Web Design Trends for 2009...

...the ongoing challenge to stay one step ahead of the game!

Already two months into the year and we’re starting to see this year’s predicted design trends filtering their way through to the web.

Below is a list of our favourite top ten:

1. BIG Typography

Whoever said size doesn’t matter was very much mistaken! Last year saw a size explosion that is continuing through to 2009. Large typography is still being used to communicate the most important messages on the web… no longer are we restricted to using point size 11! Attention to detail – leading, kerning, choice of font and positioning, to name a few, is vital. The results: typography is an ever-growing key factor in the production of creative, modern web design.


2. White Space

Another trend that continues from 2008… the use of white space. This allows for clean, crisp and minimal web designs and improves the general flow and structure of sites, especially for text heavy designs. News and blog sites are a classic example of this. Padding of 20 to 25 pixels is becoming rule of thumb, although more is often considered acceptable.


3. Magazine Look

Going hand in hand with white space, is the traditional magazine look. Designers are bringing traditional print media to the web, using typography and illustration to replicate. Multi-column layouts (3+) are a fundamental part of this design trend, and given the increasing levels of information-rich content online, the traditional magazine look is already familiar from our offline reading experience and provides a simple way to organise large amounts of content. But beware! Careful consideration needs to be given to increasing and widening screen resolutions with this design trend.


4. Media Blocks

Advances in broadband and Internet access has meant that more media can be screened in dedicated blocks on a website – namely video streaming. Whether this be news, videos, step by step guides or presentations, the user can quickly and effectively consume information with little effort. This advance in technology ultimately allows for added creativity and the continual fight to find the next best creative solution continues.


5. Carousels

2008 saw an explosion of carousels and slideshows flying around the Internet and is continuing into this year. In summary, the carousel is a quick navigation that is very easy to use. Ultimately it allows the user to browse content without having to search through a multitude of pages for what they are looking for. However, there is a strong argument that carousels are overkill, that said, they offer a familiar user experience given their now widespread usage. We look forward to seeing more innovation around the classic carousel.


6. Web Apps

This is the year of the Web Application. These are appearing increasingly frequently and with more creative, user-friendly interfaces; gone are the days of pure techie web apps. Design trends include the use of white space (again!), padding (again!) and key is the attention paid to the presentation of functionality. Web apps are increasingly acting as a gateway page to a brand’s social media presence and with the increasing proliferation of mash-ups, are now also contributing to the design and functionality of websites themselves.


7. Social Icons

As most of you would have already seen, social icons are everywhere! These encourage the user to click through to social media sites – promoting, following and recognising web authors, especially in the blogosphere. And it seems the bigger and the more attractive, the better! A great way to spread the word on your content, social icons not only make your site look up-to-date, but contribute to increased web traffic also. Ones to watch include TweetMeMe, social shopping sites and wish lists.


8. Large, larger and larger still!

As with typography, it seems that massive, vibrant graphics are beginning to dominate web design too. More space is being dedicated to these visuals – whether it be in headers, backgrounds or basic design assets - which in turn is capturing the user’s attention (many ‘ohhs’ and ‘ahhs’ coming out from the design team I can tell you!) To add to this, large search boxes are still popular, with designers ever pushing the boundaries of what can and can’t be done with these functional web assets.


9. Graphical Approaches

So creative, vibrant graphics and illustration are big in 2009, but what styles and are actually being implemented? Well, what goes around always comes back round again sooner or later. Grunge is back, the use of organic textures, tiles and photographic backgrounds, price tags, badges, watercolour, ribbons and handwriting to name a few!


10. Lightboxes

As the ‘second generation of pop-ups’, a light box highlights key areas of a site by appearing as an independent modal window that sits on top of main content. It is incredibly user friendly and fast becoming a reoccurring feature on many sites. As always, presentation and functionality are key – with designs including transparencies, drop shadows, ‘close’ ‘next’ and ‘previous’ buttons.

So that’s it! Our faves from the emerging web design trends of 2009. We’re seeing rapid change in trends so we’ll be updating you again in a few months with the most up to date design trends – watch this space!

Natalie
Lead Designer