5 WordPress Web Design Trends for May 2023

One of the things we love most about WordPress design trends is that so many elements and styles overlap. You’ll see that in the examples here. That makes working with design trends flexible and interesting and gives you an out if the trending element fades out of style quickly.

Here are five great trends to consider this month when building a new WordPress project or if you’re just looking to freshen up an existing site with new effects that engage your site visitors.

1. Liquid Animation

Liquid animation is one of those designs that can feel vibrant and fresh. Between the liquid animation and smooth color changing, there’s always something new happening.

While liquid animation styles aren’t totally new, Stripe’s implementation is a better approach than most. The animated element moves elegantly and with purpose; many previous iterations of this style required hover actions for motion and could be a little clunky. Just check out the above example from Stripe.

Why it works: The simplicity of the overall design and the marriage of each element to one another is the key. If you watch closely, the animation changes color, as does the primary button in the bottom center of the screen as well as the navigational call to action (CTA). They all change color simultaneously and at the same speed, creating a quite elegant aesthetic.

How to use it: The primary takeaway here is ensuring the animated element is on the screen. It’s part of the design. That can be a little tougher than you think, and full integration can take serious planning – and potentially coding skills.

2. AI-Inspired Experiences

It’s hard to have a conversation about websites or design, or marketing right now without artificial intelligence as an integral part of the discussion. But how do you use it effectively?

AI-inspired experiences are one option that ensures there’s no blurred line between fantasy and reality. Dream Date, above, helps guide users through a gamified AI interactivity to help them plan an outing with a significant other. It’s a fun spin on an age-old concept. See a great example of this from Dream Date.

Why it works: AI works best when it’s obvious that’s what is happening. Users don’t want to be tricked by artificial intelligence.

How to use it: Gamification is also an effective use of this technique. Finding a way to connect with users in an alternate reality with takeaways from real life is interesting and engaging.

Kadence will be adding new AI elements to help you build a more effective site much more quickly. If you’re interested in getting notified when Kadence AI is released, join the waitlist.

3. Rainbow Coloring

Multi-color and rainbow styles are in! Notice this trend in the example from Marmeladz. The great thing about rainbow color is that you can use it almost anywhere and with various hues, from traditional rainbow to brand colors to monotone variations.

This design trend is popular with sites that use big text and not many images to create something visually interesting that puts focus on the words that encourage site visitors to engage with your brand.

Why it works: Color can add a different feel to a site without images than a fully minimal black-and-white design.

How to use it: Play with brand colors or use hues that create the emotional connection you want to create with users. Pastel versus primary color variations can feel quite different.

4. Gaming Style

Paying homage to design elements from video games is becoming a dominant trend in website design, as in the example from Play Goals above. This includes everything from the style of graphics used to text styles to interactive elements throughout the display.

What’s interesting about gaming style right now is that it merges almost all the other high-level trends. There are elements of animation, AI, interactions and sliders, liquid effects, bold typography, and more.

Depending on the game theme, a plethora of different effects or styles can be used to help create this scene and gameplay experience.

Why it works: Gamification is innately interactive and can help keep website visitors engaging with the design for longer periods.

How to use it: Use this design trend for lighter website experiences rooted in engagement. It might not be best for heavier topics or elements that have a serious tone.

5. Unusual Slide Actions

We can all admit that sliders aren’t generally that effective. People might look at them, but engagements across the board are generally weak. That’s where more unusual slide actions come in.

This design trend takes the concept of the slider but makes it more of a part of the integrated design and less of a “look at all these pictures” design element.

In the example above from Val d’Oca, you can see a hint of the next slide element from your current position in the design. It plays like a video, ending with a full menu of navigational elements. If you are watching the video, you have an ending with something to do.

This is a more engaging take on the traditional slider, with a more directed user path.

Why it works: Any type of interaction that is similar to something you know but breaks that mold can generate engagement.

How to use it: Keep the journey short and provide opportunities to get out of the slider and pursue the interactive goals more quickly. The one thing you don’t want users to do is get stuck in the slider and not get to the important part of the design – the overall conversion goal.

Putting it All Together

WordPress web design trends are a fun element but don’t feel like you have to try every new trend that comes along. The web is constantly changing, with new opportunities for innovative design experimentation coming along all the time. Of course, whenever you’re adding new design elements, make sure they work for the objectives for each page on your site. Never put design above user experience. Instead, ensure that your design elements complement your user experience objectives to guide your site visitors towards your desired actions.

A Kadence full bundle gives you everything you need to keep up with all the design trends and take your website to the next level. From the Advanced Text block in Kadence Blocks to the ability to create fully customizable designs and pages, the Kadence Full Bundle gives you everything you need to make beautiful, effective, and engaging websites.

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