Web Design “trends” have been looked at over the years as a stew of ever changing colors, styles and consistencies. But, what do these trends follow? How long does a trend last? How do you create a website that will have a long and prosperous lifetime without being outdated next year? Lucky for us – the history of production paints a clear picture of why trends occur and it parallels webdesign closer than most think…
In art history, ornamentation and handcrafted decoration was expensive, sought after, time consuming, and hard to produce. Purchasing art was a symbol of luxury and wealth. When technology boomed, rather than think about how art could be better created, manufactures created mass amounts of sought after pieces that could be quickly made at low costs and sold quickly. This resulted in low-quality products everywhere.
Web design has had a similar history- minus the beautiful handcrafted beginning. The web was a direct way to channel mass production through technology. Mass production of websites resulted in a garish overuse of styles in interfaces, over exploration of the use of fonts, combining animation, sounds and movement with images to create over stimulating, confusing and often ugly sites.
So how do we move away from this? In very recent history consumers have pleaded for a halt to the movement of mass production. The call for a minimalist, simplistic approach is being echoed and followed everywhere in the nation. Going back to the basics and revisiting how products are created – and why they matter is the growing norm.
The current shift in trend of webdesign and software also shows this desire for authenticity. We, as digital designers and developers at Faster Solutions, are being challenged to scrape away the “ugly” and revisit the clean- handcrafted and functional aesthetic of the web. Creating “simplistic, modern and flat” websites allows the function to be shown in optimal form thus discovering the beauty in pure content.
Rethinking your interface, business model and goals is what it takes to “go back to the basics”. We desire each website to be handcrafted in form and functionality as the call continues from users, such as you, to create beautifully designed and developed sites- that are NOT mass produced.
Want to learn more about how art history has influenced the digital world? Authentic Design by Dmitry Fadeyev is a great article that will explain more about good design, user experience and why it matters.
Want to learn about how we can work with you to achieve your own beautiful – handcrafted website? Contact an Account Manager today!
