Web design stands halfway between tech skills and creativity, art. And just like tech and art, it evolves endlessly. Part of your job as a web designer is to keep an eye on what's going on out there and keep up with the new trends. It would help if you never stopped learning: check what other people are doing, how they implement graphics or other elements, check their aesthetics and learn from them. It looks more accessible than it is, isn't it? Being constantly updated would require extra working time that sometimes you can't afford.
So, how can you be aware of the current trends without taking time from your web design work? Well, content like this one can give a great hand! Here we want to summarize all the most important web design trends in 2022. It's like a quick recap of everything that is going on so that you can make sure you're well aware of what your colleagues (and competitors) are doing and take inspiration from it.
2022 web design trends
Evergreens
Some things will be trending in web design forever, and these are the basics.
Simplicity
Caos puts distance between the content and the users. Simplicity attracts the eyes, mind, and attention. Your aim is always to prioritize the user's experience on your website: not only does it needs to look simple, but it also needs to work simply.
Navigation
A website isn't a static entity that's there to be watched. Users need and want to interact with websites; that's why the priority you need is navigation, and user-friendliness will always be trending.
Visual Hierarchy
The arrangement of elements on a web page is highly important. If you create a visual hierarchy, the web page is more readable to the users, which is an evergreen principle. How can you create a visual hierarchy? Use fonts, colors, and sizes to allow the users to spot the most critical information immediately or to spot groups of, for example, categories.
Content
The quality of web design alone isn't enough to determine the success of a website. Content is just as important, and sometimes it has priority over design. To build a successful website for your clients, you need to be aware of this.
Web design trends
We've seen some aspects that will forever remain the same regarding web design. Now it's time to speak about new trends, those that weren't here yesterday, which will be changed and replaced by other trends in the future.
Horizontal scroll
One of the most trending elements in 2022 for web design is the horizontal scroll. The horizontal scroll is particularly suitable if you need to showcase pictures or products on the main webpage. Instead of scrolling down, the user would be scrolling from left to right with the horizontal scroll. While the horizontal scroll is ideal for pictures and product photos (or similar), it is not ideal for menus.
One-Page websites
One-page websites are trending even because they are straightforward to create. However, always consider that the principle of simplicity is evergreen and always trending, so why not?
App-like experience
Users are more and more used to smartphones. This is determining this new trend: websites are more and more similar to mobile apps in how they appear on the screen and how users interact with them. Creating an app-like experience can be scary if you've never done it before, but some tools can help you. AppMaster.io is one of them: it's a no-code software tool that allows you to create web applications or mobile apps without using any code.
Black and white
Focusing on colors, the black and white color scheme is trending in 2022. It can be suitable for a horizontal scroll-oriented website and a classic vertical one.
Minimalism
Minimalism is trending everywhere: on YouTube, the internet, and Instagram. Minimal wearing, minimal furniture, digital minimalism, and so on. Minimalism is trending in the web design sector when it comes to color, elements, aesthetics, and interaction.
Maximalism
This is not as popular as minimalism, but some trending web design styles are far from minimalism. On the contrary, they are complex, full of animation, often with a horizontal scroll orientation, and full of colors.
Linework
Line design is one of the most recent trends. It also works fine with another trend: the horizontal scroll. It falls under the minimalism umbrella and has the great advantage of being light and sticking into the mind of users visiting it.
Split-screen layout
The split-screen layout can only be suitable for websites for companies that provide experiences for two categories of people, two categories of products, or similar. It requires splitting the screen into two areas, usually defined by colors. The most classic example is the clothing e-commerce store, where we have women's fashion on one side and men's fashion on the other.
Gender-neutral
The dialogue about gender is becoming more and more trending all over the world and all over the platforms. Many web designers and many users are becoming more careful in choosing colors for their projects that are considered gender-neutral. Gender-neutral colors are all the colors that aren't pink or blue. If you are working for a company sensitive to this theme, you should opt for providing a neutral experience to its users.
Hand-drawn elements
Elements and icons that look like they've been hand-drawn are very trending in 2022. They provide a feeling of a homemade website. If this is what your client wants (maybe they are a professional craftsman or woman), you can opt for using these elements.
Retro fonts and illustration
Another important web design trend is using retro elements like fonts, colors, and illustrations. The inspiration for websites is vintage typography with big black fonts, monochromatic backgrounds, and vintage illustrations.
3D visual elements
3D elements aren't the simplest thing to implement (mainly because they load your website a lot, and unless you're good at it, you risk making it too slow. But 3D elements are trending in 2022, and they are particularly suitable for some types of websites: design companies, and architectural firms, for example, are making amazing use of 3D elements.
