The song, It’s so Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday was originally recorded for the 1975 film, Cooley High. It’s a real tear jerker and may make for fitting music as we bid farewell to design trends that can’t join us in the new year. Honestly, the list itself isn’t sad at all. It’s actually solid advice regarding 4 web design trends to leave in 2017.

Before we get to the list, let’s quickly discuss why this purge is so necessary. Two letters: UX. UX or User experience refers to a person’s feelings and impressions about using a particular product, system or service. In this case, your website. To keep this experience simple, logical and enjoyable, these 4 web designs must be left behind.

#1. Skeuomorphism

The design concept that merges our real-life perception or characteristics of an object with its digital equivalent. A good example of this is the original Instagram logo; a life-like image of a camera that has since changed to a simpler, semi-flat design. Flat and semi-flat designs have a minimalistic feel and seem to be preferred more widely by web audiences. For this we say adieu to skeuomorphism. 

#2. Hero Images as the whole Story

Hero images are large images that take the place of traditional banners and are generally overlaid with text. Don’t get me wrong, they look amazing. They are captivating, they are alluring and signal substance. The problem is, some websites are little more than these images with no accompanying meaningful content. Perfectly fine for a webpage used for contact information or a place to describe a single product. However, hero images are not enough to tell the whole story about a business and its products or services. Coca-Cola is a great example of how to use hero Images while still boasting a site full of relevant and substantive content. Easy to say arrivederci to hero images as the entire story.

#3. Tight Spacing

Sometimes, full breakups aren’t necessary. A little space goes a long way at rekindling a quenched flame. White space in particular, could vastly improve the look and feel of your website. This can be accomplished pretty easily. Sites that are text heavy can add space between lines and letters, enhancing readability. Similarly, those with lots of products to display should take a hint from Amazon.com which uses grid layout design. The online superstore has successfully employed this design to organize their many products. In either case, the user experience is upgraded. We can happily say adios to tight spacing. 

#4. Sliders and Carousels

These are not the same, but are similar design techniques. They each involve the movement of images in either a sliding or rotating fashion. Neither, according to a Nielsen Norman Group study, were found to be effective conversion tools. A point made many times over the years, but appears on this list due to an even greater downside. The designs could negatively impact your SEO or search engine optimization. While the use of sliders and carousels aren’t automatic SEO killers, the risk to your website’s ranking is real and may not be worth taking that chance. Either, enlist the help of a professional website builder or try something else. Videos are a great alternative to both these elements and may be a better way to tell your story. Let us say Gooday to sliders and carousels. 

Companies in the know wisely improve their websites to increase user satisfaction. This includes, but is not limited to the way the site appears on mobile or desktop devices, how easily and intuitively one can navigate the site, and the overall functionality and feel when engaging with the website. The 4 web design trends to leave behind, tend to interfere with these aims in one way or another. It may not be so hard to say goodbye after all.

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WEB DESIGN IN GREENSBORO AND BEYOND

Guilty of using all these things on your website? We can help pull you out of the past!
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Stop boring your visitors with bad web design...

Like chain wallets, spiked hair, and jelly shoes, many web design effects have come into fashion and then disappeared, never to be seen again. As design technology continues to develop, so do consumers’ opinions of what constitutes a strong, professional design aesthetic. Here are 7 outdated effects we’re happy to say goodbye to.

Drop Shadows

The drop shadow was one of the 90s’ most beloved Photoshop effects. With the click of a mouse, web designers could make big blocks of text appear “fancy” and defined. Unfortunately, when applied to a large area of text, drop shadows made websites uncomfortable to read and difficult to browse. Thankfully, designers have moved on to more minimal font-enhancing effects.

Outdated Fonts

Many fonts which were once very popular now serve as bright red flags that a website was created by someone with very little design experience. Comic Sans is widely recognized as one of the world’s worst fonts, as well as Papyrus, Curlz, and Bradley Hand. Even “normal” fonts such as Times New Roman or Arial can make a website appear unprofessional since, as Microsoft Word default fonts, they indicate “lazy” font selection.

Bevel, Emboss, and Gloss

Bevel and Emboss were once extremely popular Photoshop tools which could be used to create a stylish “3D” appearance. Flash-forward a few decades later, and the effect is now more cringeworthy than impressive. Bevel and emboss were supplanted by the “Gloss” effect, which was used to make web buttons imitate shiny plastic or glass. Nowadays, designers have mostly moved onto more subtle choices to create attractive buttons that beg to be clicked. 

Adobe Flash Intros

Once upon a time, Adobe Flash intro videos like this one were all the rage. Nowadays, however, such videos have become internet dinosaurs. Not only do visitors tend to find them irritating, Flash videos are not supported on most mobile devices and can even hurt a website’s search engine rankings.

Auto-Play ads/music

Auto-play, which has been described as “the most hated digital advertising tactic,” is not yet completely eradicated, but should be. Few things are more alarming than opening a new webpage and being assaulted with a loud advertisement or blast of music. Sadly, many companies still insist on treating their visitors’ ears with everything from loud sales pitches to soft jazz.

Lack of Mobile Optimization

The biggest mistake modern companies are making in terms of web design is lack of mobile optimization. With smartphones and other mobile devices quickly becoming the preferred method of internet access for the majority of consumers, it’s more important than ever for websites to be mobile-friendly. Google itself says that more Google searches are performed on mobile devices than on computers, so if your website isn’t legible when shrunk to fit a smaller screen, you’re missing out on a huge market opportunity.

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Professional Greensboro Web Design Company

If your company website features any of the above trends, perhaps it’s time for an update. A professional graphic designer at Hue & Tone Creative can help create a visually pleasing, modern design that guides people to focus on your products and services, not the platform on which you offer them. If you’re interested in logo redesign, website design, or another creative branding service, give us a call today for a free website audit.