7 Web Design Trends for 2019

Update: If you’re interested in 2020 web design trends, check them out here.

1) Broken Grid & Asymmetrical Layouts

Breaking the grid in web design is not fresh, but it hasn’t been explored widely yet. That’s why this grid experimentation will likely continue into 2019.

Broken grids will let designers push their boundaries and find new ways to be unique, distinctive, present incomparable content and stand out from the crowd.

2) Overlapping Design Elements

Falling closely in line with broken grid layouts and asymmetry, having items overlap each other can bring visual interest to specific types of content on a page.

When done with careful consideration, the trend of overlapping elements on a page can help enhance the overall aesthetic of the site. Overlapping elements if not done well can cause confusion and frustration of users when elements overlap in the wrong ways.

3) Playful Cursor & Animation

It plays a vital role in the dynamics of human interaction with digital spaces, many are reluctant to mess with the cursor, but not all of them.

It’s true that swiping or dragging are quite common and intuitive actions to navigate a site or gallery, it’s more common to use other types of actions such as click and hold, drag, drag and drop, spin, pull to navigate vertically or 360degrees, mouse interaction, etc.…

4) Absence Of Colors (Black & White Palettes)

With most websites having two-five colors that are used throughout, using just one color could make the website stand out and be more memorable to the viewer.

When color is missing, user see’s the world differently: textures and shapes become clearer.

White by itself is clean and reserved whereas black is strong and assertive. This combination gets an altogether striking look.

5) Fluid Shapes.

Slowly more and more designers are pulling away from the straight lines that came with flat design and starting to experiment with more fluid shapes and lines. These types of shapes, ones in which aren’t a typical circle, square, rectangle, or any straight-sided shape are often referred to as fluid or organic shapes.

Replacing straight lines with imperfect and asymmetrical elements drawn from nature and life (such as shapes of ponds and lakes, curving forms of trees and hills), these organic shapes and lines can make designs feel more approachable and in line with human nature. They can provide depth to a web design that makes page elements stand out. It can capture the spontaneity of man-made accidents such as paint splatter. The goal here is for web designs to feel human and alive through the illusion of movement.

6) 3D Illustrations

The future isn’t flat, designers are looking to add depth and realism to graphics designed to blur the boundaries. This sharpens the contrast between digital products and human beings, even as it brings them together into imaginary spaces where people can grasp and manipulate digital elements.

7) Reimagined Hero/Header Area.

Most hero areas features a large image that spans most of the viewport, often with some text on top to focus the attention of the viewer. But over the last couple of years, there hasn’t been much in the way of experimentation with this area.

2019 expect various types of experimentation to this all-important area of a website, including minimizing the area, changing up the content present, using something different than just a full-width image, and treating this area with more importance in grabbing viewer’s attention first hand.