The web is constantly evolving and while a few things come as a (r)evolution by surprise, most are pretty much predictable and develop over the years. Keeping track with the current trends and the ones from the previous years, there’s pretty much chance to accurately predict what will dominate the web in the next year.
Flat and colorful styles will be overused
Maybe a bit unexpectedly, Microsoft has resurrected and the Windows 8 brought a brand new trend into UI design, inspiring countless website designs in 2013. The so called flat UI when done right can really be effective, focusing on the content while still making it possible for apps to stand out by design.
You can follow the advance of this style on sites like Behance, Dribbble, Theme Forest and Graphic River.
Pinterest style masonry will be used when needed, not abused as this year
You've probably seen countless Pinterest clones this year, even Google Plus redesigned it's activity stream in the layout that works so well for Pinterest, but feels pretty unnatural at G+. Luckily, they've left the possibility of switching to the single column layout. In the following year, this trend will probably lose it's strength and the masonry will be applied only when it makes sense, such as in portfolios, item collections or so. [caption id="attachment_63" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Messy Pinterest-style layouts[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_64" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Messy Pinterest-style layouts[/caption]
One column websites for all resolutions will flourish
With the evolution of device-agnostic development and design, the rise of single column fluid designs is already visible this year, but it will probably increase drastically during the following year(s). The designers' efforts to get rid of (or pack it in a more effective manner) aside content make more and more websites sidebar-free. A good example is GoodUi. [caption id="attachment_65" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Good UI - one column design[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_66" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Jason & Erin blog[/caption]
Newsletter signup forms will be more prominent
With the users' attention span becoming ever smaller, most marketing techniques used to date are decreasing in efficiency. Facebook and Twitter don't bring as much traffic as they did a couple of years ago, even if you have a large number of followers. That's why many webmasters turn to email marketing, and the battle for convincing users to join yours is intensifying. Designers are working harder to bring focus to the newsletter signup form without compromising the primary content of the website and the overall user experience. [caption id="attachment_67" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Think Traffic[/caption]
Full width images and videos popularity will keep growing
However, many image backgrounds will get effects such as noise, scratches, blur, black & white, focus points and other ways to attract attention while being as unobtrusive as possible. [caption id="attachment_71" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Studio airport full-page background[/caption]
