February 24, 2023
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2 min read
As a Shopify design and development agency, we'd like to think we know a thing or two about web design. Having noticed some new design elements taking hold lately, we have put together our predictions for web design trends coming in 2018.
When it comes to e-commerce web design in 2018, boxes will not only continue to add functionality to a website but will play a big part in design too. Boxes should be visual, and when used in e-commerce websites, should be used for eye-catching call to actions. Boxes should also help to spice up the overall look of the store and with some artistic layering can make a simple design look more complex. In a nutshell, no matter the functionality intended for boxed elements, this will be a huge trend for 2018.
2018 will be the year for bold colours online. Previously, brands have tended to stay more traditional and stick to ‘web-safe colours’ (the technical bit - colours that display solid and are consistent on any computer, or browser, capable of displaying at least 8-bit colour).
The rise in bold colours in web design is said to attract the attention of the user, a huge change from the safer colour palettes that we are used to. Expect to see more vivid and bright colour palettes and brands becoming a little more creative with colour. Start-ups, in particular, will incorporate vibrancy into their branding with the hope of grabbing more attention.
Illustrations are a brilliant and versatile addition to an e-commerce website. They’re a creative, friendly, visual element that helps add fun to a website. Unique styles of illustration can also be used to create an entire brand identity.
To give you an idea of how to incorporate illustrations into your e-commerce site, try adding them into header images, custom iconography, bespoke fonts and animated visuals. There are trends when it comes to illustration itself but we'll save that for a rainy day. Nevertheless, expect this to be a key trend for e-commerce sites in 2018 and I foresee this becoming a large part of company identity.
As we already know scrolling is used for getting from the top to the bottom of the page. Traditionally, we’ve seen a large concentration on keeping the important content ‘above the fold’. However, we’re starting to see this old-fashioned design element disappear, with ‘the fold’ becoming more difficult to define. This has come about as a result of users viewing content on screens of all sizes.
Scrolling is a versatile mechanism, and if executed badly, can lead to a disastrous user experience. It is therefore predicted that new styles of scrolling will be big for 2018. It’ll be something that gets better and adds greater levels of interaction to the customer journey.
Similarly to animation, a moving image automatically captures the attention of a potential customer. Although video is far from a new invention, it is an extremely versatile component, used for advertising, storytelling, and a modern take on photography. It is for that reason that video is fast taking over online. Encouraging greater levels of engagement, it has become known that many online authorities are looking upon video more favourably, with Facebook, Twitter and Google to name a few. The above reasons are why it is going to become an even greater trend for 2018.
