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12 Web Designs that Will Go Beyond Just 2016

A good web designer involves a lot more than just mastering technical skills. Being updated with the latest web design tips and tricks is crucial for the success of your projects as well as personal survival. Keeping your finger on the pulse provides you with a range of options emerging in the market. The latest design trends and styles are always there to explore. It can help deliver more punch in your projects and exceed client satisfaction.

12 Web Designs that Will Go Beyond Just 2016

Being a leading web design company, we have a solid arsenal of web design tools, tips, and trade practices. Keeping abreast with newer web design trends has its own sweet advantages. It can not only help you increase your workflow but also help you ramp up your career.

So, here are some awesome tips that will not only help you in the remaining 2016 but expected to carry on into 2017 as well.

  1. Use Style Guides

    These are becoming increasingly vogue in the publishing arena. These are used to maintain uniformity throughout the content. From numbering format to labeling, this can apply to a number of factors. Similarly, web designers can employ their very own style to achieve uniformity in designs.

    A well written style guide can help you achieve coherence with disparate team members on the team especially freelancers. We love Frontify for its simplicity and getting things done.

  2. Phase Out Sidebars

    Sidebars lead to a lot of clutter. In the beginning, these were meant to display additional navigational elements as a quick view. These also served a good purpose for popular content and recent posts. Over time, these become the space to display marketing junk, promotional content and option forms. There was nothing added to the user experience.

    Consider phasing out the sidebars from your designs. Focus on the content and allow readers to discover the good content.

  3. Start Offscreen

    Instead of starting to code right away, try picking up a pencil first. Use a whiteboard to make design frameworks and offscreen design layout. Use this approach to check for specific elements that need a more personalized touch. There are many free wireframing tools out there that help you create prototypes rapidly. Avoid jumping straight into the development stream and make use of free tools like Moqups and JustInMind.

  4. Use larger font sizes

    Use of large typography is an old trend but fast making a comeback. This aspect of the design is well respected in the design world. Larger fonts have the power to grab the reader’s attention and bring focus to certain parts in the content.

    Moreover, mobile devices can have restricted readability. Large font can help a great deal in achieving a good reading experience. Large fonts combined with flat and minimalist designs is making a comeback. Just ensure that you have a good looking typeface that is well scaled to read. Explore the fonts gallery here and here.

  5. Create More Space

    Visitors are distracted by too much clutter on the page. An overly complicated website can desist the reader from continuing to browse the web page. Instead of including plenty of elements, you should look to increase the visibility of individual design elements on the page. Better known as ‘negative space’ or ‘white space’, this should be limited. The space between and around the elements helps a user see more important elements throughout the website.

  6. Responsive Design is no more optional

    If accessing websites is important, then you just can’t ignore mobile devices anymore. Having a mobile-friendly website is as important as water is to fish. Commit yourself entirely to responsive design. And responsive web design isn’t the new kid on the block. Over the years, this technology has matured considerably. You have got to look at the latest fluidic layouts. Hamburger menus, mobile-optimized images and much more is out there to explore.

  7. Material Design

    Ever since Google has increased its Material Design’ language use, it has only caught up more with the designers. They have followed suit and ensured it is implemented all over the web. Just like the flat design trend, this also is a good way to update your designs. It can help you add depth and style to normal elements. Material design UI kit is the ideal way to get started in this realm.

  8. Add More Tools to Your Arsenal

    Whether it is industry-favorite like Adobe CC or Pixate, it is always worth exploring more and more. There are more tools like FlexBox Visual CSS FlexBox Builder, Gravit, Data Visualization catalogue , Framer for visual coding. Go on and improve your work efficiency, work-flow and work enjoyment levels.

  9. Simplify Navigation

    Having a busy menu with lots of pages, blog posts, sidebar, and slide-downs can have a negative effect on the visitor. Creating way too many options for the visitors only increases their dilemma for taking a decision. They may decide to just close your website.

    Placing lesser items in the navigation menu and doing away with sidebars is an ideal way to reduce clutter. This often leads to better user experience and even better conversion rate optimization.

  10. Increase image Value

    Having high-quality images relevant to your content is the best way for awesome web design. Rather than using the free images, try to explore more personalized images (of course with permission) that helps your content stand out. Or you can even invest in premium stock image service.

    If you are good at photography, you can also use your images from scratch. This can also add to your monthly income. Having beautiful imagery on your website is the ideal way to achieve your goals and create unique content that always stands out.

    All these tips will help you score more every day with your clients. You will not only one-up the level of work you provide but will also change the game for your competitors. Just implement these changes and see how it turns out.

Our web designers in Toronto constantly update their skill set to ensure they meet the growing challenges of the industry as well as client’s demands. Check out our blog for the latest tips.