Every year, I like to take stock of where web design is headed—and 2025 is shaping up to be one of the boldest years yet. This roundup covers 25 of the biggest web design trends I'm seeing across the internet right now. Whether you're a fellow dev, a designer, or a founder figuring out what the hell to do with your homepage, this should help spark some ideas.
This originally appeared on Spectrum IT Consulting, where I share more resources and insights for growing businesses through thoughtful design and tech.
🚀 Interactive and Immersive Experiences
1. Micro Animations
Tiny details with big impact. Micro animations help guide users, reinforce actions, and give interfaces that extra bit of polish. Think hover effects, button ripples, loading indicators—they're subtle, but powerful.
2. Cursor Animation
Custom cursors are in. Designers are using them as brand elements—everything from sparkly trails to responsive morphing shapes. It’s weirdly delightful.
3. Scroll-Triggered Animations
Forget static content. Scroll-triggered animations add drama and structure to the experience—elements zoom, slide, or fade in as you scroll. It's like turning a page in a story.
4. Experimental Navigation
Hamburgers and dropdowns? Snooze. 2025 is full of weird nav: radial menus, scrolling-as-navigation, and even gesture-based navigation on some sites. It’s not for every project, but damn does it stand out.
5. Non-Traditional Scrolling
Sideways, diagonal, sticky-scroll, or scroll-jacking in a good way—creativity is bleeding into scroll mechanics, making them part of the storytelling experience.
🎨 Visual Design Elements
6. Futuristic, Sci-Fi Gaming UI Aesthetics
Interfaces inspired by games and sci-fi films are on the rise—think neon glows, HUD-style overlays, and glitchy transitions.
7. Brutalist Design
Unapologetically harsh layouts, massive fonts, and clashing elements. Brutalism is still kicking, especially in indie and portfolio sites. Bonus points if you blend it with modern techniques like I did on my own site.
8. Organic Matter
Designs with earthy textures, wavy lines, and organic flow are balancing out the cold, minimal vibes of the past few years.
9. UFOs (Unexpected Floating Objects)
Floating shapes, drifting blobs, and gravity-defying elements that dance on the screen. They break the grid in fun ways and keep things playful.
10. Full-Screen Headers
The “above the fold” area is now “above everything.” Full-screen headers are visually intense and set the tone right away.
11. 3D Websites
WebGL and friends are being used for more than just cool portfolios—product showcases, interactive charts, and landing pages are all getting the 3D treatment.
🧱 Layout and Structure
12. Bento Grid / Bento UI
Inspired by Japanese bento boxes, this layout style uses modular blocks to organize content. Great for portfolios and dashboards.
13. Grid Design (With a Twist)
Asymmetric grids are hot. Breaking the perfect grid rules adds personality while keeping layouts structured.
14. Negative Space / White Space
Whitespace isn't just trendy—it’s foundational. It makes everything breathe and helps direct attention to the stuff that matters.
🔠 Typography and Color
15. Expressive Typography
Type is no longer just functional. It's huge, it's moving, it's animated. Designers are using expressive fonts as centerpieces instead of just accents.
16. Color Trends
We’re seeing bold contrasts, saturated gradients, transparent overlays, and interactive themes that respond to user preferences. It's like a paint party for the web.
17. Dark Mode and Light Mode
It’s not just about flipping between black and white anymore. Great dark mode means rethinking design balance, color theory, and accessibility from the ground up.
🧾 Content Presentation
18. Text-Only Websites
Text-only layouts are coming back—especially for writers, devs, and minimalist blogs. Super fast, super readable, super raw.
19. Custom Illustrations
Illustrations give a site instant personality. Bonus points if they're animated or interactive.
20. Blending Images and Graphics
Mixing photography with graphical overlays—like doodles, arrows, and collage elements—is a killer way to add context and creativity.
⚙️ Technical Enhancements
21. Chatbot Design
Bots have grown up. They’re now brand reps with personality, custom UIs, and seamless interactions. Think less "tech support" and more "concierge."
22. Smart Videos
Silent by default, looped seamlessly, and designed for performance—videos are now ambient design elements instead of content hogs.
23. Anti-Design
This is the punk rock of web design—clashing colors, chaotic layouts, ugly fonts, and attitude. It shouldn’t work, but sometimes it really does.
24. Increased Focus on UX/UI
The best UI is the one you don’t notice. Expect even more obsession with micro-interactions, user flow, and intuitive design.
25. Responsive Web Design
This isn’t a trend—it’s a necessity. But the approach is getting smarter. Think foldables, ultrawides, and screen ratios that weren’t even on our radar 5 years ago.
Final Thoughts
2025 web design is all about personality, playfulness, and performance. Trends are moving fast, and if you're not keeping up—you’re falling behind.
If you’re working on a redesign or planning something new, feel free to reach out. I help businesses build modern, performant websites that are anything but boring. You can check out more of my work and get in touch at Spectrum IT Consulting.
