Four Web Design Trends You Can Expect to See in 2021

Every year, I think back on the brands and websites I’ve designed and interacted with throughout the past several months and evaluate what some of the most popular features are that clients have requested or that I’ve noticed are being used. This allows me to stay on top of the latest and greatest and allows help to train my eye to pick up on things that are long-lasting styled trends and things that are just a fad that won’t contribute to a timeless look for a brand or a logo.

This year, I’ve already been struck by the presence of a few pretty awesome design trends popping up throughout the interwebs and I’m excited to tackle them with my upcoming projects! In the interest of sharing good news and knowledge with those in my creative community, today I wanted to present a few of the top web design trends that I’m sure are going to be seen all over throughout the rest of the year.

Trend No. 1 | Gradients

The 90s are back, baby! Gradients in bold, psychedelic colors are cropping up all over the internet, especially for bright and cheery brands like Billie. Gradients are a powerful statement to make with your brand and an efficient way to work in a whole host of colors from your brand color palette.

A few words to the wise though — while gradients are a fun, trippy use of background space and in other design formats, they’ll always shine best when the overall layout and design is clean and polished. I recommend only two or three colors in the gradient, and keep the text on top on a contrasting-colored box so it’s still legible. If there are too many colors or design elements involved, or if you’re tempted to try some totally tubular waves, think again. Too much design often manifests as bad design.

Trend No. 2 | Layered Design Elements

For personal bloggers, influencers, and brands who have a real face and a name representing the brand, the concept of layering text, textures, and images to create unique design collages has begun to take flight! I believe this stems from the desire to showcase the personality and creativity behind the brand and it definitely serves that purpose well.

Layering all kinds of text and graphics over images to form a collage, like on Jenna Kutcher’s website,  does wonders to create an immersive experience for your website traffic, but I’m not quite sold on this design trend yet — I’m too hung up on how illegible it makes the layered text!

If you want to give layered design elements a try, I’d suggest either sticking with shapes and background textures to create your collage, with the image taking the full focus, or at least use a really legible font in a contrasting color.

Trend No. 3 | Blobby Shapes

For lack of a better term, blobby shapes are illustrative and creative, often abstract, shapes that lend themselves well to a gender-neutral design, like a food product. You can see how Magic Spoon uses both abstract shapes AND gradients in its website design to appeal to both men and women.

It used to be that gender-neutral design basically meant boring, simple, and unappealing (don’t want to risk coming off too feminine or too masculine and alienating part of your crowd!). But I’m glad that design trends have arrived at a more versatile style that’s certainly a trend-setter!

Trend No. 4 | Vintage Edits

I think Gen Z is to blame for this latest design trend. I’ve seen a huge surge in vintage-y style photography and presets to make current images appear more classic and old-school. The textures and colors from vintage photographs are easy to pinpoint and replicate, hence the abundance of presets and photo overlays all over Instagram these days.

You can see a really beautiful example of the eclectic nature of vintage-edited photos on Brené Brown’s site. I like this trend because it feels warm and comfortable, inviting tradition and classic features to play a big part in your website’s design and layout.

What do you think about all these prevalent design trends? Have you noticed these style choices being used on any sites you visit, or are you using them on your site? I’d love to hear your thoughts and see how you’re using these design trends — link your site below in the comments!