2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s

A while back, Smashing Magazine did an awesome round up of 2009 Web Design Trends. The post was a great round up of trends for 2009 and websites that showcased these trends. I would like to take that post a step further and add a list of tutorials to show you how to recreate these popular trends.

Letterpress

“One of the most unexpected trends we’ve observed over the last months was the emergence of letterpress (actually pressed letters) in Web design. Probably the most important reason for this trend is the simple fact that this technique has been rarely used until now. Letterpress is used in various styles and on various websites and for various topics; in particular, it is often used in product designs and on websites for online services.”

letterpressPhotoshop Tutorial: The Letterpress Effect

Easily achieve the trendy LetterPress effect with Photoshop

Ps Letterpress emboss text effect

Create Your Own Letterpress, Inset, Debossed Text

Photoshop CS3+ Letterpress Tutorial

Create a Sleek Pressed Letter Design



Rich User Interfaces

“Happily, user interfaces in modern websites and Web applications are becoming more beautiful and more usable. Over the last year, the user experience for these applications has dramatically improved, resulting in rich and responsive user interface that have tremendous similarities with classic desktop applications. AJAX and Flash are widely used to offer users the dynamic interaction that they have come to expect from advanced, sophisticated, professional solutions.”

rich-uxjQuery Plugin: Tokenizing Autocomplete Text Entry

Ajax Tooltip with JQuery

A fancy Apple.com-style search suggestion

Interactive Map with jQuery

jQuery checkbox and Radio button



PNG transparency

“PNG transparency, although unsupported by Internet Explorer 6, seems to have gained popularity on the scene over the last year. Apparently, designers are trying to better integrate background images into the actual content and are aiming for a style that is often seen in printed media, magazines for instance.”

trancparencyTransparent Glass Lettering in Photoshop

Add Transparent Type To An Image

Transparent Desktop

How to make a Diamond in photoshop.

How to Use Depth of Field to Create Portraits with Blown-Out Backgrounds



HUGE Typography

“We presented some outstanding examples of BIG typography in previous posts. In 2009, big typography should remain popular. In particular, design agencies, portfolios, product websites and online services will use big typography to communicate the most important messages of their websites.”

big-typographyCreate a Trendy Typographic Poster Design

How to Create High Quality Metal 3D Text in Photoshop

Logo Design Project Step by Step Walkthrough

Creating a Typographic Wallpaper

Typography Wallpaper in Photoshop



Font Replacement

“As designers pay more attention to typography, they also pay more attention to the fonts that are used for the copy in the body of websites. Although classics such as Helvetica, Arial, Georgia and Verdana undoubtedly dominate, we observed a slight trend towards font replacement (for instance, with sIFR).”

fontsHow To Use Any Font You Wish With FLIR

Fixing Fancy Font Frustrations

Embedding Fonts

Use a custom font on your website

Use Any Font on Your WordPress Blog with AnyFont WordPress Plugin


Modal Boxes (Lightboxes)

“Modal boxes (dialog windows) are, essentially, the second generation of pop-ups. They serve as a user-friendly alternative to classic JavaScript windows and support users by focusing their attention on the most important area of the website.”

modalLightbox Tutorial

Lightbox Gone Wild

Building a Lightbox with jQuery

Create a Photo Admin Site Using PHP and jQuery



Media Blocks

“Users just lean back and enjoy the show; they get everything explained to them step by step, without having to click, search for descriptions or learn the navigation. The movies are usually pretty short and get directly to the point; they are mostly formal but can be entertaining, too.”

videoAdding Movies to Your Web Page

Playing Videos on a Web Site

Embedding Windows Media and QuickTime Video on a Web Page

Putting Video on Your Web Site: The Basics

How to put video on your web site



The Magazine Look

“An interesting development in the design of blogs is the adaptation of various techniques usually found in traditional (print) media. The arrangement of posts on the page, the use of typography, illustrations and even text alignment often resemble traditional techniques from print. Grid-based designs are gaining popularity as well but are used mostly in portfolios, product pages and big blogs; they almost never appear on corporate websites or in online shops.”

