It appears as if the "green" movement has made its way into website design, as we experience a shift toward natural tones and earthy designs.
So what can we really expect from government website designs in the future? The Photo Element One of the most predominate changes in design we have noticed over the past year is the transition to shorter, simpler banners instead of large banners with blended photos.
This change has allowed cities/counties to showcase one large image (or a slideshow of large images) in the content area of the homepage, which creates a cleaner, more modern appearance.
The City of Alliance, Nebraska incorporated a short banner throughout their site that has given them room to include a slideshow that allows visitors to interact with the website.
This interaction is an important aspect of the design as it adds more interest to the homepage and entices users to look around the rest of the site.
The City of Montrose, Colorado also developed a short and attractive, yet functional banner.
This freed real estate on the homepage to place a stunning image of an area attraction.
This automatically draws the attention of site visitors and lures them in to explore more of the site.
In addition, with the smaller banner the City doesn't have to worry about a large banner pushing content on internal pages down below the "fold.
" The Background Element There is a charming trend that is beginning to use the background image of the website as a forefront design technique.
Adding subtle design elements in the background is gaining popularity as it offers another dimension to the website.
In addition, when those visitors with higher screen resolutions view the site, they will see more than just a website with a blank background.
However, caution is advised when using this technique; the goal of the background image is to help direct the visitor's eye to the content.
You don't want the image to be so bold that it distracts from your overall goal of conveying information.
The City of Claremore, Oklahoma created a stunning image of train tracks and the setting sun in which they laid their website overtop.
By deliberately positioning the website below the setting sun and at the base of the tree, your eye is directed straight to the areas that are most important.
The City of Billings, Montana also used this technique to successfully frame their website using a mountain lake.
The Human Element We are seeing a trend towards simpler designs that include the human element.
The addition of these elements-hand-drawn fonts, sketches, Polaroid images, torn edges, etc-are giving personalities to otherwise emotionless websites, just as a hand-written note conveys more emotion than an email.
Adding these personal touches-in addition to neutral tones-the Cowichan Valley Regional District has created an environment that is inviting to site visitors and encourages them to interact with your organization.
The Natural Element The one thing you will notice throughout all of the examples is that natural elements are making their way into modern government website design.
Is this because the city and county examples I have chosen have integrated their marketing image with the natural attractions that surround them? Perhaps.
Or maybe it's my innate bias towards these designs and their natural elements? That could be.
This got me looking at websites for large metro areas such as the City of San Francisco and Boston; both of which bring their own aspects of nature to the website.
Bringing natural elements to your website-whether it's a small graphic, natural colors or the overall theme-produces a calming affect for site visitors and makes your city/county more approachable.