Though it is impossible to predict the future, successful website design demands keeping up with the latest web design trends. As 2011 came to a close the expert creative staff here at Active Web Group took some time to reflect on the artistic ideas that came to life over the past year. New technologies and changes to the way people are viewing websites opens the door for new opportunities in 2012.
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Responsive Web Design
Some leading designers have called this more than a current trend, and have even claimed that this is the new standard. For those unfamiliar with responsive website design the idea is to create a website within a flexible grid, primarily so that alternate (mobile) versions and apps are not necessary. The site reorients itself to fit your browser automatically. Smartphones are on track to outnumber personal computers before the end of 2012. Tablet PCs also continue to increase in popularity. If website designers don’t adapt they may find themselves being phased out.
If you looked at the site and didn’t get it, click on one of our images to open a new browser window. Resize that browser window, or rotate your phone to see the difference. We have yet to see a full eCommerce site using real responsive design, but we can almost guarantee that it is on the way. Using fluid grids, flexible images, and media queries to deliver a great experience to any user on any size display will surely become a trend this year. The cost-saving, time-saving, not having to create an app that works on various phones/tablets, and consistency associated with having one single site makes responsive web design extremely attractive.
HTML5 eCommerce Sites
The only way to truly change something is to build something that makes the old thing obsolete. In our opinion HTML5 and CSS3 did exactly that to older versions of HTML over the past year. Printed marketing materials went through a renaissance of sorts when digital four-color printing became much more common and affordable. Printed pieces using old offset printing techniques were left looking extremely bland in comparison. Websites designed using HTML5 and CSS3 are beginning to make their competitors using older versions of HTML look much the same.
As a consequence of this, with far too many competitors vying for the attention of the same people, website designers are getting quite creative. Since you don’t already own a domain named Amazon.com you’ll need to stand out in other ways. Luckily we are at the beginning of this new renaissance, and it’s not too late to start on a new look for your website. Contact Active Web Group to incorporate any of these new and latest design trends into your custom designed Website.
Generally speaking eCommerce sites are the slowest to adapt. This is primarily because of the volume of content on them, the costs involved, and the potential for huge losses should the site be broken or inaccessible along the way. But HTML5, CSS3 and responsive web design all really create the perfect blend of beauty and functionality for eCommerce sites. We believe that in the coming year you will see more eCommerce sites putting them to good use with spectacular results. Take a look at Women’s Timberland. It uses beautiful interactive HTML5 to move you to the eCommerce part of the site almost seamlessly.
Animation
Though we aren’t there yet, we believe that animation will start to take over the Internet in 2012. Static html will probably never disappear, but sites lacking animation will eventually start to look pretty bland in comparison. True HTML5 animation is here, and now is the time to start thinking about how to incorporate it into your site. Click an image to see some great examples.
For a FREE WEBSITE DESIGN CONSULTATION, Contact Active Web Group TODAY!
HTML5 and CSS3 Tricks
We came across so many sites that show off the incredible interactivity you can create with HTML5 and CSS3 that we wanted to show you them all. We did narrow it down to our top six favorites though. These sites speak for themselves and illustrate the awe inspiring capabilities of these new markup languages. Please click on the images to see!
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Big Image Backgrounds
HTML5 allows unlimited layering, and CSS3 makes using big background images as easy as it gets. Unlike older versions of HTML, there’s no need to turn your SEO friendly links into flattened and sliced images to create the illusion of a single large background image. This allows websites to display huge images as backgrounds instead, and those images do not interfere with the functionality of the site. 2012 will likely see web designers taking advantage of that and using more big background images to liven up their sites.
The creative experts here at Active Web Group believe that these website design trends will be the primary focus of web design projects in 2012. For more information contact Active Web Group today for a free consultation or let us redesign your current Website with a custom-designed Website to bolster your online presence.