Multimedia experiences
The internet is becoming one big reality. Platforms are well integrated, and you can use different types of content to provide your users with a multimedia experience. A multimedia experience combines content of different nature: video, text, images, interaction, animation, and more. When opting for this type of experience, however, keep it simple anyway.
Interactive experience
Users expect to be capable of interacting with websites more and more. More than browsing through a website, they are expecting an engaging and immersive experience. Static websites without any interactive elements are the ones that work the least.
Augmented reality experience
Speaking of interaction, augmented reality experiences are becoming more and more trending. In particular, this type of website is suitable for all those companies that sell customized products. The web designer, exploiting augmented reality elements, can create a platform where the user can personalize their product before purchasing it or getting a quote based on their preferences. With this type of content, the user feels free to experiment without feeling forced to buy something. They are keener to play with colors and elements. This experience replaces the first meeting with the seller, making your client's job easier and their selling rate increase.
Subdued colors
Just like minimalism is trending in web design and everywhere, calming color schemes, illustrations, and elements are also trending. One of the main web design trends for 2022 is the one that utilizes subdued colors that create a sense of calm and peace. This is particularly suitable for all those websites created for companies that want to communicate a sense of peace: hotels, agricultural businesses, orchestras, theaters, and more.
Web design based on preferences
The user can customize some web design elements as soon as they land on a website: the language, for example, and the color theme. The web designer could provide the possibility of choosing between light and dark mode, or vertical or horizontal scroll of elements, a list or grid view, and so on. This is particularly suitable for all those websites that are real platforms that the user utilizes as if they were a software tool.
If you are creating a web application, you should also keep in mind this web design trend. When you provide different alternatives to the user, the web designer's work becomes longer and harder. But if you use a tool like AppMaster.io, there is no need to implement code, and the needed operations become easier and repeatable. When creating interactive platforms like web applications, a tool like AppMaster can make a difference from your competition.
Mobile-ready
Making your website mobile-ready is more than a web design trend. Today, it can distinguish between a successful website and one that won't generate any traffic. More and more people worldwide have access to smartphones, and smartphones are becoming the way most people browse the internet. The users who have and use a smartphone are a lot more than those who use a computer. This means that when you create a website, there are higher chances that it will be displayed on a small smartphone than on a desktop display.
Your websites need to be mobile-ready. Again, when focusing on creating mobile-ready web applications, software tools like AppMaster.io can make your work as a web designer easier and more efficient.
Scrollytelling
A growing web design trend is storytelling through web experiences. This is where the term scroll telling comes in. It's visual storytelling, a narrative the user can navigate through scrolling. You could opt for vertical scrolling, but - as we've mentioned throughout the article - horizontal scrolling will be more trending these days.
Cartoon illustrations
Cartoon illustrations have gained popularity on many platforms, not just among web designers. If you look at YouTube, more and more video content creators are using cartoon illustrations for their content, whether it is animation or simple icons that appear on the screen. You can use cartoon illustration on a website in the same way: you can create small cartoon illustrated icons, big illustrations that work as pictures for the website, or even animations that bring the user through the understanding of, for example, a product or a service.
Horizontal scrolling cards
Scrolling cards have become very trending. All website-building platforms have at least one template with scrolling cards. This means that this isn't the most original solution, but you could always opt for a horizontal scroll to follow the trend but add a touch of originality to it.
Audio elements
The use of audio content is becoming more popular, but you should pay a lot of attention if you opt to use this element. First, audio elements can load your website, and you never want your website to be too slow. Second, pay attention to what kind of audio track is played when the user lands on the website, especially if it starts automatically. It'll make the user jump and bother them if it's too loud or too fast. Opt for calming and relaxing audio content as long as they are compatible with the type of project you are working on.
No-code
No-code web design doesn't mean you have a total absence of coding. It means you don't need to write code while creating your website. Platforms that allow you to do this are becoming more numerous, but there are some that are more recommended than others. AppMaster is one of them. One of the essential advantages of using it is that you don't have to use code while designing your app or web application, but you can always have access to the code; you can even export it to use it elsewhere.
Visible borders
Sometimes, little details can make a difference. Visible borders are tiny but trending web design elements for 2022.
"Brutalism"
What it's called brutalism is a way of stating a message strongly as soon as the user lands on the homepage. Web designers usually obtain this effect with statements written in big fonts on the homepage with a strong and direct language.
Conclusion
May this content serves every web designer as the best inspiration you can have this year!
