Top Trends in Web Design From 2013

A website designed for any business should be able to transform viewers and visitors into customers. And we as a public learned this full well in 2013. With technological advancements in hardware and a plethora of new development innovations, many web design trends have been doing the rounds in 2013.

I personally work at a software firm that specializes in web development in New York, and I get to see firsthand how trends come and go as client needs evolve. So here is a look back at some of the buzzwords and successful trends that defined 2013:

Responsive Design

It is incorrect to refer to Responsive Web Design (RWD) as a trend anymore. It has simply become the best solution now for crafting digital experiences that are accessible via different devices and screen sizes. As the number of mobile devices and varying screen sizes continues to increase, there seems to be no better alternative.

Responsive Design

Responsive websites adapt easily to any device and any screen size, irrespective of how large or how small. While responsiveness still has its challenges, it has been the hottest trend for the year 2013. And within this movement, it has become a trend to take a minimalist approach while designing (for the sake of shifting web page elements).

Since RWD is a tactic to extend a seamless experience for users, the key has been to keep it simple with design. A single URL is being configured for use across smart-phones, tablets and desktops. There has been a shift in consensus to move from skeuomorphism in favor of flat design. Web designers are also increasingly attempting to marry simplicity, responsiveness and aesthetics in all their designs.

Responsive Design

Full Screen Images and Videos

Launch pages with images right across the screen and videos spanning entire web experiences have been a huge trend in 2013. Using full screen imagery and videos grants the user a sense of depth and space, while at the same time conveying a focused message. Here is an example of a full screen video example from the site Oh Land Music.

Full Screen Images and Videos

Videos and images have always been one of the most effective tools in communication. When they are laid out right in front of the viewer there's no stopping the reach a particular site can achieve. They have been viewed by many marketers as the most effective means for building sites for musical acts, luxury brands, and advertising campaigns for film and television.

Another trend is to use site-wide horizontal slideshows to convey a sense of motion without actually using any video. This is also a way to showcase the main points of a website in a centralized way.

Full Screen Images and Videos

Parallax Scrolling

Parallax scrolling is a creative technique that provides the illusion of depth for videos and websites. In this technique as a user scrolls the background and foreground images move at different speeds, resulting in a three-dimensional effect via a two-dimensional set-up.

Parallax Scrolling

This effect has been used in video games to recreate 3-D effects since the 1980s. When used properly, it adds a convincing effect of visual depth to any website. While the design element is a staple of top-tier websites, there is no solid technology yet to integrate this technique across devices such as tablets.The technique has traditionally been used minimally due to the fear of visually overwhelming a user. But it has assuredly made its way into the list of top techniques for innovative web design in 2013.

Retina Support

The web has gradually transitioned to higher density displays. The reign of the 72 dpi screen has begun to waver and higher resolution devices are now the trend. With the release of Apple’s Retina equipped tablets and laptops, the industry trend has been shifting more and more to cater to dense displays.

Retina Support

The trend of the year has been to use responsive imaging to detect dense displays and display corresponding images with higher resolution. For implementation jQuery plugins need to be used. However one disadvantage has been that there is an absence of industry-wide standards to streamline the process of designing and developing for retina displays. In such a scenario, it becomes the onus of each individual web designer to ensure that that they deliver a great user experience, regardless of the display they are using.

Content, Content, Content!

This has been a consistently growing trend in the web design world for years. But this is still a dominant trend for 2013: “Content is King”. Measures have been taken by web designers and developers to plug-in good content, weed out the bad content and spruce up boring content.

Content, Content, Content!

The trend is to keep it simple and minimal. Landing pages are kept clean and legible with crisp and relevant content. It is ensured that minimum advertisements and marquees are running across the site, if at all. It is also ideal that the content that is put up on the site is visible, accessible and responsive. SEO-friendly content is continuing to be stressed so that sites have a better chance of succeeding in today’s post-Penguin and post-Hummingbird Google era.

The author is a member of the Icreon Tech team, a software solutions and web development company in New York.