Trend lists emerge every year from all corners of the internet. Now that the first quarter of 2013 is over, it's time to take stock of which trends are going to be big this year and which aren't. This article takes a look at mobile marketing, design, and technology trends that have been put on lists by a variety of sources. To what extent does a trend have a chance of actually coming of age this year?
Design trends
Smartphone vendors and manufacturers all have their own design guidelines, but designers are still designers. They undoubtedly try to put their own stamp on the designs they deliver, despite these guidelines, this was true in 2007 and it still is.
Responsive & fluid design
This trend started a while ago and was also high on the trend lists last year. The trend will undoubtedly continue this year. Although responsive and fluid design are not limited to mobile, they are often associated with it. Responsive layouts can adapt themselves to almost any screen size regardless of the device; whether it is a smartphone, tablet, laptop, smart TV or even a refrigerator. The main question here is not:
“on which devices is my site viewed”, but: “is the content of my site suitable for a responsive design?” And if not: “how can we make this content suitable for different devices?”.
Of course, this is a matter of taste. However, it cannot be denied that we are seeing list to data more and more flattened and simplified designs. This in favor of buttons and interface elements that are enriched with abundant gradients, 3D effects or other skeueomorphic effects. These simple designs try to make the most of the space on the screen and here every pixel counts. Google has been using such a style for some time on the interfaces of Android. This is in stark contrast to the skeueomorphic style that Apple has been using since the first iPhone. Against the guidelines, more and more designers are also delivering simple and flat designs for iPhone apps.