Physical Products as Part of the Digital Design
For E-commerce sites products are of course the most important element of the design focus. In 2021 we will see a more dramatic use of products being integrated into the design as graphical part of the composition rather than a stand-alone element within the design.
This could take the form of colour dashed across a web page like nail-polish or images that are cropped in rectangles with rounded edges in the shape of smart phones. This not only creates a harmonious integration between the product and the website, it also serves to make the experience seem more naturalistic and vibrant.

As websites have become an inseparable component from our everyday lives, this design trend of integrating the real world with the digital seems a natural step.
Questionnaires That People Enjoy Completing
The most critical moment of the user journey through your website, is the on-boarding process. That is the period of time in which a user subscribes to your offering, be it signing up for membership or your company newsletter.
That moment of decision between the user relinquishing their personal details or moving on to another website is decided in a moment and can make all the difference to the success or failure of your business.

An increasing number of brands are utilising questionnaires to create a more engaging interactive experience with potential customers. These can take the form of personable multiple choice quizzes to ascertain the visitors likes and dislikes in order to present them with more personally appealing products.
In terms of design this means that the landing pages appear more as a series of cards containing animated effects on them. This makes them much more interactive and enjoyable than regular form input fields and therefore much more likely to tempt users to engage with it.
This personalised approach makes the customer feel more included in the service from the outset and is looking to be a standard website feature in 2021.
3D Colour
This design trend is linked into the Neumorphism trend discussed in a previous article and sees the two dimensional colour schemes of flat design evolving more towards gradients. An example of these more lifelike three dimensional colours can be seen in Apple’s latest OS rollout Big Sur.

A fine shading effect is applied to give a more rounded feel to the previously flat icons. Currently this trend is most prevalent in App design however it is becoming more utilised in web design also. Colours may dramatically smear into each other or they may retain the shadows and depth of more physical objects. In summary it looks as though colour trends for 2021 are veering towards more 3D realism.