Top web design trends

Consider these observations, not predictions … hell, perhaps not even particularly accurate. What’s catching your eye design-wise?

Gradients and reflections

This should be obvious to anyone who has been surfing the web in the last couple of years. Gradients and reflections add richness, depth and light to a 2-dimensional design. No surprise that the trend is holding steady after a couple of years. Maybe ‘trend’ is the wrong word. Maybe ‘It’s been done-to-death damn it. Time for something new’ is the word.

The return of black and gray

I blame Veerle. She has done one of the best jobs ever of combining blacks and grays to create a fresh look.

Brown, purple and deep jewel tones

Erm, not together mind you. But I’ve noticed a bubbling trend of browns, deep purple tones, ruby reds and lush greens. I think in some cases, it’s a way for designers to join the light-on-dark trend without the clichés of black or gray.

Stuff on the bottom

Derek Powazek was the first blog I saw with tons of groovy bits below the scroll. Then I saw Jeff Croft. Then I was convinced that the one-post-at-a-time-and-stuff-on-the-bottom look was offically a trend.

Rounded-edge type faces

Check the logos for AOL logo, Blogger, Writely and Crazy Egg. And I can’t leave out the TBS family of web sites.

Big ass background photos

For example, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver, Berlin-based firm Less Rain and Czech web firm Giant. Very Funny Ads nails it. In fact, they use a different screen shot capture from the current ad as a background image.

I may or may not use when I finally get around to a redesign .