Almost Flat Website Designs

Before the almost-flat or semi-flat web design, there was simply "The Flat Website Design". The idea was a look with all fluff, frills and "distraction" removed in favour of using bold colors, simple shapes and simple typography.

Now, to eliminate problems of flat designs while maintaining appealing design qualities, designers more commonly create "Almost Flat" websites. Canada Website Designers can show you where some elements should be given depth and dimension as well as where more flatness of elements provides functional appeal.

Unique Illustrations

Few design elements will add as much personality to your website than quirky illustrations. A friendly edge to your brand that is customized can't be easily replicated by competitors. Whether you're a creative business or brand, taking the time to produce your own custom images or illustrations are considered a must-add in our opinion.

If creating illustrations on your own is not a consideration, Canada Website Designers can offer some great ideas and work to help you find what best meshes with your brand.

User-Oriented, Minimalist Designs

In 2016, less can produce more when it comes to web design. Canada's high tech-savvy visitors do certainly appreciate websites that aren't overloaded with graphics, or take too much time loading and chewing up bandwidth.

Rather than being boring however, just consider stripping down to the design essentials and build on your work from there. Using them might be considered a must, but you can also hide sidebars and submenus, to let your visitors discover these for themselves.

Typography

Typography isn't just the art of letter design. Proper typography can bring more life to content, enhancing the rest of your website design elements and help your Canadian brand stand out. Improper typography can also become a disadvantage in an otherwise flawless site.

In 2016, there are so many places to download free fonts around the Web. A professional designer can also customize typography to emphasize your brand's uniqueness.

Static Image Quality

If you believe your website is too plain, try the simple addition of adding an image or two to your background. This can be presented as a single eye-catching photo spanning the entire page, or a series of photos that tell your brand's story.

Superimposing text can complement these images quite nicely, providing clear call-to-actions for your brand's visitors.

Interactive Storytelling

When you present an intriguing question and spike the curiosity in your visitors, it can assist in the development of a connection. We all love stories and all imagine ourselves as characters who get thrown into conflict, and somehow find a way to resolve that conflict. At least eventually, every visitor that becomes a "client" will need a "real" connection to you and while this only works genuinely over time, it doesn't hurt that introduction to include, "What happens next?"

The real story from there will provide specific answers to that, but when the story ends(or continues), all are either left satisfied or wanting more. If we've done our job well, you will be very satisfied AND wanting more!

Moving Images

Many are not sure whether to use photos or videos for their website. In 2016, using a cinemagraph is becoming more popular. A cinemagraph, or moving image, expresses more words than a still photo, but uses up less bandwidth than a video. Cinemagraphs can also liven up your website's background, break up excessively long content, and add stickiness of up to 15 percent.

Anyone can create cinemagraphs on their own with the right software, or a professional can help you from the creation of the video clip, down to the uploading of the cinemagraph to your site.

Previous Trends Reiterated

Of course, there are many trends of yesteryear that worked well and do still work today. Some of these trends include:
- Responsive Website Design: A responsive site adjusts according to what device it's viewed in. Most sites are developed in this manner with some exceptions, but it's still worth noting in an increasingly mobile world.
- Endless Scrolling: Like RWD, longer srolling pages are in considerations for mobile users. A visitor simply has to scroll down, and down, to find what they're looking for.
- Parallax Scrolling: In a website that uses parallax scrolling, background elements move slower than those in the foreground, giving the illusion of movement. This one does really help your site come to life as long as it is properly utilized.

There is no doubt you will have used one or more of these design elements. In 2016, try to evaluate whether they are contributing positively to your conversions. If it has been a while since your Canadian Business has performed a website update, now is a very good time to have Canada Website Designers provide your business with some new advantages.