Staying on top of what’s new in the field of web design and UI, what’s useful or otherwise, and what’s going down is critical for any Website design company to be perceived as effective. As of January this year, there were more than 1.94 billion websites in existence. Currently, there are more than 4 million available mobile apps for download on both iOS and Android. Billions of people are using the internet all over the world. 

Who is responsible for designing interactive and visual elements for all apps and websites? Who makes certain that they do not just look good but inclusive, accessible, and intuitive as well? Your guess is as good as mine: UI designers! Designers, such as a website development company, in particular, make the web, and pretty much all sorts of technology user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing for everybody. 

As web and UI designing continues to evolve, trends come and go. These trends are important for a web and UI design to meet the ever-changing requirements in the modern world. A web design company should keep up with the trends to stay on the competitive edge. 

The Top Web Design and UI Trends

We’ve started to see several design elements that would be hot this year, and perhaps beyond. The majority of the trending web design themes are continuations of things that have been building in design projects— rule-breaking topography, a lot of minimalism, and more gradients. Nonetheless, there are emerging trends too, including designs with a ‘dark modes’ feature, more audio elements interfaces, and a great push towards 3D images and elements. 

Here’s a look at the ten UI and web design trends for this year. 

1. Dark Mode Design

With a lot of users at present going for ‘dark mode’ on applications, as well as for things like email, it’s not surprising that more websites are also building designs with a dark art. What makes dark mode nice, and probably why they are in demand is that dark interfaces are set off with bright accents and easy to read typography to ensure readability. Animation with bold lettering, nearly-neon accent colors, white block letters, and elegant gold colors calls to action are the hot trends. 

2. Minimalism

The great thing about this trend is that although it remains strong, it evolves continuously. This year, minimalism is manifested by huge strips of white space and not all the time where one expects. 

Simple design not just makes for easier navigation, they put people at ease as well, which ultimately keeps them active on an app, website,  or other digital platforms and are likely to become repeat visitors. 

3. Aesthetic Illustrations

Especially elements that have hints of animation and line-style drawing continue to be popular. This web and UI design trend is gaining traction since it feels and looks beautiful, a little whimsical, and unforced. There is a wide selection of artistic elements that are creative, a bit spunky and imaginative. 

Every illustration is made to appear like it was sketched on the screen. Consider telling a story with animation with line-style and  simple illustrations. Illustrations are equally whimsical and the simplistic design helps to focus on the story at hand. 

4. Breaking Rules in Typography

2020 is the year when web designers attempt to break all traditional typography rules. The key to this trend to work is that even when breaking the rules, such as odd sizing, spacing, or even line spacing, a user still has to understand what you’re trying to say. 

The trend definitely proved stable and one that we would keep on seeing for some time. Maxi typography as a matter of act would be so maximized that designers would split words into several lines. 

5. Liquid Animation

There is some sort of animation on almost all websites you land on. The trend now is a liquid-style animation that has movement, which looks like water. Liquid animation could work for whole scenes as a method of transitioning video elements, as general animation that helps attract users and as a hover state to lure clicks. 

The trick for this to work is the movement speed. It should be fluid, timed perfectly, and smooth for the most realistic feel. The great thing about this design is that you could use it in a lot of ways to build an interface that works with the content. 

6. Mixing Realism and Illustration

This 2020 web design trend is a combination of art with cool photos and illustrations. It mixes illustrations with real images as well as art elements in interesting ways. It’s unique, quirky and so beautiful!

At first, it seems like a mash up of visual elements that don’t look like they go together, but when done well could create a stunning aesthetic that’s highly delightful and engaging. 

7. Audio User Experiences

Expect to see more on this trend in the coming years. Nonetheless, one part of the trend already is among us, and that’s web and UI designing with sound. There’s no denying that audio UX’s are the trend. Immersive websites, such as in-world web experiences, games and world-building models could be enhanced greatly by musical scores and sound effects. 

Apps and websites with dynamic visuals or 3D, animations depend on robust sound design. Even the simplest websites could greatly benefit from meaningful signals and user feedback via audio. The quality of the user journey in designs is boosted with sounds. Best use for audio UX is for web designs that have language barrier as music could be the great unifier in web-based storytelling.

8. 3D Everything

Creating a greater realism sense for web design is possible by adding depth. The extension of this idea is an image that’s three-dimensional. It’s a trend that we began seeing at the end of last year and should expect to see more this year. The best 3D designs provide users something that they don’t quite expect. 

9. Color-Changing Gradients Trend

Designers have ducked away from gradients during a brief time that flat design was at its peak. However, they are back with a roar and would even be bigger this year. From multi-color bold background gradients to subtle texture gradients, the trend is just about anywhere. 

Gradients are what we see now. A combination of different colors with a little contrast, instead of the subtler monotone ones. With this style, an object stands out among the rest by adding a new realism and dimension. Gradients, in simple terms add depth. 

10. Overlapping Elements and Layers

The web design and UI trends now are layers, layers, and more layers. Overlapping elements and layers do not quite make a 3D effect, they add a sense of dimension and depth to projects. Often, the trend includes several elements that overlap.

The great thing is that it works well with almost any design. Backgrounds and boxes could be overlapped. Video, text, images of UI icons, and elements could be overlapped as well. The thorny part may be making sure that the overlapping appearance flows through the design’s scroll. Consider a design with rounded elements overlapping something else to create depth of field. This is a beautiful way of organizing several content types and elements in a unified way.

Conclusion

The modern web and UI design trends work with each other, thus you could opt to mix and match them to create something sophisticated and trendy. So long as the web and UI design trends contribute to the usability and not take anything away from it, feel free to combine and play with the hot trends to make the most of your web design and UI projects. 

Want to learn more?

Are you interested in the intersection between UX and UI Design? The online courses on UI Design Patterns for Succesful Software and Design Thinking: The Beginner’s Guide can teach you skills you need. If you take a course, you will earn an industry-recognized course certificate to advance your career. On the other hand, if you want to brush up on the basics of UX and Usability, try the online course on User Experience (or another design topic). Good luck on your learning journey!