magazine-layoutsMagazine-style layouts

Creating A Professional Magazine Web Layout

Prototype a Magazine-Style Home Page Template with the Blueprint CSS Framework

Build a Newspaper Theme With WP_Query and the 960 CSS Framework

Grid-Based Design: Six Creative Column Techniques



Carousels (Slideshows)

“Carousels are essentially slideshow navigations, in which the content rotates vertically or horizontally (hence the name “carousel”). To rotate the navigation, users need to click on one of two toggle elements (usually a left/right or up/down arrow). Depending on the toggle element selected, the content is rotated in the desired direction.”

slideshowHow to Use noobSlide

Installing a Accessible News Slider

Getting Started with SmoothGallery

Installing jCarousel

Creating a Carousel Slideshow

About Danny Outlaw

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec cursus sollicitudin risus, id accumsan urna hendrerit non. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Donec cursus sollicitudin risus, id accumsan urna hendrerit non.


  • http://www.paddsolutions.com Dulce

    Interesting thoughts on the latest web design trends. I’ve been using Letterpress and Rich User Interfaces on most of my designs lately. Thanks for sharing, Danny.

  • http://www.blogdesignlab.com Blog design Lab

    very interesting,

    What’s the websites in the thumb for “Mag Style” & “Slide Show”

  • http://www.alrayeswebsolutions.com/ Web designers UK

    I Impress your site latest design trends.

  • Pingback: 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s | Adobe Tutorials

  • Pingback: Outlaw Design Blog » 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To's « Badurally’z Blog

  • Pingback: Outlaw Design Blog » 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To's | web-web-guide

  • http://laughingliondesign.net/ Jennifer Farley

    Hi Danny, thanks for including my Letterpress tutorial in your post.

    (Laughing Lion Design)

  • http://www.acriddle.com Aaron Riddle

    Good stuff! I am always eager to design a site featuring a new trend, however I will only do so if it meets the site’s goal and does not limit accessibility for the intended audience.

  • Pingback: Web Design - Outlaw Design Blog » 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To's | Web Design >> Web Design News

  • http://www.developersnippets.com Vivekanand

    This blog is awesome enough, I got more information by going through this blog. Thank you very for valuable posts, it has inspired me a lot.

    Cheers,
    Vivek

  • http://www.themerrybird.com Kristine

    Awesome information re: letterpress. Since the digital world is taking stationery on a joy ride, a letterpress “look” really makes a difference!

  • Pingback: News 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s | Web 2.0 Designer

  • Pingback: News 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s | Web 2.0 Designer

  • Pingback: Outlaw Design Blog » 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s | Squico

  • http://www.vickneswaran.com vicknes

    GOOD share…im in the midst of rebranding my site..this gives lots of fresh brain juice…cheers and thanks

  • Pingback: 2009 web design trends and tutorials | Squico

  • Pingback: Outlaw Design Blog » 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s « Netcrema - creme de la social news via digg + delicious + stumpleupon + reddit

  • http://www.kevinchoppin.com a web developer

    Nice round up, thanks! I just wish a proper solution to font replacement would hurry up. The current dominant techniques are making baby jesus cry…

  • http://mvcforge.com digg for webdesigner

    Those websites above looks great. I wonder what would be the website looks like in 2012.

  • Pingback: Outlaw Design Blog » 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s

  • http://www.kapilakan.com Web designer

    Thanks for useful information

  • Pingback: 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s | TopRoundups

  • http://font.is SIgurdur Armannsson

    *blush* guilty. I am using magazine look. Now when I read this I want to get out of it quickly.

    Could we have another article with the future trends for 2010, like Pantone does with colors?

