Website design is an evergreen topic that never stops to amaze both users and developers from all over the globe. After all, with more than 1.7 billion websites currently active on the Internet, it is fair to say that design trends must represent a major topic in the online universe. In this article we share The Most Popular Website Design Trends to Watch in 2022.
With so many competitors in every industry and content creation niche, a website has to be absolutely stunning in order to stand out and win over the target audience. This is why a lot of webmasters look for the latest trends and want to use cutting-edge web design practices only.
In this post, we are going to analyze the most popular website design trends to watch out for in 2022. Let’s take a look at our top 12 picks for 2022!
Table of Contents
1. Responsive Design
We live in the world of electronic devices as the number of users keeps growing at a steady rate. The latest studies reveal that there are over five billion mobile users in the world today, but we should not forget tablet, laptop, and desktop computer owners as well.
In such circumstances, responsive design was, is, and will be a major topic. Regardless of the client or industry, a website you create has to look perfect on all devices, displays, and screen dimensions. Users want a flawless experience, while some of them switch between devices while browsing, so you better make sure to design fully responsive sites.
2. Cross-Browser Compatibility
The second topic on our list is rather technical, but it makes pretty much the same kind of impact as the first one. There are many different devices out there, but there are also many different browsers to take into account:
- Chrome
- Mozilla Firefox
- Internet Explorer
- Opera
- Safari
- Vivaldi
This means that you have to provide users with the same kind of experience on all browsers. There are no excuses here as the website has to look and feel the same everywhere.
3. Minimalism
Minimalism is not exactly a new thing in the web design world, but rather a never-ending topic that keeps emerging every now and then. We all know the saying “less is more” and you should bear it in mind while crafting new sites in the year to come.
What makes minimalism such a popular trend in 2022?
Jake Gardner, a web designer at resume writing services, believes that users are getting bored of advanced design solutions that demand close attention and slow down a website: “Instead, they are looking for a simple web design that looks appealing but by no means burdening.”
4. Whitespace
This topic goes hand in hand with the previous one. Namely, 2022 will see many designers combining minimalism with larger portions of whitespace. The two components supplement each other, thus making a website look fresher and more eye-pleasing.
What can whitespace do in terms of user experience?
Well, it drastically improves the readability of a site. Instead of seeing large portions of heavy imagery, users get to see simple but powerful and refreshing elements combined with solid frames of whitespace. The trick is fairly simple, but it can do miracles experience-wise.
5. Alternative Typography
Fonts such as serif and sans serif have been dominating web design for years. We are not saying things will change drastically, but the fact is that lots of designers will be eager to test alternative solutions in 2022.
The point of experimenting with typography is to come up with a unique style that separates a website from the crowd of more or less similar web presentations. As a matter of fact, it seems like many clients will be eager to create custom typography.
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Of course, it doesn’t mean alternative fonts can jeopardize the principles of readability and usefulness. The basic function of website typography remains the same, but it should add a new element to the overall branding strategy of a client. Infographics help you to know more about business communications.
6. Infinite Scrolling
Here comes a huge web design topic that inspires a lot of controversies already. It will continue doing so in 2022 because infinite scrolling is not widely accepted as a valuable trend in web design. In our opinion, the usefulness of the concept depends on the nature of a given site.
If you are crafting a newsfeed-focused website (like Facebook), then infinite scrolling can turn out to be a good way to drive additional engagement and increase time spent on the page. But if you are designing a standard, infographic-driven website, then you should probably stick to the routine and avoid infinite scrolling.
7. Dark Mode
Another novelty that is threatening to dominate web design in 2022 is dark mode. Ever since YouTube added it as an option to its layout portfolio a couple of years ago, dark mode has become increasingly popular among webmasters and content creators.
Why would you allow users to activate the dark theme?
First of all, a lot of people like it, so why wouldn’t you give them the opportunity to enjoy it? Secondly, darker backgrounds emphasize other webpage components and help you to highlight the most important elements such as CTA buttons.
Moreover, the benefits of the dark theme are that it’s easier to perceive information in low light, to reduce eye strain and to increase smartphone autonomy by optimizing energy consumption.
And last but not least – you have to admit that dark themes look amazing!
8. Image Carousels
Here comes a topic that already caused a discussion or two among web designers, but we are mentioning it as an example of the so-called negative trend. Namely, image carousels used to be a big deal just a few years ago because they were dynamic and colourful.
However, many webmasters quickly realized that image carousels and similar design elements degrade website performance and ruin user experience. Due to the tendency to fast consumption of content, information carousels do not always read “here and now” (a person just keeps it, while not always returning to the post).
This is exactly why we recommend you avoid image sliders and carousels in 2022 and beyond.
9. Hand-Drawn Design
We already discussed how lots of designers want to experiment with alternative typography to make websites better and more attractive. The same logic applies to hand-drawn design because you can take advantage of imperfect or hand-drawn features to make websites more natural and appealing.
More often, hand-drawn sites are commissioned by creative companies, music bands, shop owners offering handmade products and more. However, the use of this style will be inappropriate for the official website of a bank, consulting company or a serious online store.
Visitors will not be able to treat the activities of such a company with due seriousness and responsibility. Thus, the choice of style directly depends on the target audience of the site.
The entire IT universe is known for precision and technical accuracy, but it gives you the chance to do something different and impress the audience with unexpected solutions. If you do it properly, rest assured you will attract more visitors.
10. 3D Elements
The vast majority of clients want their websites to be interactive in order to drive user engagement. If you are thinking about a way to make things more engaging, you should definitely consider using 3D elements.
Of course, 3D design is not a brand new topic, but it’s getting popular because the technology needed for such practices is now widely accessible. Virtual Reality is the next step in evolution, but it will take at least a few years before it outclasses 3D as the main technique of interactive and immersive design.
11. Voice User Interfaces
Did you know that over 50% of all online searches will be voice-based by 2022? Millions of people use voice assistants to perform everyday operations, so you might as well think about adding Voice User Interfaces (VUI) to your web design portfolio.
By definition, VUI is the primary or supplementary visual, auditory, and tactile interfaces that enable voice interaction between people and devices. Although it takes a fair share of practice, effort, and learning for a typical web designer, we believe VUI is the right way to go in 2022 and beyond.
12. Artificial Intelligence
The last trend on our list is well-known, but we do need to give it a place of its own. Namely, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming an inevitable component of website design and it should completely overflow the Internet in the year to come.
You can use it to personalize interfaces, provide better customer service, display relevant products, and many more. The number of options is almost countless, so it’s up to you to identify the right path and use it in your web design projects.
Conclusion
Web design is a beautiful niche that gives you the opportunity to show imagination and express professional creativity. New ideas keep emerging every day, but only the most interesting solutions become global trends.
For further reading check out our other trends for 2022.
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Author Bio
Mary Voss is a freelance writer, content creator of educational, marketing, web design topics and an editor at best cv writing services. She is a permanent co-organizer, moderator and attendant of educational webinars and participator of various creative projects. Her main areas of interest are travelling and teaching people to live an abundant and limitless life.