01. Hierarchy of content
A more descriptive name for this trend could be called “show me what I care about about when I care about it”. It represents the end of the obsessive focus on “related articles” and the unnecessary “you might be interested in this…” clutter around the content that you actually care about at that moment. That doesn’t mean that curated content is a bad thing in itself of course; it still has room in your layout as long as it doesn’t get in front of what you are reading. Here are three great examples of this trend.
We’ve come a long way in web design when it comes to news sites. Remember the small screen resolutions, the requests to fit as many call to actions as you could above the fold, and don’t forget about the 300×250. The layout of Quartz, “a digitally native news outlet for the new global economy”, is a million miles away from all of that. It succeeds in providing a large amount of information without the site ever seeming cluttered or overwhelming.
02. Full screen imagery
More and more websites are taking advantage of the increasing popularity of widescreen monitors to show gorgeous imagery to full effect.
03. Focus on touchscreens
More and more sites, in terms of layout and interactivity, feels like they were made solely for touchscreen devices. As tablets become cheaper and adoption becomes more widespread, this trend can only intensify.
04. Back to the grid
Using the grid as a layout structure goes back to the beginning of the web, but the rise of responsive web design has seen a new emphasis on the use of grids.
05. Minimal content
The trend to show minimal content on a page is not about the aesthetic value of minimalism (although that may play a part). It’s more about an approach that’s focused around the user and enables them to take things one step at a time.
06. Parallax scrolling craziness
The parallax scrolling trend has been around for a while now. As a designer I started loving it and eventually I was fed up with all the misuse of it. However there’ve been a few examples where this effect has been successfully used, really adding some value to the content featured on it.
07. Parallax animation
Parallax animation is a subset of parallax scrolling, although where one begins and another ends can be argued over endlessly… However you define it, though, parallax animation has obvious usefulness for movie sites.
08. Fullscreen marquees
A good picture can speak a thousand words, and so full screen marquees have come as a breath of fresh air on many news and blog sites.
09. Focus on storytelling
If you want to convey a brand message, one of the best ways is to tell a story, and web designers are coming up with more and more ways to create inventive and engaging narratives. Here are two great examples of the trend.
10. Editorial influence
Web design and editorial design are constantly looking at each other and getting closer in terms of aesthetics and layout.
