Top 7 Web Design Trends That Will Rule in 2021

We’re entering the area of mobile-first indexing — according to Google, the scheduled date should be March 2021, which means that is now important more than ever to focus on both the mobile and desktop versions while designing for screens. Keeping up with the latest design trends and incorporating them on websites can bring more functionality and improve both the performance of the site and the overall user experience. To find out which web design trends will prevail in the upcoming year, keep reading!

#1 Illustration animations will capture users' attention 

Illustrations have been a part of a digital product for a long time, but the evolution of their usage through the last couple of years is really impressive. Firstly, they were used to humanize digital products and make the elements more natural to the user. 

Applying motion to the illustrations brings numerous benefits, such as engaging users with product and capturing their attention. Swift and fluid animations make their journey exciting and can bring experience to the next level — we can find them often describing state changes and adding rhythm to interaction.

#2 Detailed data visualization with data-driven design

As nowadays users began to trust analytics more than ever, the need for design with an emphasis on data exponentially increased. This kind of communication can bring more user engagement and increase the index rating. As our eyes are drawn to colors and patterns, it is easier for users to process data in forms of visual elements like charts, graphs and maps, as they can easily grab our interest and keep our eyes on the message. 

Data visualization sits right in the middle of technical analysis and creative visual storytelling, and that way connects two completely different approaches which can bring a better understanding of complex pieces of information to the users. The main spotlight goes to abstract data visualization which can give a unique twist to design.

#3 Customized fonts & large, attention-grabbing typography 

In the past few years, design trends have relied on the use of a hero image to grab users’ eyes, but replacing the image with unique and bold typography can be just as effective, if not more. Big and bulky, distorted, twisted and ultra-stretched type in combination with short titles can capture the attention of a visitor — that way the time needed for the conversion is decreased, as users tend to have less and less time to waste scrolling through websites. 

#4 Micro-interactions & micro-animations 

The main purpose of micro-interactions is to increase interactivity and to make the website easier to use and navigate through. They can serve as feedback or confirmation to the users that the required action is being processed. 

The same thing applies to micro-animations, which are very useful and functional in an e-commerce setting. These functions can provide a modern and sophisticated feel to the overall look of the website. 

#5 Motion graphic & repetitive kinetic typography

Rotation animation, seamless transitions and shifting visuals will remain on top of web design trends in the upcoming year. Bringing down the number of cuts smooths down the flow and creates a more natural touch of the animation. 

Kinetic typography in combination with strong copy or quote can grab the attention of the visitors and keep them guessing what will happen next if they keep exploring the website. This way, words are brought to life and can have a bigger impact on the viewers, and even persuade them to take certain actions. 

#6 Vivid colors & partly used gradients

Wild color combinations can give an interesting futuristic twist to the website — experimenting with different contrast colors to grab the attention of the users is another hot trend in web design. 

Using gradients in the form of subtle color overlays brings more depth to flat layouts and creates visually interesting eye-grabbing textures — they can be implemented as a background, as color filters over the images or illustrations, or as an accent for functional elements such as CTA buttons.

#7 Scroll-generated websites

Scroll-generated websites track the user’s progress as they scroll the page and trigger various animations and actions. Using the power of motion and animation effects to capture user attention, and introducing dynamic user interactions are trends that will stay on track in 2021, as they can help with grabbing the users’ interest and make the web experience unique and memorable. 

The most popular long-scrolling techniques are parallax scrolling, screen as pages, a typical direction, fixed long scrolling, and infinite scrolling. 

Pro tip: Stay moderate

Experimenting with current web design trends is fun and exciting, but over-implementing them can result in a bad output, which can make the website lose its traffic and visitors. Don’t rush into trends and try to catch them all, but be aware of your users’ needs and create sites that can be used intuitively and navigated easily.