Website Design Trend 2021: The Ultimate Trends Collection You’ll Ever Need

Website design trend 2021 is showing a lot of interesting changes after an awkward 2020. This year's design seems promising with all the futuristic features to innovate yourself from the current situation. But that is not all this year will be around! Despite the inspiration from hi-tech & sci-fi designs, down-to-Earth, retro themes are gaining popularity. This leads to an explosion of colors and graphics that we’re craving to see more. 

Website design has always been affected by the never-ending stream of trends all over the world. Yet every year, we tend to pick out a dozen of selections that both the designers community and ourselves think that’ll invade the whole market. And this year, to be honest, we’ve seen many interesting ideas. Without further ado, here is our list of all the latest website design trend 2021.

1. Retro fonts 

2020 and 2021 see a massive comeback of much old design. From fashion, graphics, and now website design, retro fonts are back stronger than ever. You can see many of 2021’s designs matching the vibe of many vintage typographies. 

Yet not anything retro would age well with times. We’ve seen many crannies, cliche designs that shouldn’t ever make any comeback. With website design, retro fonts are returning with a more modern touch. So it’s not actually the old, uncool design that we’ll be much less interested in when the trend is over. 

Designers are giving those retro aesthetics a completely new breath and vibe. It’s bold, it’s modern, it’s cool yet still inherits a strong sense of traditional fonts. Nonetheless, we’re waiting for a more creative and fascinating typo soon.

2. Parallax animation

If you haven’t been familiar with parallax, then it’s a small optical illusion we see in everyday life. It shows that objects closer to us tend to move faster than things were far away. In website design, parallax has been a moving trend for years and does not seem to ever stop. By adding some more interaction, even at the smallest details of animation, the design seems much more sophisticated and interesting. 

For website design trend 2021, parallax scroll animation is back and users are loving it. How magical it is whenever users navigate, scroll, or clicking on one button or drop-down menu, the whole interface begins to move, immerse or change in some way? By creating the dept and interesting motion, users would feel like they’re enjoying a show instead of just a normal webpage. Would you love to hop on this website design trend 2021? 

3. Abstract art

Geometric design was a bomb for the last few years. But this time, it’s the spotlight of abstract shapes. With website design trend 2021, abstracts are getting more and more sophisticated and outbreak from any boundaries. As you can see, today’s abstract design is much more than just the regular square and circles. Designers are taking advantage of their creativity to create something even more than just graphic design. When pairing with an interactive interface, we would say that it’s such a bomb. 

Yet the best thing about this design style is its ability to evoke emotion, especially bright and delightful feeling. The abstract could blend itself among photography, while still awakens its energy and liveliness.  We find that this design is absolutely perfect for most entrepreneurs since it’s simple, innovative, and cool to see. Abstract art is not an absolutely stunning thrill, however, it works well and users love it very much. 

4. 3D visual 

We’re seeing 3D designs on every corner of the Internet. Without a doubt, it’s one of the most satisfying yet over the top choices when it comes to website design trend 2021. With the growth of higher solution screens and technologies, designing 3D graphics and enjoying them is not a problem anymore. Combine with website design, it’s now more than just the cherry on top of your pages. 

Adding 3D elements will elevate your overall user experience to another level. By creating some dept and further dimension, everything would harmonize nicely to bring out a much bigger impression. We have seen many colorful 3D graphics that really give us the feeling of robust energy, where design is not just designed anymore. 

However, 3D graphics are not all about being impressive. Sometimes the most subtle element could go a long way. So if your brand is not that bold, but still wants to include some cool 3D graphics, do it anyway! Going the extra mile for that uniqueness? Definitely worth it! 

5. Muted tones

This website design trend 2021 is a massive mix of creativity and graphic style. One second we’re invading all the modern sci-fi design, the next minutes all the natural, simple inspiration has come through. After a long year of Zoom calls, face masks, and the whole pandemic situation, world designs have come back even stronger with more interesting designs. 

Muted tones often consist of a light color matching a darker shade for a great contrast between sections. Just using only a few (around 2-3) colors, it’s not easy to pull off bold, cool graphic designs. 

Muted tone website design gives us the chill of a slightly hand-drawing session, along with minimal colors. Not only is it mesmerizing, but it’s also actually really interesting to look at. We’re really looking forward to much more muted colors in the upcoming months.

6. AR design

The next big thing that follows the trend of multimedia experience is AR design. Also known as augmented reality, this technology allows brands and companies to upscale their user experience in a much different way. AR is the gateway to a more interactive website, and if it’s not the largest website design trend in 2021, we really don’t know what is. 

