As I write this article it is the last day of 2013 and the newspapers are full of retrospectives looking at the past year. This also got me looking back over the year and once again thinking about changes in the web design industry.
Web Design is a fast-paced industry, as are all industries connected with the Internet and IT in general. As I look back over the trends of the past year there have been many small changes and there are two major changes which I can identify, one which was predictable and one (for me anyway) which was not.
This has been a long time coming and it really came to the fore this year. It has been a good idea for some time to make your website compatible with mobile devices. In 2013, it became essential.
In spite of this, more than 80% of websites are still not optimised for mobile devices. This isn't entirely surprising as it can be expensive to optimise your website. I believe that it is a worthwhile investment, especially right now.
For example, those businesses that had websites made in the late 1990's got a jump start on other businesses. It gave them a real advantage over their competitors who did not yet have a website. In those days, all you had to do was to have a well designed website and it was a guarantee to bring in more business and to stay ahead of your competitors.
Sadly it is not that easy nowadays. Most businesses do have a website (though a surprising number do not) and it is now essential to have one to keep up with your competitors. But now there is a real opportunity to gain a competitive edge over your competitors by making your website mobile friendly.
I can make your website mobile friendly by using a great technique known as responsive design. This means that your website shapes itself to the device of the user rather than having a separate mobile website. Call today on 0115 963 6589 to find out more.
One of the first tricks to learn as a website designer is how to give flat graphics a textured and/or 3D feel. This has been a trend that started many years ago and has since become refined. It is a technique that can make a good website outstanding.
Then along cam Windows 8. People either love or loathe this version of Windows (personally I love it). But one thing that did catch on was its simple graphical interface. It broke all the rules but in doing so caught the imagination of users.
One rule is rounded corners look better than sharp corners and texture looks better than flat colours. Neither of hese applies to Windows 8 tiles and as a result, many websites are being redesigned in this way.
It is fashion of course and it will change. What it goes to show is that it makes sense to follow the rules most of the time but most of the best innovations happen when someone breaks the rules. The trick is knowing when to do so!