Each year’s web design trends promise to beam us into the scifi future of our dreams, given that they are based in technology. But the 2021 predictions we received from our community of web designers from around the world suggest the opposite.
2021’s web design trends appear to share a common theme: rather than aspiring to hi-tech fantasy, web designers are seeking new heights of realism. They are blending the digital and the ordinary like never before, and it reflects just how much a part of everyday life websites have become. In this way, the following 9 web design trends for 2021 are literally breathing life into the digital world.
9 web design trends that will be huge in 2021
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Parallax animation
Neumorphism
Abstract art compositions
Comfortable colors
Web design for causes
Scrolling transformations
Digital interpretations of physical products
Captivating questionnaires
Three-dimensional colors
1. Parallax animation
By Pinch Studio
From micro interactions to particle backgrounds, we’ve witnessed the rising popularity of web-based animation trends year after year. 2021’s web animations are getting even more complex through the separation of page elements into foreground and background extremes, creating a parallax effect.
By Minh Pham via Dribbble
By Wesley van ‘t Hart via Dribbble
Parallax is the optical illusion that happens when objects near to the viewer appear to move faster than objects farther away. Although we see this in everyday life—when viewing passing scenery while driving, for instance—the effect on web pages comes across as equal parts real and surreal.
The depth created through the use of foreground and background also has the added benefit of immersion, transforming the computer screen into something closer to a theater stage. As users navigate the web page, they are drawn into its convincing performance as if by magic. And at the end of the day, isn’t magic what the internet is supposed to feel like?
By Iconic Graphics
By UI8 via Dribbble
By Slava Kornilov via Dribbble
By Permadi Satria Dewanto via Dribbble
2. Neumorphism
Neumorphism has been gaining incredible traction this past year, and in 2021 it promises to usher us into the paradoxical age of minimalist realism. The style is a successor to skeuomophism—a design approach that incorporates renderings of familiar, outdated materials into current designs, and it had its heyday on app icons everywhere in the early 2010s. This trend was largely supplanted by flat design, which simplified icons and colors in a way that was less realistic but more uniform and easily identifiable.
By Ritesh.lal By Creativedzine
By George Tang via Dribbble By Sara Salehi via Dribbble
- Claire Taylor, Senior Product Designer at 99designs
Neumorphism represents a merging of both trends, with designs that mimic physicality through selective drop shadows while being overlaid with semi-flat colors. Most commonly, the effect resembles digital embossing or debossing. It allows designers to reclaim the tactile experience that was lost in the flat design era, and this in turn heightens the user’s connection to the design he is interacting with. Expect to see this stylized realism on the buttons, search bars and text boxes all across the digital designs of 2021.
By ODarka
By Siddharth Chakraborty via Dribbble By Samson Vowles via Dribbble
3. Abstract art compositions
Abstract shapes, especially those consisting of geometric primitives like squares and circles, can come across as simple, minimalist and restrictive. However in 2021, web designers are incorporating them into complex, sprawling compositions that exude freedom.
By andrei2709
- Tristan Le Breton, Creative Director at 99designs
In most cases, these abstract art arrangements are taking the place of stock photography and figure illustrations. While they can include images of people, they still evoke emotion without them. Their bursting, Pollock-esque compositions feel energetic, and their many vibrant colors are infectiously warm. The result is web pages that feel expressive and alive, even in the absence of familiar human faces.
By Sebastian ✅ By Pavellev
via indicius.com
By Karolina Marques via Dribbble By kreatıva via Dribbble
By iva By akorn.creative
4. Comfortable colors
Given the increasingly digital nature of the job market these days, most people spend the majority of their time on computers. Because of this, it is not uncommon for users to experience eye strain after staring at screens for long periods of time. Web designers have been taking this into account with color schemes that are focused on being easier on the eyes.
By Davina Spriggs via Dribbble By Davina Spriggs via Dribbble
- Claire Taylor, Senior Product Designer at 99designs
This somewhat explains the popularity of last year’s dark mode trend, which counteracted the overwhelming whiteness that dominates screen-based media.
In 2021, web designers will be thinking outside the two extremes of dark and light. They are finding middle ground in soft color palettes, like wholesome greens, pastel blues, warm browns or light pinks. These not only make website colors less jarring than pure black or pure white, they naturally induce calm and relaxation.
This trend overall is a hopeful sign that web designers of the future may be more concerned with accessibility and comfort than dramatic innovation.
By Viola via Dribbble
- RV™, designer at 99designs
By One Week Wonders via Dribbble By Alex Capellan
5. Web design for causes
With the COVID-19 pandemic and the various shelter-in-place orders that followed, the internet has become a refuge. Not only have virtual conferences become the norm for social gatherings and entertainment, many brick-and-mortar brands have turned to websites to keep their businesses afloat. And web designers were up to the task, creating meaningful and impactful designs.
By Arthur Mineev via Dribbble
- Tristan Le Breton, Creative Director at 99designs
In 2021, we will see web designers continue to value their role in helping the world through troubled times.
What this means is brands focusing their web designs around their virtues, such as their sustainability efforts or community involvement. It means brands getting onboard with stock photos that reflect real, diverse customers. It means a rise in digital spaces bringing awareness to social causes through interactive means, such as visualizations and simulations. And it means an increase in the resources and methods of DIY web design, making website production accessible to everyone.
By Lance Barrera via Dribbble
By SixtyTwo via Dribbble
Web design has long been focused on delivering great user experiences. And in 2021, the best user experience will stem from shared values and joint causes.
via Nike
6. Scrolling transformations
When users scroll, they are doing more than navigating the page: they’re interacting. The physical actions they perform in real life—flicking their fingers over the mouse—cause a response on the screen. Interaction is a form of participation, and when users are involved in things that are happening, they are more likely to be interested and engaged.
By Hiroshy⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