Keeping updated with the latest trends is a must for the website success, and that’s why it is important to take a look at what makes or breaks your website development.

Creating a perfect website utterly depends on designing skills because the website is all about art combining with technicalities.

Therefore, things, including unique layouts, complex animations, and other micro-interactions, can revamp your website’s look and feel.

An amazing way to add spice to your website layouts and animations is CSS. CSS has the power to turn your boring webpages into the pleasurable visitor experience.

We know that when it comes to owning a website, then businesses have a lot of hopes and to help you live up your expectations, we are presenting a few top CSS trends to help you get started.

What Is CSS and How It Helps?

CSS or Cascading Style Sheets define the ways how HTML element are going to be placed on the screen. It saves time and manage and control multiple web pages at a time.

2019 CSS Trends

1. CSS Writing Mode

CSS supports various writing modes; therefore, you are no longer required to use the annoying left to right reading direction. CSS writing mode helps designers to go beyond that.

Designers can try writing different languages in different styles; for example, designers can use CSS writing-mode property. It can help to place text in different directions, from top to bottom, from right to left. It also helps to adjust both horizontal and vertical values.

With CSS writing mode, designers can also show up the text sideways vertically plus, they can rotate text for particular designs and can mix the scripts as well.

2. CSS Grid

Before the arrival of CSS Grid Layout, the most common grid-based layout was Flexbox. Flexbox was quite a popular layout, and according to the Chrome report, nearly 83% of the page loads on Chrome used Flexbox by the end of 2018.

CSS Grid is a robust layout system and can manage both columns and rows. On the other hand, Flexbox is a popular but one-dimensional layout, which means either you can select rows or columns.

With CSS Grid layout module, it is easier for the designers to design web pages with both rows and columns without using floats and positioning.

As per Chrome reports, CSS Grid layout is less popular than Flexbox, and no major sites are using it but in future, it is expected that big websites will soon switch from Flexbox to CSS Grid layout.

3. Responsive CSS Frameworks

CSS Frameworks give an essential structure for designing, helping developers to solve recurring problems across Front web development.These frameworks also provide a generic functionality which can be revoked for specific applications or setups. CSS Frameworks also reduce time requires to start developing websites or applications.

Nowadays, frameworks are getting changed because we are moving to a mobile-web environment. Therefore, the changing impact is not only limited to frameworks but also affecting styling, design, and animations. In this scenario, simplicity and end-user experience are the focus.

Below are the few CSS frameworks that we expect to see quite frequently around the web in 2019:

• Foundation: The foundation CSS framework makes it easier to design a highly responsive website and applications that look amazing on any device. Foundation framework used as an enterprise solution, and it is considered as the mobile-first framework.
• Bootstrap4: Bootstrap has been using by so many companies around the world. It is amongst the most powerful CSS frameworks. Bootstrap4 (version 4) comprises a few more new features for color schemes and utility classes.
• Materialize: Materialize is an open-source responsive front-end framework, offering slick material design styles. Materialize is more decisive about the behavior and look of the UX elements. The purpose of Materialize is to help you adjust your code to Material design.

4. Mobile Animation

Mobile animation is an emerging trend and proving to be the best way for user engagement. It is expected that websites will frequently use mobile animations in 2019 for increased user attention.

The real-time example of mobile animation is YouTube. You can open your YouTube app and stop for a second on any displaying video. The video will auto play without sound.

Moreover, websites can also utilize animations creatively. Designers can use small animations for buttons and as an indicator of a task or action.

5. Single Pages, Easier Navigation

Today, a lot of websites are trying a single-page approach and driving traffic to the relevant locations. There are number of websites, using single-page approach, including Instapage, About.me, Carrd, Linktree etc.

All these mentioned single page websites are also leveraging CSS for styling and user experience.

Businesses constantly trying these web layouts with focused large buttons that help users to take the desired action immediately plus, also help to navigate quickly to the desired location whether it’s a shop, informational page, video or anything.

A good example is Linktree; musicians use this site to share their music and receive the affiliate revenue in the meantime.

