Website Design Trends for 2019

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Prioritizing mobile, bold visuals, asymmetrical design, and immersive video will continue evolving web design in 2019. Here’s a list of design elements and terms to focus on from our in-house website developer Amanda McElvain.

  • Custom Illustration – Illustration allows you, as a business, to be even more branded in your overall look and presentation. Custom illustration also allows you to tell your story and express your message without being restricted by the limits of photography.


Sources: Epicurrence | Slack | MailChimp | Asana

  • Striking Photography – Think outside the box when it comes to photography. Everyone has a photo of people working in an office. You’ll catch more attention if you do something unexpected and less staged.


Sources: Outcast Watches | Unsplash Stock Photo by Josh Calabrese | Unsplash Photo by Rawpixel | Google Wallet

  • Video Headers and Backgrounds – Movement is big this year. Video headers used to weigh sites down but now with new ways to host background videos, you won’t compromise site speed by adding video on your site. It’s also a great way to get across a message in a short amount of time. Don’t limit yourself to traditional video. Think about using illustrations and motion graphics.


Sources: Niagra Falls USA | EIJ | National Puerto Rican Day Parade

  • Asymmetrical Layouts and Broken Grid – Broken Grid design means creating elements on your site that look like they’re coming out of the expected frame they should be in. Again, it’s about making a statement with layout to catch attention. Asymmetry is also a bold way to go with your site design. It can give your site an edgy, innovative feel when you use unexpected shapes and irregular spacing.
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Kitchens of Uber Eats


Sources: Kitchens of Uber Eats | Stripe

  • Mobile-First – You can read more about this trend in our previous blog about 2019 Website Methodologies.
  • Animation – I’m talking about micro-animation. These little unexpected moments that occur on a site can make the experience delightful and memorable. Examples of micro animations can be a button that spins, maybe a button animates to show what’s possible if you click it, a menu or header that changes as you interact with it.
Toggl


Sources: Toggl (switch between “Monthly” and “Annual”) | Le Café Noir (add something to the Shopping cart!)

  • Cinemagraphs – these new photos have a single repeating movement in an otherwise static photo. If you’re currently using gifs on your site to add whim and personality, consider exploring cinemagraphs. They’re also becoming widely used in social media.
  • Design for All – Accessibility and privacy protection are not a trend, but the next chapter for website design. Ensuring your site meets the standards of GDPR, ADA, COPPA and other privacy and protection laws as they become law in the different states in which you do business is smart and the right thing to do.

Modern Web Integrations for 2019

  • AMP – WordPress’s native page and post editor recently updated to Gutenberg – an easier, flexible design interface comprised of blocks and drag and drop functionality. With that, developers are working to expand options for AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), a platform that you can include in your site development which will create a faster, stripped-down mobile experience for users. With Gutenberg’s enhanced design capabilities, adding AMP Stories (similar to Instagram and Snapchat stories) can help developers create a full-screen, immersive, tappable, and visual experience that works on mobile.
  • WordPress REST API – The world continues to invest in and evolve WordPress. WordPress REST API is an example of this. Since its release in WordPress 4.7, REST API allows WordPress to connect with thousands of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) making it easier to have applications speak directly to WordPress and vice versa. This results in creating an application-like experience for your users on your website. A great example and use case for this is the WAMU.org site, which utilizes the WordPress REST API to display a continuously streaming audio player allowing the user to navigate the site without ever having to refresh the player.–
    Sources: Wamu.org
  • PWAs – Progressive Web Apps, or PWAs, are software that uses the most current technology available. As per Google, PWAs must be reliable and network independent, fast, and engaging. PWAs are not to be confused with responsive web design, as they are advantageously feature-rich, giving your users an application-like experience. Currently, a PWA trend is building apps using WordPress as the foundation. An application can be built with such JavaScript frameworks, like Angular JS or React, on top of the WordPress REST API, allowing a site to use the WordPress CMS as the back-end and the front-end to become something completely different.