In this article, we are considering the top web design trends that are expected to dominate the online space in 2022. Get ready for the immersive dive into the web design world.
The web design industry constantly changes, reflecting everything that society has recently experienced. This year, we can see the emergence of new web design trends, as well as a flashback from the past. The company’s online presence and web design, in particular, play an even more important role than earlier. Struggling for leadership in the online competition, forward-thinking companies started investing in stunning website design that expresses their brand identity, values, and ideas. They also follow the latest web design trends 2022 attentively to reflect the breathing of the epoch and match the consumer’s reality.
In order to help make your company’s web presence more engaging, we have collected the most amazing and popular website design ideas 2022 in this article from a dedicated web designer. Meet twelve web design trends that will reimagine how people experience the web this year. From retro fonts and horizontal scrolling to AR experiences and a muted color palette, here you can find the most impressive web design ideas and examples. Without further ado, let’s consider them.
Retro Fonts Are Coming Back
Retro likes to come back in the future. The old-school is still cool. By saying “the future,” we mean that many retro trends experience a fresh update and transform into so-called retro-futurism. Typography is not an exception. Today, we witness a massive comeback of retro-fonts. They are one of the modern web design trends. Designers rethink them by adding a futuristic shape, stylization, and a little bit brighter colors. We don’t see moody, cliche old-school fonts anymore. They are replaced by their futuristic siblings.
Website Scrolling Becomes Horizontal
Another one of the latest web design trends is horizontal scrolling. Designers started using this practice not to stand out from the crowd but rather as a more convenient way to reveal the secondary information on the website. Horizontal scrolling looks like the gallery that uncovers its images step by step as you scroll. Since this kind of scrolling is extraordinary and many people might not get used to it yet, designers tend to offer a few alternatives at the same time: horizontal and traditional (vertical) scrolling.
Also, they add special buttons that allow users to navigate through a website faster without having to scroll it. However, many web designers find horizontal scrolling a much more convenient navigation pattern, saying that the average user needs just a little bit of time to get used to it.
Parallax Scrolling Animations
Parallax scroll animations are a part of trendy web design too. They look impressive and help the brand be different. However, designers should also keep in mind that some people with vestibular disorders can feel this practice distracting if it’s overused on a website. When leveraging parallax animations in site design, be sure they don’t distract the user’s attention from the key information and don’t make the user’s goal of visiting a site more challenging. We recommend using the minimum number of parallax effects on a website. Let’s it better be something simple and minimalist, yet powerful and not distracting at the same time. A nice example of parallax scrolling is a landing page concept with zoom-in transition by Minh Pham ✪.
Neomorphism Gains Momentum
Have you ever heard about neomorphism? It has come to us right after skeuomorphism, a visual style that uses renderings of well-known and even somewhat obsolete objects and textures in the modern digital design. This year, we expect that this trend will come back and blossom in all its beauty once again. It’s particularly frequently used in the app icon design.
Although the flat design has been actively competing with neomorphism, this trend still is relevant today. The flat design attempts to simplify shapes and colors, making everything look more unified and easy to perceive. Both app developers and users enjoy this style, as it adds some freshness and uniqueness to user interface design.
Abstract Art Adds More Style
Do you look to create something extraordinary for your website? Very likely, abstract art composition is what you have been searching for. Abstract shapes, especially primitive geometric forms, quickly gain momentum as one of the web designer’s beloved practices. It often includes human portraits and photos. Although abstract art incorporated in web design perfectly expresses feelings and emotions itself, combining it with human faces amplifies the effect even more. In recent times, abstract compositions have been leveraged on sites to convey the idea of freedom, creativity, playfulness, and innovation.
The Diversity of Scrolling Transformations
Scrolling transformations are one of the best web design trends 2022. When users scroll a website, they not only watch it, they interact with it and all elements there. Scrolling transformations make the website user journey and interaction even more engaging since they can make an action and see the almost instant response to it. It is the next level of online interaction with a brand and its website.
It doesn’t look like a website scrolling anymore. It looks rather like storytelling, and the user is the co-creator of this story. In 2022, we may meet different scrolling transformations, including the change of color and images to the emergence of futuristic layouts with hover effects.
Digital Interpretations of Physical Products
Digital interpretations of real-life objects have started appearing on modern websites as parts of UI elements. They might look like a product in the digital environment but displayed with real-life drops of water around or shades. Some examples of digital interpretations of physical products may even look like hyper-realistic artworks.