6. CSS Scroll Snapping

The CSS scroll snap is a new emerging trend for the companies it has the ability to control scroll experience by defining scroll snapping positions. CSS scroll snap offers a smooth and easy to use API for creating common UX patterns.

Scroll snapping is a new technique that is frequently used to help users for swiping through products/details.

Scroll snapping is a unique experience because it enables users to scroll in increments rather fluid motion down the page or left to right.

Keep in mind that before implementing this feature, don’t forget to make sure that scroll snapping works best for your web pages. You can also read scroll snapping guides available across the web.

7. Use Variable Fonts

A variable font is a single file that contains a collection of multiple variations of a font. Variable fonts offer a set of entirely new features and considered as a part of the OpenType specification. It also helps the users to see every possible variation of the font in your design.

Moreover, if you want to use the variable font, then you must select a font that can support this feature plus, you will also need a browser with proper font-variation settings.

Another benefit that designers can achieve with variable fonts is that they don’t need to switch from font-weight to font-weight to ensure font responsiveness, they can easily scale the sizing, font width and other aspects with this technique.

Variable fonts outline their variations with axes of variation, and there are five standard axes available:

• ital: italic axis functions differently because designers can enable it or entirely disabled it; there is no other option available. Designers can set the value through font-style CSS property.
• wght: wght manages and controls the font’s weight, and designers can set value by using font-weight CSS property.
• Wdth: wdth adjusts the font width and value can be added by using the font-width CSS property. Moreover, by using the font-stretch property in CSS, designers can set the font width through percentage values and in case, if a designer applies a value outside of the font-encoded domain then the browser will create the font to the closet available value.

• opsz: Optical sizing is responsible for changing the optical size of the font, and value can be set through CSS font-optical-sizing. The value of optical size can be applied automatically, depending on the font size and can be controlled by using the font-variation-settings.

  When designers use font-optical-sizing, they can choose auto or none for the admitted values. However, when they use font-variation-settings, then designers automatically receive a provided value.

• slnt: slnt is used to control the font’s slant, and the value is set through font-style CSS property. Slnt expressed in a numerical range and enabled the font to be altered anywhere along that axis.

8. Illustration-Based Layouts

Illustration based menu is a new trend in the web design realm. A creative and visually appealing illustration can be an awe-struck web layout. Illustrated layouts are difficult and sometimes trouble to show up as an animation on the pages because the whole design is based on images. Designers may use CSS in the navigation for animating the illustration.

9. Test Browser Support through CSS

With CSS support, you can also determine whether any specific browser is supporting the CSS features or not. It’s quite simple; you need to ask a question to ensure that if your browser is supporting the certain CSS features. See Feature Queries @supports rule where you can create statements based on browser capability. One drawback with this feature is it cannot work with anything older than Internet Explorer 11, but nowadays, there are only a few users available for the browser.

10. Hoverbox Image Gallery

Another top trending CSS technique for the web designers is Hoverbox image gallery. Hoverbox image gallery developed with CSS and HTML and it pops up an image whenever the mouse hover. Hoverbox image gallery is a good option for a reason. It consumes less loading time and it is quite light-weight (8kb).

11. Text Animations

CSS also influences the way user read and engage with the text elements. A designer can use words that can float or scroll on the page with CSS.

The feature can provide designers with a more life-like display. Text animations will be a great option for the websites which don’t contain various artistic elements for user engagement.

In addition, CSS help designers to style up their designing through various effects in text or typography. Using CSS helps to easily integrate animation into the text for creating a lively design.

12. Highlighted Columns in Tables

Highlighted columns in tables is a highly intuitive idea for the web sign-up pages. Crazy Eggs, uses the approach at its best. The website designer creatively utilize CSS with Javascript and made the columns slide from left meanwhile; a signup form pops up. With this use of highlighted columns, the user is no longer required to click to another page for completing the signup process.

Designers and developers can keep up the CSS game once they implement the latest tricks. It will help your website look appealing plus also aids to give a great visitor experience.

In case, if you still haven’t tried any of these tricks yet, then we are sure that now you are aware of all the latest CSS techniques that you can implement in your future projects.