2014 Web Design Trends

It may be a bit late, but I did a little bit of research on the web design trends of 2014.  It is important to stay on top of these trends – not only to develop a cool site for you or your company, but to provide a simple interface for your users that follows conventions they understand.

Here are the articles I read ( in no particular order, just the first ones to show up in a Google search) :

• http://thenextweb.com/dd/2013/12/29/10-web-design-trends-can-expect-see-2014
• https://econsultancy.com/blog/64096-18-pivotal-web-design-trends-for-2014
• http://www.webascender.com/Blog/ID/449/14-Website-Trends-for-2014#.U-pgoUhOTnA
• http://99designs.com/designer-blog/2014/01/22/top-10-web-design-trends-for-2014/
• http://teslathemes.com/blog/top-10-web-design-trends-to-watch-in-2014/

Based on what I read, there are 11 basic themes across all the articles:

1. Flat Design, simple or monochromatic color schemes (black and white plus one color)
2. Typography – large type, expressive fonts
3. Hero Areas vs Sliders, big images, image backgrounds, video backgrounds
4. Mobile First, responsive design, simplified design, CSS instead of images
5. Scrolling sites, parallax scrolling
6. Less text, richer content, more graphs, videos, interaction, infographics
7. Short, burst content (a la twitter)
8. Micro UX – heightened attention to tiny details
9. Cards, Tiles
10. Minimalist navigation, fixed navigation, drop the sidebar
11. Social media integration, 3rd party services, SAAS, open source

I have practiced most of these trends myself in the last 2 years – flat design, image backgrounds, mobile first and responsive deign, more graphs, micro UX, minimalist navigation.  The others I have seen in my travels through the internet.   It is good to know that even through all the years, I still haven’t lost it.