Macy is a marketing writer with over five years of experience creating content for dozens of industries including food and beverage, home services, and education. She also specializes in creating SEO and PPC content. Her work has been featured by Search Engine Journal, HubSpot, Entrepreneur, Clutch, and more. In her free time, Macy enjoys trying new crafts and reading comic books.
Expert insights from
Keely YeagerSenior Web Designer
“I anticipate a significant rise in clients prioritizing impactful impressions in 2024 … There’s a growing demand for designs that go beyond conventional limits, aiming to evoke emotional responses rather than relying solely on factual information. The combination of images, typography, and layouts is expected to weave a compelling narrative, contributing as much meaning as the written content on the page.”
The time to consider your web design for 2024 is now. Already, web design trends have started to emerge. If you want to stay on-trend and engage site visitors, it’s crucial to pay attention.
But what is the future of web design? Will everything change when it comes to how to design a site? Well, not everything, but some specific 2024 web design trends are worth noting.
To help you stay up to date, we created a list of the most critical web design trends of 2024! Click to jump to the trend you would like to read about:
A photo of your team at happy hour is a great way to give a personal touch to your website. However, when looking at web design trends for 2024, that lighthearted photo might not cut it. Instead, many companies now feature illustrations on their pages.
When you use an illustration, you can use your brand colors, and make it as detailed as possible to give the exact feel that you desire. Users will be more likely to remember a custom illustration over a photo of people they don’t recognize.
A great example is the luxury tent company, Pitch. Check out the way they use custom illustrations to create the exact atmosphere that they want for their website.
They also use their brand’s colors to make it personal, and the whole home page has an outdoor feel — perfect for a website selling tents. These simple, clean illustrations add a customized modern feel.
How can I incorporate illustrations into my website?
First and foremost, if illustrations don’t fit your current website style, there’s no need to feel the pressure to add them. However, if you’re rebranding and want to go for a modern look, illustrations are a fantastic way to do so.
You can use illustrations as the focus or as a highlight on certain pages. Either way, a hand-drawn touch can add a creative element to your site.
2. GIFs as graphics
Gone are the days of incorporating a stock photo into your content — if you do so, readers will notice. That’s why a significant web design trend for 2024 is the incorporation of GIFs into your content.
GIFs help engage users and keep them on your pages longer. They also add a unique design element that leads to better UX.
Below, you can see an example of GIFs within page content.
How can I incorporate GIFs into my website?
You can use a tool like Gyazo to create stunning GIFs that engage users in your site content. The best ways to use GIFs include:
Showing someone a moving piece of media, like a video clip or animation
For dramatic effect (think reaction GIFs!)
To show someone how to perform an action online with examples
3. Animations
Another emerging web design trend for 2024 is animations.
Like we’ve discussed, more websites are adopting animations in their content in the form of GIFs. They’re also utilizing animations on their home page, in calls to action, and more.
Check out the way Adidas uses animation on their home page:
This animation loop grabs users’ attention and encourages them to stick around — even if just for a few loops. This strategy is borderline genius since it’s easy to get stuck watching the animation over and over.
How do I incorporate animations into my website?
If you want to bring more life to your website, incorporating animations is a great start for 2024.
However, you shouldn’t overdo it — only add animations to important pages like your home page. And be sure to use them intentionally to avoid overwhelming the viewer or hurting your usability.
If you want to adopt this 2024 web design trend, be sure to work with a web design company like WebFX that knows what they’re doing — an animation of this size can easily bog down your site and make it load slowly!
4. Instagram integration
Another web design trend for 2024 focuses on connecting to real customers through social media channels like Instagram. For example, American Eagle started a campaign called #AExME, which features real customers wearing their clothing.
This campaign creates a fantastic marketing strategy because it:
Allows potential customers to see what their clothing looks like on a physical person that isn’t a model
Gives them ideas about how to wear certain pieces
Inspires them to pair branded tops with branded bottoms, ultimately encouraging customers to buy more than just one item
Helps potential customers relate — they see themselves in these photos, making it easier for them to buy
This web design trend for 2024 is a great one to pay attention to since it can improve your design and your conversions.
If you want to team up with social media channels to make your web design even better, you’ll first have to get your hands on some user-generated content! To learn more, check out the resource above!
5. Voice optimization
By 2029, voice recognition is set to become a $49 billion industry. Today, more companies are optimizing their websites for voice searches4t, and the future of web design in 2024 is no different. You must optimize your website’s content for voice search if you want to rank well in search results.
