Web Design Trends for Financial Companies

As a company who specialises in branding and design websites for the financial sector, we thought it only appropriate to look at the upcoming trends in web design for 2019.

It is common knowledge within the financial sector that in order to compete in a competitive marketplace, they need to create a website that draws in potential clients, excites them and delivers an intuitive user experience. That’s why it is so important to keep in tune with the current happenings in web design.

From our experience, we know a lot about fintech and financial sector branding and marketing. So, here’s our humble research on branding and design trends for the financial sector 2019. It seems that the themes change every year when it comes to what we can expect in web design! 2019 is no different. Below are the top 10 trends to look out for in 2019. Undoubtedly, this will help to take your financial services websites to the next level!

1. Serif fonts

Serifs are back and in a big way! They are no longer considered dated and out of style in comparison to the more modern San Serif.

‘Sans’ means without in French so the phrase Sans-serif literally translates to without serif. The modern Serif is packed full of personality, no longer held back by their elaborate flourishes. Now we love using Slab Serifs and typefaces with a high contrast in their characters/letters.

Sans has usually been the “go-to” font when it comes to your website. It is clear, crisp and easy to read, so when there are large chunks of copy on your webpage, tit’s still the font of choice. However, brands are turning towards bold serifs in other parts of their pages, such as in headers and callouts. By nature, serifs are more decorative, so a great reason to use them in order to draw attention to a certain aspect on your page!

2. Black and white palettes

White by itself is clean and crisp, and black is a bold choice. When you combine these two, it makes an impressive theme. You are already setting yourself apart from other companies with this simple lack of colour! When there is an absence of colour, it’s seen as bold and daring and sets the tone even more. This is definitely one of the most noticeable web design trends for financial companies this year!

To enhance the proposition, just add a touch of colour to call out areas and CTAs.

3. Natural, organic shapes

In the past, we have seen the use of geometric shapes with strong corners and lines. In 2019, the trend tends to sway toward smoother, natural and more organic shapes. This creates a sense of comfort and ease when clicking through pages, making the reader feel more at home almost immediately when checking out your website.

These types of shapes are naturally rounded and asymmetrical, so like the pops of colour in a black-and-white palette, they are meant to make certain parts of your website stand out.

4. Glitch art

Another one of remarkable branding and design trends for the financial sector is glitch art. It takes temporary pixelations, interruptions and glitches and turns them into visually arresting pieces, questioning the forms and traditions of art using digital techniques.

With technology, computers and mobile devices being such a HUGE part of our society, these days, we pretty much can’t live without them, however, we constantly feel as though they could shut down on us at any moment. Therefore, this breakdown of technology makes it intriguing, seen as art and draws our eye towards it. As we know, it’s something to incorporate into the design at some point.

5. Microinteractions

Microinteractions are small moments where the user and design interact. When they’re well designed, micr interactions enhance the user’s experience with the design.

Think of things like Facebook’s Like button, a pull-to-refesh action, or the typing indicator in a chat window. These are the microinteractions we encounter every day, and they’ve changed our interaction patterns.

Microinteractions increase user engagement at a relatively low cost. An experience that accomplishes a goal while providing a bit of delight in the proces keeps people coming back.

6. Rise of the bots

Love them or hate them, chatbots are here to stay. Chatbots have become extraordinarily popular in recent years largely due to dramatic advancements in machine learning and other underlying technologies such as natural language processing. Today’s chatbots are smarter, more responsive, and more useful – and we’re likely to see even more of them in 2019.

The new chatbots will be showing up more and more on web pages with higher levels of customisation and ways to make your advisor site much more efficient. Chatbots basically serve as a “personal assistant” for your website by humanising it and allowing questions to get answered much quicker.

7. More video content

So, here’s one more branding and design trend for the financial sector. Integrating video onto your website is nothing new. However, it is a strong design aspect that can set you apart from your competitors. Using video can help you gain trust in your network while sharing important financial information. Not only does it diversify the page but caters to the type of audience that doesn’t want to read through a lot of long, wordy text.

Google have made a move toward mixed search page results, featuring video content above standard web pages. This has led websites to prioritise video production in order to make themselves easily searchable and offer content in the most efficient, shareable way.

8. Less can still be more in 2019

Perhaps one of the most timeless web design trends, minimalism is often the go-to aesthetic of choice. The fewer elements and content on a website, the less your audience will have to think. If a website is designed in the right way, it will show the user exactly what they looking for.

Minimalism will continue to dominate the digital landscape in 2019. Animations and fade-in effects that make scrolling more engaging give web pages the ability to space out their content which will result in more white space, ultimately allowing for fewer distractions.

9. Mobile friendly = thumb friendly

Be sure your site is mobile friendly. We can’t say it enough, it’s so necessary! In 2018, 52.2% of all worldwide online traffic was generated through mobile phones. -STATISTA

With mobile browsing firmly overtaking desktop, design overall is becoming increasingly thumb-friendly. More and more now, users will encounter navigation tailored to the thumb. For instance, as the hamburger menu moved to the bottom of mobile screens.

If you don’t already have a mobile-friendly website, then this is the year to make that change! Since people rely on their phones for so much these days, everything from emails to marketing to planning needs optimising for mobile.

Not only is it important to be mobile friendly but it’s equally as important to have a site that is fully responsive. In other words, your website changes size to the screen it’s on. Whether it’s on desktop, tablet, mobile, etc. That way, users will be able to access your website and content properly on the go.

At Form, we are dedicated to creating websites that are beautiful and created with a mobile-first approach. You will find that website Design and Builds are mobile responsive and offer your site visitors a seamless experience regardless of the device a user views your website on.

10. Keep it diverse

The internet connects billions of people all around the world from different cultures, abilities, ages and genders. Too often, people forget that the web has always been accompanied by a pair of other important W’s: ’World Wide.’ People want to see themselves reflected in their content rather than grinning stock photo models.

Form Agency is a design studio that specialises in web design and advertising for fintech and financial sector companies, including data providers, banking sector, FX traders etc. If you want to discover more about our services, or want us to look at your web projects then please feel free to contact us. So, drop us a line, and find out how we proudly made a name for ourselves as the best financial sector marketing agency.