The world of web design is a complex and ever-changing kaleidoscope of variables. The current trends can seem random, complex, and difficult to keep up with, but it’s not all complexity and vague guesswork. 

Web-based businesses and static businesses alike must communicate with their intended audience simply and efficiently. 2020 put online working and working from home at the forefront of everyone’s mind, with more businesses dedicating significant resources to upgrading and streamlining their online services and websites to match the demand of consumers.

In this article, we will cover some of the many web design trends that have already spilled into the web design space, and trends that are looking to rise in popularity throughout 2021. 

Embracing the dark side 
Dark Mode flew into popularity in 2020, a simple change you might think, but nonetheless a significant one. Dark mode allows the designer to create a sleek and professional-looking platform with the ability to play around with various textured colour schemes. Pioneered by larger companies, dark mode has become very popular in creating luxurious and crisp business websites. 

Dark mode allows the creator to vary their creative colour schemes, making use of modern-themed text and illustrations. It is certain to rise in popularity as the year progresses with more platforms incorporating the theme as an option on their websites and apps. More than anything, dark mode looks amazing – it oozes sleek professionalism.

The joys of parallax animation
Parallax animation, in simple terms, is the process of the foreground content moving faster than the background content, this can lead to stunningly beautiful 3D imagery when used correctly. Although the animation style has been around for some years, web designers are still finding truly amazing ways to adapt and utilise this beautifully simple animation method. 

The Parallax effect can be used on a number of different webpages. However, they are most commonly employed on home pages and product sale sites to showcase products. The animation style, when used correctly, can immerse the viewer – giving the content a bit of spice, and a step above the traditional, flat appearance that can come across in so many of the websites we read.  

The return of neumorphism interfaces 
Neumorphism is a design trend that’s been growing in popularity for some time now. It has been a topic of debate amongst the web designers of the world – some think that overuse of the combination design can be a bit much, whilst others are quite excited about the idea. 

Neumorphism blends the two styles of design to create a minimalistic style of flat design without the over-the-top realism of Skeuomorphism. The minimalistic but elegant style of neumorphism allows the textures of a feature to be felt whilst using it but still allows for a clean and sleek appearance. 

Neumorphism is definitely one to watch as we progress through 2021. 

In conclusion 
As mentioned earlier in the article, design trends are ever-changing. They vary on the time of year, the business climate, current styles, and culture as well as the demands from consumers visiting the sites. Web designers need to stay ahead of the curve to ensure they are producing the most recent content style, as well as remaining fluid in their approach to design, it doesn’t pay to always stick with the same idea in this fluctuating online world.