With the new exciting prospects of css3 and html5, the web is moving faster than we can keep up, but its is important that we do?
Websites have recently taken a slice of homemade pie, embracing old techniques, textures and influences from print processes to create truly unique examples, all while using modern examples of css and html.
We will look at a few examples of what to spot in 2010 and hopefully influence you for 2011.
Textures
Paper textures are very popular and enables a website to have depth and a warm inviting feeling. Websites using this technique have the fun effect, which is why it is more commonly used on ecommerce and info websites.
The easiest way to introduce texture is with actual resources, handmade and not digitally created. This way you really get an authentic feel of rustic charm!
Letterpress has come back in a big way thanks to css3 techniques that allow the nicer browsers to render text with drop shadows, done correctly and you can really get the wow effect. Together with hand drawn elements it’s a winning combination!
Retro & Vintage
Retro is the new contemporary, it’s a fact, and there are many websites popping up that can carry a good ole fashioned design and cheek to match. The style and class it brings with it lends well to kitchy subjects or product showcases.
Think beautiful typography, retro patterns and muted colours for a perfect retro or vintage look.
Bright and Loud
Nothing says fun and exciting more than a colour way that ticks all the boxes. It’s like sucking a sour sweet and hitting the centre; it’s a nice surprise.
With bright comes loud, and they sit so well together. Break out promotions; stickers and explosions of colour sit nicely with blocks of flat colour or a balancing background all to give focus to the areas that really matter.
Will you be bold enough to try this trend?
Wonderful Grids
Grids are back, and in a big way! (to be fair, we should have been using them all along..) More and more we are seeing websites that fall into beautiful thirds or adhere to grids so military, a pixel out and the whole illusion can be ruined (well in IE anyways). Grids are being used more so in design orientated websites, such as agencies, ecommerce and brochure websites.
We love that designers are thinking about space and using grids more strictly. We even think its kind of you to use consistent spacing giving developers a nice time during the build process. But remember, curve balls are always nice, even in the strictest of grids. (Sorry developers)
Interactive Elements
Flash hasn’t quite disappeared yet, and we shouldn’t discount it before seeing the clever additions it can give to websites in 2010. Yes, we can now create interactive websites that use JavaScript or clever css techniques that in term can be search friendly and accessible, but we haven’t quite mastered the same effect flash can have on a users interactivity – and that warm feeling inside.
Nifty rollovers, impact promotions, the ideas are truly endless, and as technology grows, so do our ideas and what we can do with flash. We have no idea how flash will appear in the future of modern web design, but lets love it while its here.
Mobile Versions & Apps
Apps, apps, apps. Lets face it, the iphone has made a huge impact over the past few years and apps have blown up in a big way. You can get an app for almost everything, and we mean everything. But, in another way, companies have jumped on the idea that people are using iphones more than their computers, so having a mobile version of their website makes complete sense.
Need to check your twitter, or your facebook? You could use the app if you have an iphone, but if you are using another device, websites like twitter and facebook have mobile versions which cuts down on screen size, load time and sometimes features, which means browsing becomes fast and easy! Who doesn’t love fast and easy??
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