AR provides an amazing experience that has escaped the boundaries of your mobile device. We believe that AR design would be perfect for retails, fashion, and even e-commerce sites. This will allow users to actually experience part of the product even before they click into the purchase. It’s easy to develop, yet requires a massive amount of work. However, with the right investment, the result would be absolutely stunning. All in all, we’re expecting AR to blow up for website design trend 2021 and just can’t wait to see more companies applying this design onto their sites.

7. Gaussian Blur

Gaussian blur is not a new effect. In fact, it’s been around for a few years but until now it began to gain popularity in website design. If you haven’t heard about it, then Gaussian blur is soft, pastel-like colors that are blurred to create gradients. It's blurry, soft focus, and gives out a comfortable feeling, which we found more than just perfect for both blog pages or services companies. 

When using, designers often match the Gaussian Blur color with the brand's aesthetic, then using a combination of cool fonts for a nice contrast. 

We have even seen websites that use only a bubble of Gaussian Blur, giving the feeling of mystery. Pairing with a simple website design, and some interactive content, it’s like giving the design that's been around forever a new life. Make sure you have a great designer ready to play the creative game with Gaussian Blur, we’re sure that your website will definitely be on point. 

8. Minimal & Comfortable

After a year of all insane events, people tend to search for something much simpler with better comfort. Following the attention of nature and sustainable resources, website design trend 2021 mainly wrap around minimal designs. As the world has been too noisy, some soothing design would be just right. 

We’re seeing a decrease in dramatically bright or dark schemes, but a growing trend of pastel or warm tones. Not only it provides the feeling of relaxation and much less eye-straining when looking for a long time, lighter color and minimal design are also great to gain attention wherever it needs. For website design trend 2021, we’re looking forward to more natural, calm, and subtle designs. It’s not only great for small businesses, it could apply to all brands. However, we can see cosmetics, spa, and fashion brands to be the best fit for this design.

9. Interacting transformation

During 2020 and 2021, we’re witnessing the growth in the need for interactive website design. Website developers are beginning to use more and more scrolling participation on-site, which means they’re calling users to interact with them. With just a flick of a mouse, this design will take users to a different page, and get more and more interesting. 

Since users are having no idea what’s waiting for them, it will keep them guessing and stay interesting for much longer. However, with interactive transformation design, you must really make yourself clear. It might have the coolest visual effects, however, if it’s eye-straining and draws your attention somewhere else, then it still has to go. Try to create a more subtle, while still as cool in your design, the result might be much better. 

10. Cartoon graphics

Who doesn’t love to watch some cartoons, right? It gives us the feeling of a lively, youthful, and much more intimate experience. The same rule applies to website design. We’ve long gone from the time of images and normal graphics, and creativities are getting better and better. Cartoon illustration is becoming much more popular in website design, and we must say that we love it. Young and cool brands would find it much easier to include a cast of cartoon characters into their site. We highly recommend young fashion, cosmetic and tech-involved brands to hop on this trend. Adding a little more carton design, with some motion and interactive setup, your web page by then would be absolutely cool to hang around. 

11. Audio design 

If you have been aware lately, there are a growing number of videos and apps just to satisfy the pleasure of your ears. Audio has now played an important role in users’ life more than ever. Since most of us are about to stress out because of daily noise, some interesting, yet calming sounds would be just perfect. There are even websites that recreate the feeling of a coffee shop, and users could choose the level of each element to match their preference. It’s a brilliant idea that allows users to interact even more on your site.

But audio design is not just to relax. When pairing with an impressive graphic design, the audio would give your website a sense of intensity and impressiveness. We’re still waiting to see car brands involved in this trend along with yoga, healthcare websites. This will provide your customers with an even better experience, so why not? 

12. Horizontal showcase

Another trend is coming back this year, and it’s the time for horizon scrolling. It’s breaking the old pattern of the vertical scroll, yet really effective to showcase images. However, this time, the experience is developing in a smoother way. You’ll no longer see buttons that require users to click or unclear cues. A small amount of horizontal would be great to spice up your website design. However, if too much you’ll have a completely opposite result. 

A horizontal scroll is great to show large photos and graphics. Therefore we would love to see this impressive trend turning into more website designs. 

Website design trend 2021 is getting more and more fascinating with the momentum they inherit from the previous year. We just can’t wait to explore all the creation of the creative community this year. Since this article is our sum up from the yearly report and by observing the current trend, we hope that it’s helpful for both designers and business owners looking for inspiration. Keep working on your projects and don’t forget to show it all to the world. We’re excited to see how the website design trend 2021 will go.