As you likely already know, great search engine rankings help you funnel more qualified traffic to your website. If you don’t rank highly, you likely won’t see much site traffic, and your beautifully designed website will go to waste.
With more users relying on voice technology like Siri and Alexa to find what they’re looking for online, your website must use natural language processing (NLP) to appeal to every audience — including those searching by voice.
How do I integrate voice optimization into my website?
Working with a well-known voice search optimization company can help you get the most from voice integration. Simply put, you’ll want to use language that is like what real humans would say to ensure that you appeal to every audience!
Try creating content that focuses on conversational topics. For example, if you sell coffee, you might write an article answering the search “what coffee is best for espresso” to end up in the SERPs and answer casual voice searches:
6. AI for multiple purposes
AI is taking over the digital space and making it easier for businesses to improve their processes. That includes web design!
AI can help with the following design elements and more:
Generating images: The main use of AI for web design is creating and editing images. Tools like DALL-E let you generate images from a text description or expand your photos with AI.
Coding websites: You can also use AI to code and design complete websites or pages. If you have minimal experience with web design, these tools can help you get the professional design you want without the hassle.
Creating logos: AI can help you create simple, sleek logos for all parts of your website. Your logo will represent your brand across your website and beyond.
These are just a few uses for AI in web design. If you want to hop on this website design trend, there are plenty of ways to get started!
How do I integrate artificial intelligence into my website?
If you want to use AI to help with your workflow, there are plenty of tools and ways to do so. You can find AI tools for basically any need and add them to your design toolkit as you update your website.
Just beware that you should edit and oversee your AI designs carefully. While popular tools can help you simplify design processes, you should still make sure they look appropriate for your business.
Colors have a big impact on how your audience views your website, and your color palette is a big part of your brand identity. People will look at your colors and associate them with your brand. It’s a crucial part of your business, so you want to ensure that you keep them fresh.
One of the biggest website design trends for 2024 is the use of bright colors.
Bright colors capture your audiences’ attention and gets them engaged with your page. If your color palette is old or outdated, this is a time to update it. You can opt for brighter versions of your color palette to make your website pop:
It’s a great way to help your website stand out from the competition. This brings a unique and fresh aspect to your website. By updating the colors on your pages, you’ll make your website pop.
How do I integrate more colors into my website?
If you have a set of branded colors, you can use those throughout your website to create a seamless experience. Or, you can get experimental with small doses of color in:
Images
Icons
Seasonal branding
And more!
Use your color to make a statement without distracting the audience from your
8. Strong typography
Bold typography will be a common trend for web design next year.
Your typography is a crucial part of how your audience experiences your site. At minimum, you must have readable typography to ensure your audience can read your text. After all, the type of font you use sends a message to your audience.
When you use the appropriate font, you build trust with your audience and ensures they get the message from your text.
As you comb through your site, see if you can upgrade your font choice to make it more interesting for your audience. The example below from IGN and Microsoft, The Next Rembrandt, makes excellent use of bold typefaces to put their message across strongly with so little words.
How do I integrate strong typography into my website?
Your homepage is a great spot to add a bold statement. You can use bold typography to grab your viewer from the moment they land on your site.
Make sure that the message is as strong as the lettering, though. Your typography should catch their eye, but your words should keep them interested.
9. Minimalism
Many companies are under the impression that more means better. The reality, however, is that less is more. A minimalist design can be the best way to present your business to your audience. This ensures that you only present the most important information to your audience.
It’s easy to dive into detail and go in-depth with your content, but you can end up overwhelming your audience. The best thing to do is keep your design and information simple. Make all your information clear and space it out, so it doesn’t make your site appear overcrowded.
You’ll have a site that looks cleaner and will be easier for your audience to engage with your content.
Below is an example from Mandelo, a branding agency who took minimalism to the next level with a gorgeous home page:
How do I integrate minimalism into my website?
Minimalism can comprise any part of your web design, from color schemes and fonts to image placement and text. If you want to make your site more minimalist, you can:
Hide your navigation in clean labels
Limit your colors
Add plenty of white space
Minimize photos and graphics
10. More videos on pages
Videos and multimedia elements help with two key metrics for Google rankings — time users spend on your page and the number of backlinks you receive. Adding videos to your pages can improve both of these metrics and make sure you’re competing in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
How do I integrate more videos into my website?
