While contemporary web design has come a long way in using fresh and unique solutions, web designers have not abandoned the use of classical geometric mainstays in their work. They have, however, used well-known geometric shapes to create a sound effect paired with a tasteful, futuristic look.
Squares, rectangles, and columns are very commonly used in almost any form of design, with circles, hexagons, and rhombuses being utilized increasingly as their convenience and proportions and shapes promote a more creative look. More intriguing, complex shapes are used for more unique and attractive designs, though this is much rarer.
Web design attempts to balance the implementation of the best visual patterns and solutions in the ever-growing and perpetually evolving web design niche to drive an enhanced user experience. The innovation is even more prevalent in web design companies vying for customer business and trying to edge out the competition.
Suppose your website needs a creativity boost to draw a bigger, more engaged audience to consider your business. In that case, it’s essential to consider the vital importance of leveraging geometry in the design of your website.
Use Of Geometry In Web Design
Geometric shapes are used for various purposes in web design, including highlighting backgrounds, accenting designs, framing and structuring page components, and constructing navigation elements.
Geometric elements are beneficial in contemporary web design because they work well with the ‘Metro’ style on the rise in popularity, yielding clean and straightforward shapes and sharp outlines, perfectly fitting this minimalistic trend. Not only are geometric shapes helpful in organizing the page’s components, but they also promote an elegant, clean structure that does not overpower the site’s designs.
Geometric Shapes
Geometry is a study of patterns and shapes, entities that we encounter in every walk of life and implement universally in design, architecture, and art. Geometry even extends to many aspects of nature. For instance, take the honeycomb, an array of hexagonal cells formed from wax by honey bees and arranged in symmetric clusters.
The power of geometric shapes in web design can provide both functionality (like drawing a reader’s attention to particular screen elements) and aesthetics (like sprucing up the creative look of websites). Web design hinges on and greatly benefits from the unique use of these versatile shapes when presenting users with designed interfaces.
But the benefits of geometry transcend the shapes themselves and extend to the space around the shapes and between them. So it’s that aspect of implementing geometry in web design that is perhaps more predominant. Every designer tries to use the finite amount of space available to determine the optimal methods of communicating the displayed information and how the information will be displayed.
Squares And Rectangles
The most traditional shapes used in website layouts are rectangles and squares. They are intuitive to both designers and viewers because they stem from a grid-based design structure, illustrating a traditional and stable configuration. For this reason, these shapes are commonly applied when designing navigation layouts for buttons and menus on websites.
Circles And Ovals
Circular elements are also popular designer choices due to the aesthetic pleasantness of their appearance. They inherently trigger feelings of continuity, perpetual movement, open-ended development, and stellar perfection. Both circles and ovals, much like their rectangular counterparts, are versatile in terms of design, being used for everything from icons, logos, image frames, and navigation buttons.
Rhombuses And Kites
Less common yet more compelling in website design are elements such as rhombuses and kites. They retain the attributes of traditional square geometric shapes, with a touch of uniqueness and zest. Their unique nature naturally draws the attention of a viewer’s eye. In addition, the diamond shape of these geometric figures promotes thoughts of modernity and luxury in web design.
Triangles And Diagonal Shapes
A geometric shape that is ideal for creating a powerful image is the triangle. The angled, pointy ends are used to denote particular critical points of design elements and highlight the most critical content. Triangles are commonly used alongside diagonal shapes as these generate a creative visual sensation of movement. The versatility of a triangle is that it works well in tandem with other familiar geometric figures, including squares, rhombuses, and rectangles, from a design perspective.
Pentagons And Hexagons
Newer arrivals in web design (since about 2013) have been multi sided geometric shapes like pentagons and hexagons. Their body is versatile enough to work with any website theme or style. Their non-traditional form also adds a touch of zest to the overall creative field, often implemented as functional groupings or indicators on navigational menus and content groupings.
Polygonal Geometric Elements
The use of polygons for web design is fun and straightforward. The shapes’ versatility can be used to add a futuristic and high-tech atmosphere to any website layout. These shapes are currently used for application to tabs, blocks, buttons, and backgrounds.
Conclusion
Geometric shapes can help developers put together visually appealing and interestingly unique compositions. Geometric shapes are often utilized as practical tools to divide webpage sections, but this is not their only practical application in web design. Designers have used them in newer, more creative ways since as recently as 2019. For instance, sharper shapes have been used to simulate brutishness, while softer forms generate a futuristic visual effect.
One of the more versatile features of using geometric shapes in web design is that they work well with illustrations (especially abstract variety), dark themes, bold fonts, and many other traditional and modern trends. Web designers looking to be inspired by geometric shapes and generating ideas have to look no further than mother nature’s offerings.
To always be one step ahead of your competitors, try to look for new ways for geometric shapes in your web design projects. This is a rather promising and fruitful area that will never go away as long as humans perceive information visually.
