10 Leading Web Design Trends that will Dominate in 2021
Digital trends and the expectations of users is constantly changing. Staying up to date with trends is important, as you don’t want to end up getting left behind with outdated concepts.
Having a web design that is up to date with relevant trends will help your brand to stand out from the crowd. Having a trendy and dynamic website may be the final decision maker for a customer to choose you over your competitors.
Customers visit hundreds of websites weekly. This means that businesses need to immediately catch the attention of the users and make them stay on a platform for longer. One of the ways to succeed is to have a visually appealing, interesting and entertaining web design that matches your company’s values..
In this article, we want to discuss the latest UI/UX web design trends that we foresee to be big in 2021.
1. Dark Mode
The dark mode design is a web design trend in both web and mobile design that is here to stay in 2021. Dark mode is an aesthetic style choice that is now on offer for the end user on many different websites. The design is sleeker, sharper, and very modern.
Websites traditionally have always been made with a white background in mind during the design process. The dark mode trend allows you to decide on whether you want a black background or a white one.
Dark mode has many changed from original web design features such as:
- Instead of being black, typography is now a lighter colour
- Backgrounds are now dark/black instead of white
- Previous bright white screens have been replaced with darker screens which are more tolerable to the users eyes
2. Unusual and Futuristic Colour Combinations
The next web design trend for 2021 focuses on colour combinations on web pages. There recently has been an increase in interest towards exciting new color pairings on web designs.
Web design is becoming more bold and daring and colours such as glow-in-the-dark neons and highly saturated colors in combination with darker shades to give the designs a futuristic feel.
Duotone web designs are examples of types of websites that display this web design trend. In 2021, duotone websites will continue to focus on unusual and futuristic designs where bright neon-colours will contrast darker backgrounds to create interesting new web designs.
3. Organic Shapes
Typical web designs used grid layout templates but recently web design has begun to move towards an imperfect aesthetic. Rather than using asymmetrical layout designs, web designers are now opting for organic shapes.
Geometric shapes were a big website design trend in 2019, but in 2021, organic shapes are the newest design trend. Organic shapes are ones that are without harsh straight lines. The shapes are more fluid and rounder, almost like a river or a lake.
Using fluid shapes is a great way to break up sections of a website. The shapes have no lines or angles so the fluid shape makes page elements stand out even more.
4. Voice User Interface (VUI)
Voice User Interfaces are new to design elements but they have already become common in software. Voice queries now account for almost half of all online searches. Apple’s Siri and Amazon Alexa are just two of the biggest names of VUI’s in recent years.
The key advantages of applying VUI’s to web design trends is that they don’t require people to use their hands. Smart speakers offer a hands free experience where you can select your favourite music, control your lights and home security, and much more through voice control. Voice user interface creates an even more engaging experience for the end user.
It’s a natural means of interaction for humans. People associate voice communication with other people rather than with technology, so when voice user interface is applied to web design then humans don’t have to learn any new computer language or terminology – they can just speak in their native tongue.
This not only makes the interface more engaging, but also more accessible.
5. Big & Bold Fonts
Fonts are an important selection for your web design. The purpose of your website is to be read by the end user so your typography needs to be easily read and understood.
Using bold fonts has become a popular web design trend that will continue to grow in 2021. If you take a look at any leading corporation’s current web designs, you will clearly see that heavy bold fonts are currently sought after.
Big and bold fonts provide a more prominent statement with huge text on the top of your webpage. Heavy, bold fonts allow the reader to instantly be aware of the message you are putting out to the world.
Combining these large fonts with neutral colors further emphasizes the headlines. Utilising bold fonts this way quickly transforms the text into looking like an image.
6. Mixing Photography with Graphics
Using original graphics on top of photographs is a web design trend that allows you to let your creativity go wild on your website. This process is completed by
This style allows you to level up your website’s design. You can take an image and make it an exciting and more memorable visual. When following this trend, make sure you match the style of the graphics with your brand’s personality to convey your brand message clearly. This form of graphic design on your website opens a door to new and exciting styles.
The style that is portrayed on your website can be interpreted by the audience in a fun new way. Having geometric clean graphics on your images may showcase a modern and sophisticated look while squiggle lines and organic shapes may be more playful and entertaining. The creative opportunities with this trend are endless.
7. Soft shadows, Layers, and Floating Elements
The purpose of this web design trend is to create depth on your website. When you use soft shadows, layers and floating elements to your web design, it makes it look as if it has 3D visuals.
This form of web design is created from dropping shadows in the background and placing layers of your graphics on top of each other. Doing this makes it look as if your graphics are popping out of your screen.
Having an interactive 3D design encourages the end users to stay longer on your site. This web design feature is not limited to text, as you can create this 3D feel with graphics and photographs. This look is modern and exciting and is visually appealing compared to the traditional flat design templates commonly used.
8. Micro Interactions
Micro Interactions are events which have a single purpose which are found all over your device and within many apps. They are a web design trend that allows companies to involve customers to create engagement. They include small user interactions such as buttons for liking products or sharing to others.
Micro Interactions are growing in popularity and are gaining new design features online. Many designers have begun to adapt the micro interactions with fluid animations to create a dynamic interface for entertainment purposes. They are also placing micro interactions onto pictures, icons and other web design elements.
9. Abstract Data Visualization
Abstract Data Visualization is a web design trend that is growing for websites of product and tech-oriented brands. Normally on websites such as this, data is provided in tables, lists and charts which can now be seen to be an outdated design choice.
Abstract Data Visualization is a new and exciting alternative to these traditional data displays on web designs. They are new creative design visuals which are designed to attract users. Abstract data visualization techniques create the feeling of originality and innovation to product pages. Graphics and product data is given depth and conveys key information that will stand out on your website.
10. Ultra-Fast Load Time & Page Speed
Having a fast load time on your website is one of the most important standards of web design. Quick loading times have been essential for years for SEO and UX and in 2021 the trend will continue to rise.
Research has discovered that many end users expect no more than a two second load time for a website, so if your web page takes longer than that to load then it is likely that they will go somewhere else. This is crucial for online stores that provide products or services as they need their customers to access their page and to stay on there.
Web design trends have pushed for even faster Load times and page speeds while building a web design. Website loading times are a standard metric that web designers should look at to ensure a good user experience.
Final Thoughts
In 2021, design trends will see a rise in bold fonts, 3D elements, futuristic designs, organic shapes, dark mode, abstract data visualization, and voice user interface. To succeed in creating a unique and engaging user interface it is good to choose and combine some of the upcoming trends to your web design.
At Agile Digital Strategy, we firmly believe that the main goals of a web design is to help users achieve their goals. For this reason however, we would not recommend trying to use every single new trend on your website’s design. We typically research all of the current trends and select which trends to follow that are in line with your businesses goals and objectives.
Have we missed any trends that you believe are going to be big in the future? Be sure to let us know!
If you are looking for UI/UX web design experts to implement all your needs and requirements, then Agile Digital Strategy is here to help. Contact Us today and let us create a web design that you will love.
Update 2023
Please see below links to more recent content on Website and SEO Trends for 2022 and 2023.