What to expect of Web design in 2005 - Part 1
What to expect of Web design in 2005 – GraphicsIQ
This is sort of a quick synopsis of an article writeen by Forty media. I tried to read their article but their web site was down.
You don’t see too many design firms (especially web design firms) going public with their predictions what is in store for 2005. I’ll go point by point here and offer my insight as one of the “new breed” of web designers that’s just starting to get into a good groove. A little background on me for those who don’t know I have an AAS in Multimedia/Web Development from The Art Institute of Dallas. I graduated back in the summer of 2002 and this coming February I’ll be celebrating my two year anniversary in this career. I’m categorizing myself as part of the new breed of web designers. We are, in my opinion, designers that are concerned with web standards while understanding that they are newer than the internet and still need much acceptance on a global level before they will become extremely useful. We are a breed that’s happy to stand on the shoulders of geniuses learning about popular languages like XHTML and CSS, while still very interested in learning newer technologies like XML and XSLT. So, onto the article synopsis:
Under Themes of the year 2005 I agree that minimalism is on the way out. I think that has to do with the ever decreasing prices of DSL and its increasing ability to be offered in more rural areas. That and the newer technologies enabling broadband connections through power lines mean that more graphics are back in style and flash will become more popular than ever. Designers are paying more and more attention to detail at the same time though which will alter the way we see designs next year in a move away from minimalism, but not too far away.
More and more people are using broadband. This year we saw the percentages get close to 50/50 between broadband and dial-up users. The last half of 2004 has also shown us that there are still lots of people willing to stick with dial-up. Two years ago you could have broadband for $40-60 a month. In most small cities (Like mine, Roseburg Oregon population 30,000) up to the largest of cities the first half of 2004 saw major changes in DSL pricing. Most phone companies began rolling out a new pricing matrix in the beginning of 2004 that allowed users to opt for DSL as cheap as $25 a month. So, what does that mean? That’s right. Dial up had to compete to survive so that means dial up is going back down in price. The second half of this year saw dial-up prices go back down to $8-12 per month. In a little side note here I’d like to predict that by 2006 broadband through power lines will be common place and that dial up will eventually be free again.
So back to the article and it’s Themes for 2005. I disagree partially with the new color directions designers will be taking. I think that we’ll see some new colors, but other older colors will remain. When it comes to the tech blues and greys they will remain strong for technology sites. You will see a decline of tech colors and themes in corporate web sites. Corporations may use bolder variations or themes in their colors on their web sites but you won’t see them using more graphics.
I think that Flash will remain very popular in 2005 but you won’t see as many firms making money with it. It will not be seen as professional as a well coded, great looking static site. Professionals in 2005 that control their web sites budgets will spend more money on usability and less on Flash. If a site looks really pretty with lots of animations and colors but leaves your users clueless when it comes to finding information, consumers will notice and will go somewhere else. 2005 will be another rebuilding year for lots of big web sites. These sites will be rebuilt with web standards in mind. And while Flash will remain an important toll for designers, it will not be the only tool we use to get the job done. Flash will be used for advertisments and small menu navigations this coming year along with a few new uses. Flash has plunged itself into the already crowded video market. Flash will do very well in 2005 by simplifying the end-users ability to quickly view a video or multimedia presentation without opening a program outside the browser.
More about this article later…