The rapid growth of technology influences design trends every year. As creators, designers, and developers, we need to be aware of existing and upcoming design trends, constantly learning, improving, and expanding our design toolbox in order to be up to date in today’s market.
So we have very carefully selected 8 UI / UX design trends that you should watch out for in 2021.
Table of Contents
1. Animated Illustrations
Illustrations have long been a part of digital product design. Their evolution in recent years is very impressive. By applying movement to illustrations, we can really make our designs stand out and bring them to life, adding additional detail and “character.”
Another benefit of the motion app is to capture the attention of users and get them to engage with your product. Animation is also one of the most effective ways to tell the story of your brand, product, or service.
2. Micro-Interactions
Micro-interactions exist in pretty much every app or website. You see them every time you open your favorite app. Take the example of Facebook; there are tons of different micro-interactions. The “Like” function is the perfect example. Sometimes we are not even aware of their existence because they are so obvious and natural and ‘built-in’ into user interfaces. By deleting them, you will quickly notice that something really important is missing.
Micro-interactions are the perfect proof that details and the attention they pay can highly improve the overall User experience (UX) of your digital products and take them to the next level.
3. 3D Graphics in Web and Mobile Interfaces
New web browser capabilities have opened the door to 3D graphics, allowing us as designers to create and implement stunning 3D graphics in modern web and mobile interfaces.
Creating and then integrating 3D graphics into web and mobile interfaces requires specific skills and tons of work, but very often, the results are very rewarding.
In 2021, more and more brands will use 3D rendering models to showcase the product or services to emulate the real-world (in-store) shopping experience.
4. Virtual Reality
In recent years, we have seen a lot of progress and enthusiasm in Virtual Reality (VR) headsets – mainly in the gaming industry. We have to keep in mind that the gaming industry very often brings innovation and new technologies in the design of digital products.
The gaming industry very often brings innovation and new technologies to the design of digital products.
5. Augmented Reality
There are endless possibilities to innovate and create new and exciting experiences in the Augmented Reality(AR) space. UI design for Augmented Reality will be one of the top trends in 2021, so as designers, we need to be prepared and eager to learn new tools and principles when creating AR experiences.
6. Neomorphism or Neumorphism
The growth of Virtual Reality / Augmented reality technology and the latest design trends showcased on the most popular design platforms could bring skeuomorphic design back in 2021 – but this time with a lot of modernity.
Remember, “Neumorphism” is a new slang term in design circles, co-created by Michal Malewicz, who essentially crosses the words “new” and “skeuomorphism”.
Neomorphism represents a very detailed and precise design style. Highlight, shadows, glow – the attention to detail is very impressive. Neomorphism has already inspired many designers around the world, and there’s a good chance that neomorphic will be the biggest User Interface (UI) design trend in 2021.
7. Asymmetrical provisions
There is a lot of room for creativity as the number of opportunities and options opportunities when creating asymmetric layouts is endless. However, creating successful asymmetric layouts takes a bit of practice and time.
Over the last few years, we have noticed a huge growth of asymmetric layouts in digital product design. Traditional / ‘template’ based layouts are definitely going away. 2021 will be no different as this trend will continue. Proper use of asymmetric layouts adds a lot of “character,,” dynamics, and “personality” to our designs so that they are no longer based on templates.
8. Narrative or Storytelling
Storytelling is about transferring data to users in the best informative and creative way possible. Storytelling is also a great and effective marketing tool that could dramatically increase the sales of your products/services.
Stories play a very key role in the overall user experience of digital product design. You can see them very often on the “landing page” as an introduction to the brand, the product or new services. This could be achieved by pairing copyright with a strong and balanced visual hierarchy (typography, illustrations, high-quality photos, vibrant colors, animations, and interactive elements).
Storytelling can also make your brand much more memorable and make users feel like a part of the products or services, and then they would like to be associated with it. Having said that, storytelling is also a great and effective marketing tool that could dramatically increase the sales of your products/services—storytelling is a very effective tool that will continue and develop in 2021.
