The end of the year approaching fast and this year (2015) has been a one in which the main focus of the website designers has been on responsive design. This is quite understandable since there has been a steady increase in the number of mobile Internet users in the past 5 years. In fact the number of mobile Internet users have exceeded those from any other platform this year (2015). This is a very important statistic for every business and web development firm. Here are a few statistics that make it all very clear:

• In 2007 the number of mobile Internet users were 400 Million.

• In 2007 the number of desktop Internet users were 1100 Million.

• In 2010 the number of mobile Internet users were 900 Million.

• In 2010 the number of desktop Internet users were 1300 Million.

• In 2013 the number of mobile Internet users were 1300 Million while the desktop Internet users count was at 1600 Million.

• The counts are very different today however. According to these statistics taken in early 2015, the number of mobile Internet users has risen to 1900 Million while the number of desktop Internet users stands at 1700 Million.

However there is an even bigger trend in progress that is likely to gain speed as we go into 2016 and likely to be one of the main reasons for a change of design trends in Website Design. There are more organization and firms that are opting for a mobile App over a mobile website. This is also likely to affect the website design in a big way since the website will no longer need to be responsive. Hence if the website are not responsive there are fewer and almost no restrictions on the features that can be added and how the website design will evolve.

Here is the list of trends expected to make their presence felt by 2016.

Flat Design – Modified

The flat design has been around for a while and although it looked like it would take off on several occasion it didn’t really gather speed. But now there is a flat design with less features, like a no frills flat design. This is the flat design that uses bold colors, simple typography and simple shapes. This design in being termed the ‘Almost Flat Design’. This provides the page with some depth and dimension and helps balance out the flatness of the other elements. This make sure that the quality is maintained as well.

Illustrations:

For a website designer needing to add more personality to a website the option are limited. One of the main reasons is that there is likely to be a duplication of something similar on another website. One of the ways out is to use a hand-drawn illustration. Such illustration can be custom designed for the brand and will not make sense elsewhere. Thus the issue of replication by other websites is eliminated. Although such illustrations do need to be appealing to the customer or else they would have an adverse effect. The good news is that it is possible to get help from plenty of experts at illustration from the Web itself.

Moving Images:

Most of the website designs will have a photo or design as a background. However the moving image is gaining in popularity and might finally be here to stay. Several website did implement the video background for their website however that number was very small for the obvious reason – ‘high loading time’. However by using ‘cinema graph’ instead of images or videos it is possible to get the best of both worlds. This is effectively a moving image that can provide the necessary effect and at the same time use less bandwidth than a video.

Hence with cinema graph you can go where not many have dared before and reap the benefits of customers spending more time on your websites and a higher potential of conversion.

Storytelling interactively:

Storytelling keeps things interesting and the customer or visitor engaged without stressing them out too much. This helps improve their level of excitement and anticipation at the same time give them some joy too. The visitor will not have a frustrated feeling or a feeling of having done a big job by following your link. This is especially applicable when designing a survey online. Visitors will rarely like to spend their valuable time answering a longer list of questions on a survey. However it is possible to make it interesting by adding an element of storytelling to it. This will raise the curiosity level in the visitor, keep them interested and intrigued. This makes for an overall satisfactory experience with a sense of having accomplished something.

Updates to existing techniques:

There are a few web design techniques that are currently quite popular and used extensively like the responsive website design, the endless scrolling technique and even the parallax scrolling. These are some of the design techniques that are evolving and adapting and may continue to be popular for some time to come.

Bringing it all together:

Web designers are creative and are usually seeking a unique and innovative options to make the website more appealing. However it is time they take that extra effort and attempt something different and rare. The world wide web has changed recently in terms of the devices used to access it. Now it is official, that there are more number of mobile Internet users than Internet users from any other platform. This make them standout and look unique.. Besides which it is highly beneficial in attracting more traffic too.

It is difficult for those who are not tech savvy and creative enough to be able to design a website that is keeping with the current trends and also utilize the new tools and elements of a language. Besides which the Websites these days also have that Social Media element that we have extensively discussed. Web Designers are a creative group of people who have the amazing ability to come up with great designs that can later be converted into a workable template for your website.

Alakmalak has had the good fortune of having the opportunity to create Web Designs for several firms across the world. They have now developed more than 2000 websites over the years for clients from all around the world. Hence it is safe to trust them when it comes to Web Designing for the current times.

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