There’s a lot changing, and I don’t mean the seasons. We’re from Fargo, ya know. Websites and their partners printed materials and videos are taking a turn for the better. People are becoming more aware of the importance of content, the art of storytelling, and getting to the point of what their business is, and what it truly does. In other terms they are developing a clear brand agenda. As I mentioned in my previous article about the reemergence of photography, custom photography is coming back.

I believe these current trends sparked the Content Revolution. This revolution didn’t just affect the written word or custom photography. It also affected the way designers design. We became more aware of getting to the point, removed unnecessary design elements and started putting a heavy focus on what we really need our target audience to do. That said, here are five trends that I’ve noticed from our last few big design projects. Essentially, we put theory into practical use.

A website’s homepage should have one simple direct message that really hammers home what the company sells, what the organization does or what service it provides. This can be accomplished with 3 to 7 carefully chosen words that say everything about your business. In advertising speak, a slogan. We’ve completely eliminated the classic “Welcome to our site”…. and a block of copy that nobody would read. The theory behind this, people just don’t care. If they come to your website looking for something, just tell them you have it. If they are interested, they’ll dig in.

  • The options for a variety of fonts (graphic content) has exploded as of late. We no longer live in a day where a designer had to choose from 10 PC compliant or universal fonts. These were fonts that are installed on every PC from purchase..and some Mac counterparts. These fonts included such classics as: Arial, Arial Black, Comic Sans, Courier, Georgia, Impact, Lucida Sans, Palatino, Tahoma, Times, Trebuchet, Verdana and all our favorite Webdings. However, now with the options of Google Fonts and website font installation software, the world of fonts has become endless for designers. This means you’ll start seeing more typography approach to websites, heavier focus on stylized headlines and headlines that have a bigger impact on the page.
  • Clever navigation. Again, the days of the logo with a row of navigation buttons are waning. Icons representing navigation or simple motion of the cursor can draw the navigation from hiding. This allows the initial site view to be clean and focus on the direct message and image of the company or organization. We finally have navigation that follows along with the user and is there when they need it; just not there all the time in front of them. This allows the site to purely focus on the intentions of the content being presented. A lot of this design practice is borrowed from App Development. People have gotten used to simple click to expand a navigation. For web design this was a complete no-no in the past.
  • Page Scrolling is hot. Back in the day we used to have something called a page fold. That meant the goal was to have all your website’s content, images, widgets, gadgets and footer all on the initial page view. So, when you’re talking about your classic website design, that meant the logo, the menu, the “welcome to our site”, the header image, body copy and the weather widget all right in front of you. Well, after a while that’s a lot of stuff for the eye to take in and honestly, looking back the sites were pretty ugly. Now, with the content focused movement, we focus on one powerful image and one powerful statement and navigate the eye to explore further with simple motions to instruct them to the next sales step, versus have to pull down a menu or click around to find the next step.
  • Calls to Action are clear but not screaming. New html and css code is probably the biggest leap forward, but it’s not just the button design options that have changed. Different options for a more sophisticated user experience come into play. With more content relevant and clear, concise messaging, calls to action based on user interests have become a very real thing. People might not be all looking to buy now. They may just be interested in more information (cool leads). A designer isn’t just creating a static homepage and subpage. With the advent of content managed sites, the designer is now empowered to hide calls to action within the context of the copy and imagery at will. Which, for some time, was a bit of a rift between the design and development team. The constant and often time consuming conversations to add things in or change things around at will has been almost eliminated. Designers are more fully designing and customizing each and every page on the site now, not just creating a template.

Although, the technology has dramatically changed, it was the onset of the Content Revolution that brought the most change in the attitudes toward what websites should do, how they should look and navigate. Remember, content isn’t just the written word. It’s the photos, graphics, colors, fonts, navigation and functionality of your website that will determine its success. These changes in design, although this is specifically related to web design, can also be applied to print and video in the form of simple, clear messaging and compelling imagery. That’s where a professional agency/web firm comes in to add higher value. Feel free to contact us at 701-478-1111 or absolutemg.com/contact to start your conversation.