend is ideal for small, niche websites with a narrow focus. Joshua Kaplan’s digital portfolio is a great example of a one-page site:
This type of website is meant to be read like a poster or flyer with concise language and limited distractions. The information should be organized and easy to read. With this design, a linear structure typically guides visitors along.
You’ll want your one-page site to emphasize the subject matter. If necessary, you can link to additional information and resources to further explain specific topics. However, too many links can look busy, so this may not be the best format if you need to include lots of content.
Conclusion
It can be difficult to maintain a cutting-edge website in a fast-evolving design world. However, leveraging the latest design trends can help ensure that your business succeeds. To recap, six web design trends to look out for in 2022 include:
- Retro-Inspired: Features classic fonts, shapes, colors, and other elements from varying time periods
- Neo-Brutalism: Minimalistic and experimental, with an emphasis on bold typography
- Scrollytelling: Interactive, scroll-based storytelling
- Image-Free Homepages: Ideal for easily-recognized brands offering a service
- Mega Footers: Well-organized, over-sized footers with large amounts of information
- One-Page Websites: Simply-designed sites that focus on a narrow topic
Do you have any questions about how a WordPress hosting provider can help you create a trendy and successful website? Let us know in the comments section below!
