Times are always changing, and that is no truer for any industry than for Web designers. These designers are expected to stay ahead of the curve, being able to make websites that perfectly navigate the delicate balance between human touch and automated coding. In 2012, there are expected to be some major changes and trends that change this field, and knowing what to expect will help Web designers best serve their clients.

Responsive Web Design

This Web design philosophy is when a website’s design is made in such as a way so that it can conform to any screen size. This has largely been used for desktops and laptops, and really isn’t anything new. However, as the world starts using mobile platforms more frequently, responsive Web design is expected to really affect mobile Web browsers.

The truth is that the majority of websites do not yet have a mobile presence, and their websites can be very hard to view on a smaller screen. However, many are predicting that 2012 will be the year when most website owners and designers really take this need seriously. As a consequence, most websites will finally have attractive and responsive mobile designs.

Circle Effects

Until recently, making circles in a website was pretty difficult. The designs never really turned out correctly, and it took a lot of work to really make them work. However, with CSS3 helping Web designers with shapes and curves, this is finally becoming simpler to do.

Overall, the circles are being used as a main portion of the website, but they are also being used for navigation bars and miscellaneous elements.

Better and Bigger Vector Images

While some websites were using vector images, they were often small elements. In 2012, it is expected that vector logos and mascots will become mainstream and used for most websites. This is because most Web designers have gotten better at illustrating, and because these images make it easier for businesses to brand themselves.

Streamlined Animations

Beforehand, when someone wanted an animation, the Web designer had to make a GIF file. GIFs can be tedious to make, but they always seem to need so much memory. However, jQuery, CSS3 and HTML5 can all help with this, as they have animation support.

This means that animations are quicker to develop, and it is much easier for websites to load and show them.

Custom Fonts

Web designers with custom font obsessions have long been snuffed by difficult to use and buggy software that rarely led to expected results. However, custom font coding has recently become much better, and 2012 is considered to be the year of custom fonts. This will help Web designers make websites that can sell items, or to change the entire aesthetic of a page through a great and custom font.

The two biggest systems for this are Typekit and Google Web Fonts, though there are many more out there.

Focus on Message

The average attention span is getting shorter and shorter, and Web designers need to make websites that focus solely on the message. This helps clients sell their product or service, and it makes it easy for visitors to know what the website is about.

According to many Web design experts, you need to show your purpose immediately, otherwise people may leave before even scrolling down to find out more about the website.

This article was contributed by allgreenshopping.com who offer a variety of green cleaning products.