Think of videos as a tool to help users stay on your page. If you have a video that can explain your point, showcase a product, or highlight a service, definitely add it. If not, you can work on building out your video library to give yourself options for your website.
Some places to add videos include:
On product pages
On your homepage as a background
In blog posts to expand on a topic
If you need help creating videos for your brand, working with a video marketing agency might be the best first step!
11. Microinteractions
Microinteractions are small, surprise events that happen to users while visiting your site. When someone takes an action on your site and a specific response happens, it creates a microinteraction.
For example, when someone logs on to Facebook and sees a red box with a number next to their notifications, this is a microinteraction:
Microinteractions interest and engage your audience, and, in this case, gets someone to click on their notifications.
How do I integrate microtinteractions into my website?
You can integrate microinteractions on your site through scroll animations, chimes, and more. If you have a specific action that you want to feel more important, like clicking a contact button, that’s a great spot for a microinteraction.
With these changes, you can create a more engaging, interactive experience and help your website’s design stand out in 2024.
12. UX focus
Your audience is at the heart of your business. To have a successful online presence, you must provide a positive UX so that your audience remains on your site and learns about your business.
Think about what your target audience would want to see on your site, or what types of elements would enhance their experience. Whether it’s the navigation, typography, media, or information on your site, you always want to consider how your audience will respond.
How do I integrate UX into my website?
Good UX is the difference between earning leads and losing them. You can have an attractive website that represents your brand well, but that doesn’t matter if the UX isn’t optimized. Ensure that your UX is optimized next year to retain your audience’s interest.
UX might differ slightly depending on who you want to reach, but there are sure ways to make your site more enjoyable. Some factors to consider include:
Smart content loading helps your website load only what the user sees without wasting valuable resources on content that may never be seen. This process prevents server overload and help your site load appropriately.
Even though smart content loading is a web design trend for 2024, it’s nothing new. For ages, we’ve seen infinite scrolling and lazy load on social platforms like Meta (Facebook), Instagram, and X — and there’s a reason for it.
Having a resource-heavy website is an easy pitfall to get stuck in the more your website grows. Luckily, we can use several technological advances to prevent these heavy resources from impacting our website UX.
How do I integrate smart content loading into my website?
Depending on your website host, you can manually add smart scrolling to your website through the backend editor. Some tools, like WordPress, use plugins to help with smart content loading.
The next web design trend to note is minimal icons. This trend expands on the overall increase in minimal designs and applies it to icons.
Minimalist icons really on the icons’ essential elements to tell users what they do. The clean lines, simple shapes, and minimal colors give a clean, timeless look to any part of your website.
How do I integrate minimal icons into my website?
If you want to use more minimal designs, the best steps are to evaluate your current icons and revamp them all to a new, cohesive pattern. Look at the icons on your site and ask yourself the following questions:
Do these icons clearly relate to the subject they correspond to?
Are my icons easy to see and use?
Do my icons distract from other areas of my website?
Once you evaluate your current icons, you can consider whether they can be more minimal and what design you want to try.
15. 3D design making a comeback
When you think bold 3D design, the 90’s might come to mind. However, like many other features from the past, 3D design is making a comeback in 2024.
3D elements are excellent for catching users’ attention and pointing them to a specific feature on your website. For example, if you want to make your CTA buttons stand out, a 3D graphic or animation is a great place to start.
Even small icons can make a big difference — like this example from a 3D printing company:
Plus, if you already have a colorful, exciting website, 3D can give it more visual weight and add to the fun aesthetic.
How do I integrate 3D design into my website?
You can add 3D elements in the following areas:
Logos
Icons
Buttons
Images
Sidebars
Heading images
And more!
16. Organic and sustainable themes
Up next on our list of design trends is the increased push towards sustainability and organic design. As overall consumer mindsets shift towards a more sustainable future, companies are incorporating those themes into their design.
Sustainability can be direct, like labels that show the environmental benefits of a certain product:
It can also be more subjective, like using nature scenes and colors for your branding to evoke a particular vibe.
How do I integrate sustainability into my website?
There are plenty of ways to include sustainable themes in your website. For one, if you have any packaging, services, or products that are environmentally friendly, be sure to make that clear in your copy.
You can also:
Use natural color schemes, like neutrals, earth tones, and greens
Incorporate images of natural scenery
Use icons to showcase your sustainability efforts
Rely on organic shapes
17. Vintage looks
Vintage is in style for everything from clothing to web design trends. From grainy overlays to old-school lettering, vintage web design is making a comeback for brands in different industries. Your company can follow this web design trend to revamp your website for 2024.