  • http://YourWebsite Maria

    Hi Friends,

    I Find Absolutely FREE PlayBoy & Penthous

    http://www.girlsupdates.com

    If I find something else I’ll inform you.

    Best Regards,
    Maria

  • http://www.proniit.com/blog/ Dalesh Kowlesar

    I haven’t come across this website before today and I must say I am glad that I did. Love the awesome design and the great content! A rare combination.

  • http://blog.endemicworld.com elliot

    Nice work, I’m really interested how long the Magazine type layout for blogs will stay. Are these still classed as blogs when they leave the traditional post only format?
    When does a blog become an online magazine?
    I ask because we are re-designing our blog and we would rather not have to do it again in 6 months time.

  • http://tutcandy.com Che – TUTcandy.com

    Hey Danny,
    HUGE thanks for including one of my tutorials in the letterpress section.
    As always your site ROCKS the house and this post is no different.
    once again thanks… keep up the good shiz
    Cheers
    Che

  • Pingback: [WEB DESIGN] 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s – 2009年のデザイントレンド - mBlog

  • http://Nicelist! Cyrill

    I would really list the same. Thanks for your interesting articles – in general! :)

  • http://www.ntiremedia.com ntiremedia

    its been really nice of you ppl to run the blog in such a nice way ill pry for your seccess as its helping us

  • Pingback: Video | Enjolt.com | Innovate for Success

  • http://www.corporatewebsolutions.net/ Amy

    Great!

    Amy

  • http://YourWebsite Leon Dudovich

    Awesome!
    What about this link http://www.site2you.com/?
    Looks like pretty cool designs …. But how they make websites?

  • http://www.medicalwebexperts.com Medical Web Experts

    You need to make sure you have very decent and quite user friendly navigation in your website. It should be uncluttered and concise so that visitors can easily understand the navigation around your dental website without any discombobulating feeling. Many web designer companies focusing on designing medical websites are increasingly becoming popular. The richness of the content, facilities and functionalities provided to the patients drives them to pick your clinic. Web designing companies like http://www.medicalwebexperts.com have increasingly become popular in recent years. Many other web designing companies have been thriving in these times of recession. And their designs and marketing strategies have benefited their customers by attracting patients to their clinic.

  • Pingback: Daily Links for Thursday, July 9th, 2009

  • Pingback: Tendencias en diseño web para el 2009, y como realizarlas » Corpas.info – Blog de Comunicación Visual

  • Pingback: 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s | Design Newz

  • http://YourWebsite Johnathon
  • http://www.iwantiphone.co.uk Matt

    I’ve just started using PNG transparency but I’ve been into letterpress for a while. It’s funny, I used it on a few sites and it immediately made the design look dated. All it takes are a few brave designers to do it and all of a sudden it’s a trend.

  • http://www.dstudioss.com Cheapest Rates Web Design, Logo Design, Banner Design

    I m impress by your thoughts :)

    • http://omproducts.com Bicky

      ok

  • Pingback: 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s | Design Tips | 有限会社 インスピレーション

  • Pingback: Dario Salvelli’s Blog » Blog Archive » Feedmastering #165 (versione postuma)

  • Pingback: The week in links 10/07/09 - Craig Baldwin's Blog

  • Pingback: Outlaw Design Blog » 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To's | Apex Designs

  • http://www.liveactor.com Video Spokesperson

    Thanks…another 2009 trend that I see quite a bit is the Website Video Spokesperson and Video Banner Headers

  • http://www.seoguruonline.com/ Affordable webservic

    [...] creare una tenda animata con jQuery, 6 strumenti per testare il design sui dispositivi mobili, i trend del web design in questo 2009 e come seguirli, una lista di libri sull’user experience e l’usabilità, 10 funzioni di [...]

  • http://www.seoguruonline.com/ Affordable webservic

    hi this is really nice

  • http://www.interactiveblend.com Louis Gubitosi

    this is a great post! I’m loving this letterpress trend and hope to use it in my new design of thewebblend.com. thanks for the great post!

