Web Design Trends 2018

Web design in 2018

We overview the major upcoming trends of 2018 within web design. From chatbots to web apps that can be installed right on your phone.

Credit: We would like to personally thank everyone involved within the industry and community for contributing towards the development of an amazing environment filled with endless talent and skill. All images within this project will have references to all of the original content creators.

We hope our guide can help everyone reading it.

01. Colorful pages and gradients

Utilized and praised for their visual prowess. Gradients and broad ranges of color have proven themselves through the associated aesthetic appeal. Given the growing demand for design that stands out, wide color ranges and gradients will continue their trend in 2018.

Website: Ueno

Project: Firebridge

02. Responsive design

2017 was a landmark year for the mobile web, as its usage finally overtook that of desktop browsing. And that means web designers will be more focused than ever on the mobile audience next year and beyond.

Project: Most

Website: Framer

03. Animations everywhere

A multitude of factors must be taken into consideration when designing a website.

For example: Internet speed, technological capabilities, type of user etc... From this, we can begin to see why animations and interactive UI has become a strong contender for a major web design trend in 2018. Especially as demand for beautiful aesthetics increases and technology stacks become even more advanced.

Project: U night

Project: Yuna Style Showroom

Project: blink.watch

Project: Trust Books

Project: Keenethics Cosmic

04. Illustrations to communicate visually

One of the more interesting challenges we’ve witnessed in the world of marketing digital products is that of image selection. Whole design teams mull over the debate, usually ending up in one of two places:

1. Product UI shots and GIFs

2. Editorial/lifestyle photography

The former emphasizes the in-product experience, features, and functionality, while the latter tries to emphasize the product’s human dimension: the effect it has on people’s lives.

Website: Mixpanel

Project: ICO CPA

Website: Hashicorp

Website: slack

05. Material design

Google’s Android-based design scheme may have started as a mobile device interface but has exploded in popularity and usage, regardless of device or platform.

It’s a natural continuation of the biggest trend in design during the past few years: flat design. Yet, Material does something flat never could, it adds just enough embellishment to enhance usability. Instead of stripping everything away to favour visual appeal, at the root of Material Design is usability.

Website: gsuite

Website: firebase

Website: fi

06. Push notifications

Web push notifications are messages that come from a website. You get them on your desktop or device even when the concerned web page is not open in your browser. They are a new marketing channel used to re-engage website visitors without knowing their email or other contact details.

Website: push notifications

07. Progressive web apps

Progressive Web Apps are installable and live on the user's home screen, without the need for an app store. They offer an immersive full-screen experience with help from a web app manifest file and can even re-engage users with web push notifications.

The e-commerce website Flipkart experienced a 70% increase in conversions and tripled the time spent on their site after the launch of the PWA version of the website. And the informational website The Washington Post reported an almost five-fold increase in user engagement.

Project: Rhino Design year in review

08. Online customer support

Conversation-driven marketing and sales platforms that connects businesses with leads in real-time. This allows for further leaps into innovative marketing and new and improve forms for reaching prospects.