Even particular designs and products can bring on a feeling of nostalgia. For example, this section of Polaroid’s website invokes feelings of older technology (with a modern twist):
In the example above, Polaroid opted for a traditional design with their products while highlighting its modernity all at once.
How do I integrate vintage looks into my website?
If you want to instill a nostalgic vibe to your design, there are plenty of ways to do so.
First, ask yourself why you want to make consumers feel nostalgic. Do you want to make your brand feel timeless? Or are you bringing back a nostalgic feel to sell more products? This step will help you decide what change to make to your web design.
Then, you can play around with the following design elements to give off a vintage look to your viewer:
Grainy textures on photos
Vintage color schemes
Textures and patterns
18. Data-driven designs
Over the past few years, web designers and search engine optimization (SEO) experts have created new ways to test and improve designs. Web design is not a black and white process — it takes time to learn and understand what nuances your users prefer.
In 2024, we can expect web designers to use data to build out their designs. Using data to understand what your target audience wants and then implementing those preferences will make your design more effective overall.
This trend can impact everything from color scheme to copy placement and more. It may also impact the way you implement the other trends on this list!
How do I integrate data-driven designs into my website?
You can use different forms of data collection to improve your web design and earn more conversions. A/B testing is one popular way to see what designs users prefer. Creating and submitting tests regularly will make sure your design is as effective as possible.
Expert insights from
Keely YeagerSenior Web Designer
“We have a whole CRO team that is always submitting tests, allowing us to enhance the users’ interactions on the site to see what will be the best!”
19. Gamification
Gamification makes your website feel more like a game and gets users to convert. The idea is to make your site or service more fun and natural, so users want to give you their information, sign up for a service, etc.
One popular example of gamification in web design is how Starbucks manages their reward system:
The point-collecting feels like levels of a game, which makes it more entertaining to spend and earn rewards.
Another great example of gamification on a website is Girl Jams, an AI-powered songwriting tool that feels like a retro videogame. This site feels incredibly retro (see tip 17 above!) and makes it feel like you are playing a game while using their AI generator.
How do I integrate gamification into my website?
The best way to add gamification is by looking for ways to add game elements in the existing areas of your site. You may implement more storytelling and interesting design with minimal interactions. Or, you may create a game that leads users to the best product for their needs.
Whatever you end up doing, you can test your site with an audience to make sure it plays well!
20. Multimedia art and design
Multimedia art is nothing new. However, in 2024, we can expect to see many more companies employing multimedia elements in their designs.
Take the example above, Girl Jams. Their homepage uses a mix of photos, graphics, text, and even illustration to create an eye-catching site:
With this combination of media, Girl Jams catches your attention without overwhelming your eyes.
How do I integrate multimedia art into my website?
Play around with different types of art and media. Consider the following types of media and how they can impact your website:
Videos
Images
Illustrations
Graphics
Animations
GIFs
For example, you can use illustrations and videos to create an immersive, fun experience. Or, overlaying photos in a collage can feel more vintage and homemade. Whatever you choose, make sure it reflects your brand and voice to enhance UX.
21. VR
Rounding out our list of web design trends for 2024 is VR. VR is becoming more accessible, and even expected, in the design world. With companies like Meta pioneering the industry, smaller companies can now use VR elements to give their site a modern twist.
As the technology becomes more common, we can expect more businesses to user VR on their website in some way.
How do I integrate VR into my website?
There are many places to use VR on your website, including the following:
Virtual product demonstrations
Virtual tours and building walkthroughs
Product showcases
VR helps people imagine what your product or service will be like without having to buy. You can give them more information and convince them to convert without adding any more work to your sales team.
We’ll help you create a website that stands out.
“WebFX has been instrumental in helping us develop a new website, allowing us to be a leader in our industry.”
We stay ahead of the curve in terms of marketing and design, and we can help update your existing website or create a completely new website that drives revenue. No matter what you need to prepare for 2024 web design trends, WebFX is here to help!
Macy is a marketing writer with over five years of experience creating content for dozens of industries including food and beverage, home services, and education. She also specializes in creating SEO and PPC content. Her work has been featured by Search Engine Journal, HubSpot, Entrepreneur, Clutch, and more. In her free time, Macy enjoys trying new crafts and reading comic books.
