It’s time to take step away from the traditional website designs law firms and other professional service firms have been clinging to. Take a look at what is here and coming in 2018.
The following web design trends have already started to leave their impression on the web. Not so much in law firms and other professional services industries, but why not do something fresh with your key marketing asset. Below are some thought provoking design topics and examples from our friends at Elegant Themes.
We know change is hard, but read-on and maybe, just maybe consider some of these design elements and take a step or two away traditional designs and put some “zing” in your site.
- Vibrant Color Schemes and Non-traditional Images: Vibrant color schemes are perhaps the tamest part of this trend as we’re also going to see more experimentation with double exposure, gradients, and photo saturation. Rocka
- Interesting Typography Choices: Catchy design influences to draw in the visitor. First off, let’s be clear that this one isn’t about anything other than header text and home page design. The rules established regarding the readability of standard paragraph text are ones that should never be broken. KXU
- Asymmetry: Users have been trained well to understand how websites work: 1) Use the top navigation to find other pages; 2) Scroll down to read more; and 3) Click the flat, colorful buttons for more information. Now that users have the basic principles down, you are free to experiment with layouts and grids, using unexpected changes and asymmetrical balance. Leen Heyne
- Video and Animation: Likely a reach for legal and professional service firms, but look for commercial web designers to shake up design with video and animation, just not in the ways we’ve traditionally seen it used. Ann Street Studio
- Sticky Elements: With all the design innovation and disruption, Sticky navigation and calls to action are not going away. CoSchedule
- Hand-Drawn Elements: The new “stock image” trend. Look for more hand-drawn elements in designs, providing visitors with a sense of creativity lacking in more traditional design treatments. Basecamp
- Fluid Shapes: Geometry rules and can make a very unique and professional design. Not for the frail at heart, but add some vibrant color and movement… Voila, you have something special and different from the crowd! Fyne Digital Creative
- Mobile Prioritization: Responsive web design (e.g. mobile-friendly websites) is the de facto standard, but many firms are well behind that curve. Prioritization of the mobile experience is coming in Google indexing. If you do not have a mobile responsive design, you are in deep doo-doo with this Google index update. Read about Mobile First Indexing
Some of these elements may not be a fit for your firm, but simply food for thought of what is possible, and maybe take a small step away from the crowd. Either way…
Contact us to discuss your plans for 2018, we look forward to supporting you in creating a design unique to your firm’s practice, people and culture.