.Nets Hidden Gems for 2010

Since taking that step from my first to second year of my multimedia BA I have defiantly noticed a changed. To achieve my goal I am going to sleep, eat and dream multimedia, in particular interactive and website design. So as part of gaining extra knowledge of the area I have subscribed to .Net Magazine for the last few months. February has been a hidden gem of tips and exciting artists/ web developers that have really interested me.

2010 is foreseen (by .Net) as a year to take advantage of the webs efficiency and modularity. It will become a bigger part of "critical part of advertising and content delivery". The webs has shifted from number two in the advertising stakes to number one. This means that there is more opportunity, with more niches to specialise in for us (as newcomers to website design).

Visual Trends:Bigger influences from print are becoming more popular due to the new wave of application based design. Large, bold type faces are also predicted to be the new centre piece of many designs. Craig Grannell, a writer and website designer predicts that their will be a move away from Web 2.0 cliches and a surge towards a fresher approach with plenty of white space to enhance visuals.

Print design resurfacing as a main influence will mean designers will take inspiration from retro designs and use more colour, for example

http://gowalla.com/ The site is a new trends heading towards bright, simple, colourful interfaces that I think look slightly application based if you look at the logos that represent the different sections of the site. This will also attract people around my age and older that will be attracted to the way it looks like touch screen technology. On the other hand the simplicity of the website could head towards flash based websites that could add some more 'fun' to the simple layout.

Standards:

• Javascript libraries will become increasingly more popular
• Safari, FireFox, chrome and opera will be continued to be developed. Safari especially due to the positive feedback from iPhone and android. The iPhone and safari used on a laptop browser will become richer

"A 2010 designer must become more expressive and rekindle their passion for creativity, to make the web more beautiful and intuitive...However if you're a designer who doesn't know code you better learn NOW" -Craig Grannell

Backgrounds: So far during my designing experience with website I have found the background a very important aspect of the website design. Seems an obvious statement to make but their have been many websites I have been on where I have been plain boooorrrrreeeeeed! .NET have made some really good points about making the background, foreground and main content work in harmony.

• The background should be tightly integrated with the foreground to work as one
• It makes the background work more functionally but visually it gives the scene a greater sensation of depth
• Does your background do it all? Or is it an afterthought? Could that solid white background be transformed into something else? (don't make it too cramped though).