Design trends come and go, shaping the visual landscape of the industry—but at their core, they remain just that: trends. When I first started in the web industry in the early 2000s, one of the dominant trends was faux textures, leading to websites that looked like they were carved from wood, made of candy, or even designed as fish tanks with floating goldfish. While these styles may seem outdated or even absurd today, they were a direct response to popular demand at the time. Yet, despite the ever-changing aesthetics, the fundamental principles of design—how content is structured and messages are conveyed—have remained constant.
Trends, styles, and fashions change, but good design and design principles remain timeless. Even as we designed these now-outdated websites that appeared to have been carved from a tree, we used the principles of Balance, Alignment, and Contrast to convey the message our clients desired to their users. A Google search for "Design Principles" yields a number of results on what constitutes the Design Principles, and without taking sides, I've decided to use the list compiled by 99 Designs.
These design principles are:
It is important to remember that regardless of the type of project, medium, or situation, actively implementing and practicing these core principles in our work does not guarantee that the project will succeed in the end. However, we will be able to create a design that is well-designed, well-rounded, balanced, and visually appealing.
As creatives, we must be aware of and knowledgeable about the changing trends in our industry. Knowing what is popular and what is going on in our industry can help us become better designers because staying new and current is what will keep us current, fresh, and relevant. As designers, our challenge is to look at these trends and incorporate them into our design process while adhering to the design principles on which we should base all of our work.