New web design trends crop up all the time, as the demands for SEO-optimisation grow more complex and increasingly savvy consumers demand more and more from the look, feel and functionality of the web. But what are the top hotel responsive web design trends of 2017?

The theme of this year’s web design trends could easily be defined as ‘experimental’, but that adventurous spirit branches off in new and unexpected ways for designers. Read on to find out a few trends you might want to consider adding to your hotel’s own responsive web design…

In a hectic world, some web designers have decided that less is quite simply more. Employing a restricted palette and with vast expanses of white space, there are greater benefits to this digital minimalism than just providing a calming space on the web. The limited content and lack of fuss in design terms also means the websites which adopt this approach have faster load speeds, and swing towards being more mobile-friendly than their more detailed counterparts.

As consensus grows that content – lots of it, on every topic under the sun – is what drives the internet, so too do new and inventive ways of stripping back the layers which separate browsers from reaching that content. The rise of websites with a focus on bold typographic copy front and centre (as seen on innumerable websites for everything from financial services to advertising agencies) is part of a larger trend towards transparency which eschews the conventional notions of making site visitors jump through a certain number of hoops before reaching the core of the website.

Brights have gone mainstream this year, with all the colours of the rainbow converging to create an eclectic, cheerful aesthetic which is at once original and familiar. Whilst some web designers have stuck with a pastel palette, others have opted for acid brights, vivid gradients and two tone schemes to dazzling effect. It seems that bright colours no longer inhibit companies from being taken seriously, as this design trend is used by some very ‘serious’ and conventional industries.

One of the hottest web design trends of the year sees layering opportunities everywhere; layering text, layering images, layering colour schemes. It’s an effect so curious as to almost look dated, but by mixing different depths and textures, the look somehow remains thoroughly future forward – and just as mobile responsive as a more staid design philosophy.

Illustration proves it isn’t just for kids this year – websites which harness the power of illustration are everywhere in 2017 – used in diverse industries and business niches. Bright colours, muted colours; graphic illustration and sketch animation – all are widely visible under this umbrella. The emphasis seems to be on creating a vivid, cutesy vision for the companies employing this approach – and it works.