This visual effect adds depth to the web design and catches the user’s eye and attention. They perform a double function: the first aspect of this visual effect is that they appealingly showcase the product. Another one is that they incorporate it into the general web design and make it a part of a brand story told on a website.
3D Illustrations and Hyperrealism
Three-dimensional images, illustrations, and effects are everywhere in 2022. Objects designed in a 3D environment have become one of the coolest trends in website design 2022. The modern 3D design doesn’t look like old-school Geocities anymore. It has become more realistic, artistic, and beautiful. Web designers harmoniously incorporate 3D visuals into the site design, adding more style and emotion to the user experience. New websites design trends acquire the so-called visual “depth,” and 3D illustrations are a great example.
While 3D illustrations are a great option that doesn’t require any special rules to be applied to stay comfortable and relevant for the user, 3D animation is an entirely different story. It demands the designer to beware not to distract the user from the main goal. 3D animations add life and movement to the static web design. Today, more and more brands start developing branded 3D animations to express their brand identity and amplify their uniqueness. Sometimes, designers create 3D animated heroes for the company’s website, and if they perform well, they become the brand’s mascots.
Impressive Multimedia Experiences
Along with the increased speed of the Internet connection, innovations like 5G, and greater overall accessibility of the World Wide Web for users in different regions of the world, we also see the emergence of more complicated websites and online experiences. In these conditions, multimedia experiences appear in modern website design more frequently. Mostly, it looks like a video in the background. However, it may look like the animated artwork showcased below.
When designing a multimedia experience for a website, it’s essential to keep in mind that the combination of the audio and visual elements should be simple until it’s not the central element that intentionally grabs the entire user’s attention like it’s in the example below. In other cases, too much motion might cause the user cognitive overload, especially for people with cognitive disorders. We also recommend utilizing different types of formats carefully to maximize content accessibility for all people.
For the same purpose, you can also use closed transcripts and captioning for the pre-recorded video. It’s advisable not to use autoplay videos, as they may appear distracting for some users. It’s better to add a well visible play button and allow the user to choose, play the video or not. An excellent example of a multimedia experience is “Think with Google – Data Bias” by Seth Eckert for The Furrow.
The Incorporation of Augmented Reality
With the advent of augmented reality (AR), the online customer experience has become even more exciting and immersive. This technology allows adding and watching virtual objects into real environments. It will enable customers to understand better how the product will look in their homes, for instance. While this feature has been chiefly implemented in mobile applications (the most famous examples are IKEA and H&M apps), we can also see it in the website design today.
Although it’s quite a new web design trend and only a few companies adopted it, we already can predict that this practice will gain momentum soon. Are you wondering why? It takes the online customer experience to the next level. It shapes next-gen shopping. One of our most favorite examples of the incorporation of augmented reality into web design is Jeep. This automotive brand used AR on its “Build & Price a Jeep” page. Another great example is 360° Real Estate Website by Andrea Eppy.
Muted Color Palette
What are muted colors? These are colors with low saturation. They are usually subdued, muted, dulled, or grayed. You can see them in cloudy weather. A muted color palette was trendy last year, and it continues to stay popular this year too. It makes designs look more natural and authentic. It adds the feeling of warmth and coziness to web design.
Of course, saturated colors still have their place in modern website design. However, they might look too bright and distracting sometimes. In most cases, if you use two bright colors, it won’t look great. That’s why many designers combine one bright color and one muted color or mix different subdued colors to achieve a more elegant look.
Extraordinary Cursor Actions
Custom cursors have already become a part of web design. Just imagine that this insignificant detail can become a tiny masterpiece incorporated into the website. Bold, circular, multicolor – there are so many different types of animated cursors and how you can make them stand out. They are one of the current web design trends. Animated cursors make the interaction with a website more exciting and memorable. They add to the overall positive impression from a website and the brand in general. A perfect example is Banksy’s site gallery by Victor Nikitin for Fireart Studio.
Conclusion
Are you thinking about creating a website in 2022? These web design trends 2022 examples can bring some inspiration for you. In this article, we have considered the twelve most impressive 2022 trends in web design. Retro fonts, horizontal scrolling, parallax animations, neomorphism, abstract art, scrolling transformations, digital interpretations of physical objects, 3D illustrations, and more – all these trends are expected to prevail in the digital space in 2022. We hope that this overview of web design trends will help you craft a truly outstanding web experience.
Do you have more questions about web design trends or just want to create website design together with Fireart? Reach out to us at [email protected] and let’s have a coffee talk to discuss everything!