  • Pingback: 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s | addicted2webdesign.com

  • http://www.weloveweb.net Adam

    Some of the ideas here are great, I’m sure I will be able to find some use for them for the future.

    Adam [from] http://www.weloveweb.net

  • Pingback: Twittek | Hápi Blog

  • Pingback: Weekly Web Roundup: The Twitter Edition #8 | Hi, I'm Grace Smith

  • http://www.neotericuk.co.uk/web-design.php website design

    Good post , design should be clean and navigtion should be simple i.e unfriendly.

  • http://designis.ms Peter

    Design trends do not make a good site design. Trends catch on for various reasons, but not necessarily because they are of quality. This is a good list of what you should NOT be doing. There are always better solutions than just doing what is popular.

    Always creating graphics in the mold of something that already exists only devalues your design. Be creative and be unique with every design you create. Learn a new technique every day and apply it.

    • http://www.weblinxseo.co.uk/website-design/ website design

      The article helps a lot to the community keep a good work

  • Pingback: Web Design Articles, Inspiration and News - July 2009 - Creattica Daily

  • Pingback: Web Design Articles, Inspiration and News - July 2009 - Programming Blog

  • Pingback: kopfkribbeln webdesign-blog » Web Design Trends 2009 und wie es geht

  • http://www.themestyle.net charlie

    Doesn’t seem like anything new here. Most of these have been around since last year.

    Especially with the pick-up of WordPress

  • http://www.tgswebdesign.com/ Web Site Hosting New

    [...] 2009 Web Design Trends and How-This Takes the current design trends and also it has many tutorials to current trends of web designing………………..A very Nice Post………….

  • http://www.ntiremedia.com ntiremedia

    nice info buddy keep it up ill be visiting again

  • http://www.ntiremedia.com ntiremedia

    I haven’t come across this website before today and I must say I am glad that I did.

  • http://www.vijayinfo.in web design company

    Thanks u r information

  • http://www.pixelhype.co.uk/portfolio.html phd

    nice work guys!

  • http://www.allwebservices.co.uk Website Design

    This collection is great although i am so excited about all the new up and coming trends. Just wondering where web design would be in 10 years time hmmm interesting…..

  • http://blueprintds.com web designers

    Great posting, can’t wait to see where the trends take us into 2010.

  • http://www.platoon.in web development chen

    Thanks for this nice post…

  • http://YourWebsite Cara

    Nice collection. I try to research a different Web Design Company every so often to get inspiration from. I’m going to have to bookmark this page so I can keep coming back!

  • Pingback: Outlaw Design Blog » 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s

  • http://freesexstudy.blogspot.com/ Ahsan raz

    web is really changed now.

  • http://lionheart.net tampa web design

    we converse with you and clearly identify your company’s goals and objectives for the web site design. Together, we develop the web site from the bottom up, giving top priority to the intended audience/market and visualize the overall user experience.

  • http://www.icemcommunications.com Namrata

    Nice site……………superb idea

    • http://www.matrixnmedia.in bat

      it’s unique site

  • http://www.teamcreatives.com Victoria Phee

    Good insights and observation! Keep it up!

    • http://www.matrixnmedia.com matrix

      Nice site. Gives me some ideas on ways to improve my own design.

  • http://www.matrixnmedia.com/ matrix

    Nice site.I like your advance designing trends.

  • Pingback: Paginas y más paginas semana 17-2009 — Eddy Ramos blog

  • http://www.offshoring.com/ Website Design Services

    great job! thanks for sharing these…. :)

  • http://designwannabe.com LaDonna

    love the post.

  • Pingback: Outlaw Design Blog » 2009 Web Design Trends and How-To’s – - Design Wannabe | Design Tutorials, Resources and Inspiration Gallery

  • http://www.psprint.com/stickers-labels Ashely Adams

    That was a bumper start to this post. dreamtemplate is truly awesome, and it has been extremely helpful for me. they have every possible type of template with them. thanks a lot!

