Trends on the Web come and go at a frightening rate. This rate of change is due largely to the nature of freedom that exists around web ‘culture’. There is no one person or company who controls it (Google hasn’t got there yet…), and anybody is free to contribute anything to the online community. At White Wall Web, we make a point of monitoring the trends in Web technology, that we might be challenged to constantly improve our performance and also just to learn new ideas. However, in order to master this medium, developers have to look beyond the technology and at other trends shaping the Web.

One such trend is that of design (in the visual sense). Why is design important? – because ultimately it is what connects the end-user with the technology that we create. Now the interesting thing to note about trends in general, is that they come and go, yet some stay and go on to become the accepted standard. This can be noted if we take a closer look existing ‘design standards’ that we’ve taken for granted:

Arial Typeface
The typeface was designed in 1982 by Robin Nicholas and Patricia Saunders for Monotype Typography, and has become a web-standard because of its on-screen legibility, and it’s wide distribution by Microsoft, who packaged it with their operating systems. Though many designers shun this font because it’s so widely used, one cannot deny the role it has played (and is still playing) in providing clear communication across the web, and the beautiful simplicity of its’ design that has made it a classic. (gosh – there goes all my creative cred…)

The Dropdown Menu
No knows exactly where this little mechanism originated from, but it’s still one of the most effective ways to manage links on a page.

The Search Icon
Use this icon, and people will have no doubt what message you’re trying to get across, despite the fact very few people will ever use a magnifying glass like this one in real life. It also works in any language you like…

Software = Hardware
Making your software look like hardware makes a lot of sense. People like to touch, twiddle and push things on their screen, as they would with physical objects. This makes for intuitive interfaces that make the user feel like they’ve done this before.

Future trends to watch.
It’s not easy to tell exactly what design trends will stick, and which will be sent to a digital grave. However, in my opinion, there are 2 trends gaining enormous popularity at the moment that might just become the accepted standard sooner than we think.

Shiny Stuff
These glossy surfaced items seem to glisten, as they call for your eye’s immediate attention.
Additions to this effect include an inner glow & subtle drop shadow – giving the object a transparent, ambient & 3 dimensional quality.

Transparency
The constant advancement in coding languages & web browser technologies is opening up the field for designers to get more creative. Ones such example is the use of transparency in interface design. This effect gives the visuals more depth, and hints strongly at a future wave of technology that uses transparent media – much like in the movie ‘Minority Report’.