Hatton Marketing

Web Design predictions for 2010

With the ever-growing online market and with more and more businesses relying on their website to generate sales it is imperative that you are sending out the right messages online and that your website is aptivating your target audience and enticing prospects to buy from you or enquire. People have a notoriously short attention span when using the web and can very quickly click the ‘back’ button if they don’t like what they’re seeing. Your website is a business tool and can become a core part of your marketing and your organisation; so high quality, fresh design is crucial if your business is to maximise the positive impression you hope your website will create.

Here are our top 10 predictions as to what to expect from 2010 website designs and what you could do on your website to attract and engage your customers.

1. Oversized logos, images and banners
Instant impact will make a long lasting impression on your visitors right from the word go. The header may take up the entire screen on the home page and people will have to scroll down to get any content, but with more and more people judging on the home page only it is important to captivate them from the very first second.

2. Hand drawn/sketchy design
You don’t have to be Monet to draw for websites and often some of the best bits of web design are unpolished. This use of sketches gives a personal, hand crafted feel to the website and also brings out a playful retro feel which will fast become a big trend in 2010.

3. Typography
There are thousands of fonts out there and they have always been important within any type of design. With such high competition online, you must send out the right signals, including the fonts you use. Expect to see CAPS, Bold and a rise in the use of unique fonts to make the site easy to scan, be impactful and to create anchor points for the eye, ensuring consumers can navigate your website easily and won’t forget it in a hurry.

4. Icons
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, RSS, Digg, the list is endless for social networking and online marketing tools and these all have recognisable icons which are seen on an increasing amount of websites. Use this to your advantage and create your own icons to use throughout your site and amongst your network, affiliates and partners to make your site look up to the minute, easy to navigate and to get you more traffic.

5. Interactive design
Now we’re not saying bring back the Flash-only website but websites are becoming more interactive. Consumers need huge stimulation when on a site and using ‘more relaxed’ Flash, or the up and coming ‘jQuery’ can make your site more intuitive and engaging.

6. Changed perspective
We are all used to flat desktop websites but in 2010 we expect to start seeing websites that appear 3D ormake you look at them from a different angle for a more realistic view. Expect to see this for businesses such as interior designers, architects and galleries.

7. White Space
Often when creating websites people get scared of white space and feel they must fill it. Actually the minimal and clear approach is what you will be seeing more and more of in 2010 because it gives out clear messages to your audience and makes your website instantly more visually appealing. More fresh, clean colours will be used to complement this space; so be brave and don’t fill in the gaps!

8. Intro boxes
‘Hi, I am…’, speech bubbles and personal comments are set to rise within website designs. With lots of business needing to show personality and build trust, particularly in the services sector, having a real person to introduce you will be welcoming and engaging.

9. Magazine layouts
It has become more important to give exposure to a lot of information instantly on the home page, so the use of magazine style snippets are ideal for website with lots of content. This trend will be used to make the site more eye catching and makes use of the popular ‘structured grid’ layout. Plus, with the public steering away from traditional print and moving online to get their news, the magazine layout is becoming more accepted on the web.

10. Horizontal navigation
Whilst this will initially bring up usability issues which is a key part of a successful website, design and originality are just as important. We expect to see this mainly being used by creative businesses who want to do something a bit different but could work very well across the board. This is ideal for portfolios, articles and galleries.

Lots to think about. The web moves quickly and what was a trend setting website 12 months ago, could now be yesterday’s news… Time for a redesign yourself maybe…?