  • http://YourWebsite Jimmy H

    I had enough of these f*** it-people from india.
    Guddapps webdesign company sucks!
    Kanhai Patel is a fool without talent.
    All he does is lies and robbed me for two thousand dollars!

    • http://www.srgit.com Lucky

      Don’t say all India guys are same. May be some guys are fool and not have enough experiences in design.

  • http://www.sjlwebdesign.co.uk Sam Logan

    Great post, one of the most useful articles I have read this year. Looking forward to the 2010 version.

    • http://www.chimera-studios.co.uk/ Web design

      Hell yeah! Keep us updated!

  • http://www.aarson.com Jacksonville Web

    Great article. Keep up the good work. I will be back for more.

  • http://www.spotlightmedia.in web design chennai

    Thanks for sharing this article,

  • http://travislarson.com Travis

    I found it funny how many of these were WordPress driven. With a few plug-ins and half hour, this whole list can be produced.

    Thanks for going further into Smashing’s list!

    PS: Great new website, best of luck!

  • http://www.bostonwebdesigners.net Website Designers

    Thank you Danny, You give us enough information about web designing trends of 2009.

  • http://www.psprint.com/stickers-labels Ashely Adams : Sticker Printing

    Danny, you’ve done a great job by going further into the list of Smashing Magazine. I believe this post will help the new designers to understand and cope up with the changing designing trends of 2009

  • http://webcare.com.au Web Design Australia

    Thank you for sharing these info. This would be a great help for web designers and web site owners as well. Keep up the good posts.

  • http://www.chimera-studios.co.uk/ Chimera Studios web

    Love this blog, such a great style!

  • http://www.designtorontoweb.ca Toronto Web Design

    Great post, really all are nice i love all these

  • Pingback: Chitika eMiniMalls: Shopping Within Your Pages - Best Paying Affiliate Programs

  • http://www.webartsense.com web design company

    Thank you Danny it is really interesting and knowledgeable post.
    Keep posting :)

  • http://www.iowa-personalinjurylawyer.com/ Iowa Personal Injury

    These are great. Thanks for the post.

  • http://www.eventure.com.au/illawarra-web-design Wollongong Web Design

    The article helps a lot to the community keep a good work

  • http://projoomla.info Joomla

    I like the sound of paid affiates but do you think we will really get paid ? google seems to be the only real one out there. thanks http://projoomla.info

  • http://aarson.com Tampa Bay Web

    This is very well written. There are so many novice developers that easily overlook the things you have mentioned in this post. With the technology we have at our disposal today in this day and age it is almost limitless with what can be done on the web.

  • http://www.webdesignfloridahq.com/ website design flori

    Website design Florida is looks good Website. Was natural website presence is a very excellent business company.

  • http://www.alrayeswebsolutions.com/ web designing compan

    Alrayes Web Solutions is provide you Website Design, Ecommerce solutions, Web Development, logo branding, logo design, Search engine optimization and hosting service in affordable price.

  • http://www.alrayeswebsolutions.com/ seo companies

    If you’re looking to have a logo designed to establish a brand for your new business, or to give your existing identity an image overhaul, Alrayes can provide you with the perfect solution. Our designers will work with you to come up with a thrilling new logo design.

  • http://www.alrayeswebsolutions.com/ cms website developm

    This is really amazing work…… i liked your work…..

  • http://www.alrayeswebsolutions.com/ ecommerce solutions

    Our work is also web design and web solution. i liked your work… Our site Url http://www.alrayeswebsolutions.com/

  • http://www.alrayeswebsolutions.com/ web designer company

    Alrayes Web Solution is one of the creative web designing company in UK. Their rates are so reasonable you will be surprised. Apart from that they help you in every step………..

  • http://www.absolutecovers.com Ovi Dogar

    Very interesting and useful article! Thanks for sharing…

    Keep up the great work!

