Web Design Trends to Inspire Your Next Squarespace Website
Playful characters & illustrations
For years now, websites have been all about clean fonts, sleek graphics, and minimalism has been the overall trend. While there are positives here, the pendulum certainly swung to one side, to the point that most everything looked the same.
I think we will continue to see more companies differentiating themselves with playful design elements and a rebellion to organic shapes and graphics.
3D Elements
In recent years, 3D characters have gained significant popularity in web design. These characters add an extra layer of depth and personality to websites and can help businesses stand out in a crowded online space. Additionally, advancements in technology have made it easier for web designers to create and integrate 3D characters into their projects. These characters can be customized to fit a brand's aesthetic and are versatile enough to be used in various settings, including animations, illustrations, and product showcases. As a result, the popularity of 3D characters in web design is likely to continue to grow as businesses seek to create memorable and engaging online experiences.
Unconventional icons
Everything has started to look the same and icons are no different. I think we will see people pushing the envelope with icons. Not only will we see some hand drawn and quirky elements, we will see people putting their creative powers to the test. Copywriters will have a lot of fun adding context to provide clarity while allowing for some fun along the way.
Film Photography & unique artistic style
The iPhone turned everyone into a photographer. In the future I think we will see a resurgence to film photography or at-least the feel of it. Here I don't mean putting filters on everything, but more so, seeing the unique world view of the photographer through their pictures. Being able to see a photo and recognize it is someone's work.
As we ponder fast-fashion and consumerism, I think we will see big brands adopt photography with a unique perspective and a desire to demonstrate that their products are here to outlast a single season.
That isn’t to say it will all be about nostalgia. I think we will see a lot of mixed vibes happening. For example, expect to see modern fonts and graphics, paired with film photography.
I think the best illustration i’ve seen of this so far is from Nike with the Nike blazer campaign. The photography brings a unique perspective with a film feel and captures the longevity of the blazer shoe.
A move toward hand drawn fonts & accompanying elements
The last few years have been big for serifs. I love a serif font, and I don't think they will be going anywhere any time soon, but I do think people will start to mix it up a bit.
I anticipate we will see a move towards hand-drawn fonts paired with sans-serifs. Don't expect to see a website made up of only hand-drawn elements. Expect to see hand-drawn fonts paired with sleek product shots and 3D elements.
Bold Typography
We will continue to see people having fun with bold typography. I don’t think this is a complete rebellion against fonts that dominated 2020, but rather a way to build on that momentum. I think people have seen how popular that aesthetic has been and will want to continue to push it.
Muted colours borrowed from film
I think we are going to see a lot of somewhat muted colours that look like they come from film photography paired with heavily saturated fonts and brightly coloured 3D elements.
But, big bold colour isn’t going anywhere
While I think we we will see some more muted tones coming from film photography, I don’t think big bold colour is going anywhere. I expect we will see big bold fun colours such as pink, sea foam green, orange, red and yellow.
I expect we will see a lot of elements borrowed from film photography along with modern and vibrant 3D elements.
