Trends are something that guides professionals through the many options on the market. They serve more as milestones than dogmas that one should follow blindly. This article highlights the latest UI trends that will help your UI design stand out.
What is UI?
Simply speaking, UI stands for “user interface”. It’s a very important part of every product as it creates a unique look and feel that distinguishes one product from another. UI is the method that the user interacts with a mobile application, web site, etc., in a visual, kinesthetic, and auditory way.
User Interface Trends
To know what kind of UI trends to follow, we asked LITSLINK designers to share their opinion on the topic. Here’s the list of user interfaces that will dominate in 2021.
11. Gradients
Gradients made a gradual comeback in 2018, and in 2021 they do not seem to diminish their influence on design. Instead of filling an image or any other element with a single color as it is usually done with flat design, this year you can steadily blend one color into another.
The popularity of gradients can be attributed to their ability to create depth, and a gradual mix of colors involuntarily captures the user’s attention and imagination. Thus, a designer can create interesting visuals giving an image a new lease of life by mixing colors in a fascinating gradient.
Instagram is a good example of using gradients in a mobile application. It has a combination of pink, purple, orange, yellow, blue, red that makes the app eye-catching and noticeable.
10. Empty Space
Empty space also referred to as negative or white space in UI is the space between elements such as text, images, icons, etc. This modern user interface trend says that the wider the space between those elements is, the better for the user. When the space is wide, contrasts are quite clear — it helps users to pay attention to certain details and perceive information without losing their attention on other things.
9. Dark Mode
Whether you’ve skipped the goth phase or not, dark mode is something that allures almost to everyone. To say that dark mode has some really nice health benefits for you is somewhat controversial and probably doesn’t have any valid proof so far. But still, it won’t stop gaining its popularity among users in 2021.
Arguably, the dark mode owes its popularity to several reasons:
- The dark mode does not have such a strain on the user’s eyes as the light mode does;
- It also prolongs the battery life of your smartphone;
- The dark mode is easier to use in low-light environments;
- It simply looks stylish.
What is more, in the tech world, the two largest mobile operating systems on the planet have released Dark Theme in Android 10 and Dark Mode in iOS 13.
You can also find the mode in such applications and products as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Slack, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Skype, Windows 10, Mac OS Mojave, just to name a few.
That’s why the dark mode is such a powerful UI trend to follow.
8. Bold Colors
Bold colors are those that are bright, shocking, and vibrant. Rich black, green, yellow, pink, blue, etc., do not only make everything vivid and appealing but also have other positive effects on the user and products. According to Intersog, such colors provide many advantages as they:
- Increase Accessibility, meaning that using bright contrasting colors improve accessibility for people with poor eyesight.
- Enhance Readability and Legibility that provide users with eligible text on the screen of a device and make it distinguishable and visually perceptible. But it should be noted that too contrasting elements can have an opposite effect.
- Create Identity by providing eye-catching, memorable and attention-grabbing visuals that will help your brand to imprint itself on the user’s memory.
7. Neumorphism
Neumorphism or also known as the soft design is just getting started to gain its popularity. The word consists of two more words — new and skeuomorphism. The latter means a mimicry of real-life objects in UI, which the user can interact with as with genuine things. You can find a lot of such examples in software applications.
For example, Whatsapp and Viber use an icon of a handset, Instagram has an icon of an instant camera (or someone might find it as a retro camera.) All of them have concepts that are understandable for users, thus, conveying a broader understanding of what a certain app does.
Neumorphism, in turn, a UI trend that combines both the skeuomorphism and flat design. It creates an illusion or an effect of extruding from the background. It helps designers make images that resemble real things.
6. Typography Craze
Typography goes hand in hand with design. Crazy, bizarre, strange and sometimes outlandish typography is going to impose its presence on creatives in the IT industry. Convoluted letters embroidered with weird patterns, sometimes misplaced or misaligned. Still, such a hodge-podge of typography creates an interesting and remarkable design that will catch an eye even of a sophisticated user.
5. Motion Design & Animation
It’s been around for quite some time and it doesn’t seem to evaporate into thin air in 2021 either. Motion design or motion graphics design is a process of creating animated text, which is its main element. Moreover, with the help of sound effects, text, and animation, designers can create really remarkable and exceptional products.
4. 2D & 3D UI Illustrations
It seems that everyone is dead tired of observing photography and especially stock photos on every website, blog post, or any product. They hardly evoke any feelings. But illustrations are a different matter. With the advent of technology, designers now have a full capability to create 3D depth and realistic illustrations, which convey genuine interest and positive emotions.
The microtrends of this trend are 3D depth and realism and animated illustrations:
3. Animation of Microinteractions
Animation of microinteractions is the trend that is going to be enormously important this year. The reason behind this is quite simple as microinteractions help professionals create animated features of a product. This modern UI makes it possible for users to enjoy a unique user experience.
2. Functionality
The user interface values the functionality of a product. Every element has its own purpose and it’s created to serve certain functions. Nothing can be random or meaningless in the product.
1. Accessible Design
2021 is the year when designers are going to continue to create UI that will be accessible for every person out there. It means that design will become more and more accessible to people with hearing, visual, impairments, persons with epilepsy, and other conditions. To create such a product that will be inclusive for everyone, designers will have to pay thorough attention to accessibility and inclusive design. Moreover, a designer needs to comply with various laws and regulations such as ADA, for instance. Americans with Disabilities Standards for Accessible Design state that IT applications must be accessible to people with disabilities.
Wrapping up
User interface design is an integral part of any software application or product. 2021 is the year that is going to bring a lot of exciting UI trends that you can apply while designing your unique, functional, and useful products.
If you want to create an application that would incorporate the best UI trends of 2021, you can contact LITSLINK for product design services.