    Ovi Dogar
    AbsoluteCovers.com

  • http://www.kre8iveminds.com Custom Web Design

    Your suggestions are really good. It is certainly going to help. Thanks for the great tips.

  • http://www.iamafreelancer.net web designer in egyp

    wow man you are amazing
    I really like your work

  • http://www.abhijit.shirsath.com Abhijit Shirsath

    Thanks for such wonderful articles on trends, They are changing according to the users. wish upcoming trends do get complicated

  • Pingback: The Step By Step Guide To Creating Your Own Great Web Videos. | 7Wins.eu

  • Pingback: year 2 – network aesthetics …..at last….AESTHETICS – kcDigitalArts

  • http://www.igraphicsbd.com Imagine Graphics

    An excellent article on recent web design trends. Imagine Graphics is looking forward to get more. Carry on.

  • http://www.hangar17.com hangar17

    interesting, I have spent much time on your blog.

  • Toronto Website Design

    Great Post! Thanks for sharing………

  • http://www.oilchange.com/ Web Design Toronto

    Really Impressive! Thanks for sharing……….

  • Kentucky Business Signage

    Very nice information, please keep it up…

  • Corwin

    Great post please keep continue the sharing of your post..
    Thanks,
    Corwin
    http://www.worldwidegraphics.com

  • Corwin

    Great post please keep continue the sharing of your post..
    Thanks,
    Corwin
    http://www.worldwidegraphics.com

  • ekkomarketing1

    Very Informative!
    Thanks
    Ekkomarketing.ca

  • http://www.aqueity.com/ Chicago IT Consultants

    You offers a variety of solutions to fit all of their clients technology needs.

  • Toronto Web Designer

    You have made some good points and one can surely make their client smile following these tips

  • http://www.incheck.ca/ Toronto Web Designer

    You have made some good points and one can surely make their client smile following these tips

  • webdesign

    Good post , design should be clean and navigtion should be simple i.e unfriendly. For the proper
    promotion of your business you need to focus on your website.
    Specifically, you will have to focus on your website design like this way good job

     

  • levana

    It has a on-off optic switch on top of the head. With different docking home decors like base, clamp, wall arm, desk support with visible cord and desk support with hidden cord, FLOS Kelvin has all the arrangements built-in for you to try on your reading room and library.
    Cjj

  • http://twitter.com/ryamunacbs Yamuna Cbs

    Nice Articles. Now-a-Days Web Designing is well growing in around the world.Web Designing is process of develop a website by using php, asp.net, html, css, javascript etc

  • Heyaping1016

    Welcome to Specialized Burberry Outlet Online Store. Here you can choose all kinds of cheapest authentic Burberry Scarf, Burberry bags,Burberry Salewith high quanlity. We also provide the best service to your customers. free shipping and fast delivery, 5-7 days to your door.

  • Heyaping1016

    Welcome to Specialized [url=http://www.scarvesburberry.com/][b]Burberry Outlet[/b][/url] Online Store. Here you can choose all kinds of cheapest authentic [url=http://www.scarvesburberry.com/][b]Burberry Scarf[/b][/url], [url=http://www.scarvesburberry.com/][b]Burberry bags[/b][/url],[url=http://www.scarvesburberry.com/][b]Burberry Sale[/b][/url]with high quanlity. We also provide the best service to your customers. free shipping and fast delivery, 5-7 days to your door.

  • Krunal Vaghela

    Good articles or blog posts and it is so very helpful.

    http://www.iweballey.com/

  • http://www.cyberdesingpk.com Cyberdesign11

    Nice post! thank you for sharing the information with us.

  • http://www.cyberdesingpk.com Cyberdesign11

    Nice post! thank you for sharing the information with us.

  • http://www.webbeets.com/ Asmithasangee

    Really good.thank you.This information is really useful for users.

  • http://www.webbeets.com/ Alexa Wictoria

    Thank You