Like any business that involves creativity, there are certain trends and fashions that seem to come and go within the realm of graphic design. Some of these we adore, and can’t wait to see reemerge. Others we wish would crawl into a hole and remain there for long, dark while. However, staying up to date on what’s popular in graphic design will save you a lot of headaches within your own projects. Having hip trends down pat makes your designs look savvier, and can potentially win you more business.

We aren’t saying we’ve got our finger on the whole pulse of the business, but we do we feel we have a pretty comprehensive understanding of what’s “cool” at the moment. With that in mind, we’ve pooled together a few of the more noticeable trends we’ve seen in Web design lately for your inspiration and education.

  1. Photos: First off the bat, we’ve been noticing a lot of photography use in site backgrounds. Images are a great way to create emphasis, every bit as much as say a traditional header or footer.  If you’re shooting for a modern and chic look, add a few brilliant (and theme appropriate) images to the background of your Web content. Don’t overdue it, as pictures come across as terribly heavy. However, with a light touch, a photo or two really can set off your design.
  2. Different Strokes: Another trend we’ve noticed a lot of in recent years is typography mixing. Typography in general has really taken off, at least in the sense that people now care about it. Gone are the days of using Papyrus and Comic Sans in your business site. They’ve been replaced by a unique blend of large and small typesets, creating an interesting pastiche of font sizes. To add flair and vogue to your designs, try varying the size of your font choices, emphasizing words with size, rather than weight or color.
  3. Hit the Button: If there’s one trend you absolutely cannot afford to ignore, it’s the emphasis on social networking buttons. These have crept into every design we could name, and they’re extremely important for the life of your media. Without these, your content cannot easily be shared with social networking venus: A medium that’s becoming more and more important in our culture with every passing minute. Throw in a few social networking buttons and save yourself some traction headaches later on.