Website design trends continue to evolve, with designers experimenting with both dark and light themes. While we still see some projects embracing light aesthetics—such as the ongoing pastel trend—a notable shift towards moodier, more atmospheric designs is shaping the web.
Here’s what’s trending in design this month of July 2024:
Pastel Colour Palettes
One of the few lighter design trends we’re seeing this year is the continued use of pastel colour palettes. Despite the dominance of darker aesthetics, some web designers are opting for soft, muted tones to provide a refreshing contrast.
These designs tend to use pastel tones as the foundation for backgrounds, often combined with subtle blur effects. This helps create a gentle, modern feel that doesn’t appear too soft or feminine but strikes a balance against the prevalent dark themes.
Robust uses blue and earth tones for a pastel background that feels modern and strong when paired with the hard-edged headline font.
Atmos uses a cloud-like pastel palette of blues, pinks, and purples, perfectly aligning with its airline-themed content to give users the sensation of flying. The colours are soft, promoting easy readability while maintaining visual appeal.
Klezma follows a similar path with graduated peach tones, providing a neutral background that allows the content to shine without overpowering the user experience.
Fonts with a Distinct Retro Look
Fonts with a distinct retro vibe have surged in popularity again, particularly for headlines. These typefaces, often reminiscent of the 1960s and ’70s, add a nostalgic element that resonates well in contemporary design, creating a bold, playful feel.
However, these retro fonts are best suited for short headlines or phrases rather than body text due to their decorative nature and the readability challenges they pose.
Sretks goes full retro with a typeface that bends and twists in unique ways, complemented by a funky colour palette to amplify its old-school vibe.
Barge 166 uses a serif retro font that’s slightly easier to read while still maintaining that vintage aesthetic. It’s an excellent choice for websites that need to combine retro style with readability across multiple lines of text.
Picky Joe uses a retro typeface with rounded letters and a bit of a tilt to the characters to create a distinct feel. This is definitely a style that has to be used sparingly but can be a fun option, depending on the content of your website design.
Dark Product-Focused Sites
Dark mode design has firmly established itself as one of the most significant trends in web design for 2024. This trend has carried over into product websites, challenging the traditional use of white or light backgrounds to showcase products. More designers are now embracing dark, atmospheric backdrops even for e-commerce and product-focused sites.
While this approach creates a sleek, stylish aesthetic, it’s essential to ensure the products remain easily visible and the user experience doesn’t suffer.
HQBC, which sells bike accessories like helmets and glasses, presents its products against dark backgrounds, conveying a sense of sleek, modern sophistication. However, users may find it challenging to see enough detail in the products to make a confident purchase online, suggesting the design is more geared toward brand-building than direct e-commerce.
Doggystyle Shop uses a mix of dark and light backgrounds, starting with dark tones but switching to white backgrounds as users move deeper into the purchase funnel. This way, users can view the products before completing a transaction, balancing style with practicality.
FirstFit uses dark aesthetics on its landing pages to create a visual impact but shifts to lighter backgrounds for in-depth product information. This hybrid approach works well for brands that want to draw users in with an alluring, moody design while still providing easy access to product details.
Conclusion
The current landscape of web design in 2024 reflects a tension between light and dark, with both aesthetics competing for attention. Dark mode continues to reign supreme, but pastel colour palettes and retro fonts offer a lighter, nostalgic counterpoint. Whether a design is dark or light, the focus remains on creating emotionally resonant, highly visual experiences that engage users from the moment they land on the site.
No matter which trends you explore, it’s clear that web design is becoming more experimental and diverse, allowing designers to express creativity while maintaining usability.
