The old adage “nothing lasts forever” might sound clichéd but it's actually true. We have seen how mighty dynasties bit the dust or how once-commanding crazes gradually faded away over time-and web design is no exception. One day it might get just completely boring to the extent of getting lost in the iron claws of time. But then, since web design is such a fundamental aspect of the contemporary digital world, we can at least come up with a rational approach to the problem.
Yes, the clock is probably ticking yet if we can understand the schedule, at least, we can keep ourselves better prepared for the upcoming change.
However, first, we would have a glance at the greater picture & get a hang of how the concept of design has been able to thrive this long.
Designing is the world's oldest profession
Design has always been at the core of everything which certainly marks its status as the world’s oldest profession. Whatever products or goods could be bought or sold, be it apparel or a machine, has to be designed first. In fact, money or any such similar currency which is offered for such designing services has to be drafted or “designed” as well.
If you are looking forward to assessing the immeasurable impact of design on humanity, simply have a look around. Whatever you are seeing right now, except living creatures & natural forms- buildings, clothes, your favourite mug or the solitaire adorning your beautiful finger- primarily existed as some ideas in the designers’ minds which were later smartly prototyped into objects. Design commands an enormous universal influence and its umpteen dimensions are actually tough to grasp.
Now, how do you think the world’s oldest profession could thrive this long? Well, the answer lies in a never-ending yearning for change, constant diversification & practical and theoretical conflicts which never cease.
Conflicts that were never solved
Conflict could be dubbed as the other side of the coin facing creativity and anything which calls for any amount of creativity, cannot ignore the conflicts. Since creation forms the very essence of design, its usually full of dissent.
The dissent or conflict covers miscellaneous points like what would be the ideal solution; what is the needed rule; are the rules actually needed and many other such uncertainties and debates.
Conflict in the sphere of design- or mostly in art- started with the acceleration of mass production, around the early quarters of the 20th C. Since then, the creators have always been contemplating how to serve human needs at their best that had and this is still leading to unique and creative solutions to fill the gap, not just physically yet emotionally and mentally as well.
The virtual world keeps on expanding
The contemporary digital genre shows how the web world is running as a parallel space to our physical world- where our needs have been smartly populated with advanced virtual objects, today known as websites and applications.
Almost everything from our physical space has a representation across the virtual sphere & the number is increasing with each passing day. Today, we have online stores throwing serious competition to physical ones; we have online profiles to represent our personalities to the virtual audience and the web world is fast coming up as the one-stop solution to almost every burning problem.
Moreover, the fast-evolving hardware technology extends great opportunities for us, both as users & creators- simply think of the latest craze for the wearable.
Early web design
The complex virtual world today demands more solutions & wider approach compared to the traditional simpler one which was mostly about fun and creativity. Was it? Now, what if I say there has been actually a boring grey edge of web designing, always?
Well, Wayback Machine can offer us a precise reply for it. Let’s look back to the initial phases of our new millennium and check whether this scary assumption is actually true.
So, what is it?
Yes, it’s how maximum web designs looked like back in 2000. The business sites rooting for high profits & website pages of companies calling for easy usability- took to simple straightforward designs which did not leave much room for imagination.
However, the tools seem to be changing constantly though. Thus, at least, our coding part has not turned boring. Earlier, the developers used to count on HTML tables, transparent gifs & other such sneaky techniques for an easy-to-comprehend logical layout. Today, we have developers banking on frameworks like Zurb Foundation and Bootstrap.
User experience & usability matters most now
Bootstrap makes it easy to design award-winning beautiful websites but then aesthetics isn’t always the main consideration. In fact, usability and user experience have taken the center stage today for business clients looking for accessible sites for broader user niches. Fortunately, there are also clients looking for artistic websites, such as art galleries or music bands.
Summing up
In conclusion, it can be said, that to save the future of web designing from doomsday, web designers have to adapt to newer & newer needs. We have to replace the annoying ticking clocks with perpetual mobiles. We have to proceed with an open active mind to ensure how we can best contribute to the ever-evolving sphere of web designing.
Hexadesigns is a web design company located in Kolkata, India. We design, redesign and develop websites. Build custom software, eCommerce, and mobile apps and do digital marketing. This is our blog where we publish information for the general people and web developers for their knowledge enhancement.
