Imagine if your physical credit union location had a hedge maze in front that made members search for the way in. Picture your credit union with multiple doors, but only one of them is functional. What if your building were in disrepair or looked dated?
Would your members dread doing business with you because of these obstacles? Would potential members hesitate to trust you with their money?
Now, look at your website in the same way. Is it easy to navigate? Does a focal point on the home page help users find the information they need? Is your credit union website design modern, or does your site look like it was designed in the 1990s?
First impressions can make or break a member’s decision to do business with you. Here are three credit union website design trends to begin the next decade with a fresh look:
Whitespace is not Empty Space
All design starts with a blank page. Space is one of the fundamental building blocks of design on which you place other design elements, like text and images. Good web page design uses space to attract the user’s attention and helps the user navigate the page. Designers refer to this effective use of space as whitespace.
An important point to note is that whitespace is not empty space. Empty space serves no design purpose. Whitespace is intentional. It provides breathing room between pictures and text so the user can focus on what is being shown. It’s used to organize information to make it easier to follow.
Furthermore, whitespace is not necessarily white. Remember, design starts with space. Space can be a colored background, a pattern, a photo, or even a texture as you can see in the CUWebsite™ Services website template below.
The saying that you can have too much of a good thing is true. If your credit union website looks like a photo collage or one large block of text, whitespace will make your web page design more inviting.
Make a Colorful Statement
Color plays an important role in brand identity. Members learn to recognize a business from the colors of its logo. You don’t want to damage your brand identity by changing or altering the color of your logo. However, you can incorporate splashes of color into your web page design in other ways.
Adding color is an easy way of updating your credit union website. You can use color to engage the user by highlighting important information and adding visual interest to the page.
Select colors that complement your credit union or credit union’s existing color palette. You don’t want your logo to get lost on or clash with the overall page design. Also, don’t go overboard with color combinations, especially bold colors. Instead, select two or three colors and then use various shades of those colors like in the example below.
Dress up your credit union web page design with color the same way as you would fashion. Treat your logo as your statement piece and accessorize with color.
Think Outside the Box
Another characteristic of good design is to place elements, like text and images, into a grid. Using a grid layout keeps the elements organized. In credit union web page design, grids play an essential role in making the site responsive.
When you think about a grid, you probably envision horizontal and vertical lines forming squares. However, that doesn’t mean you should design your credit union website around boxes.
Organic or fluid shapes, like circles and arcs, soften the look of a website. These shapes can also soften the tone or mood of the website. Think about your emotional reaction when you view the two examples above with the one underneath.
Right angles and straight lines are stiff and rigid and can transfer to a business’s persona. Rounded edges and arcs bring a more relaxed feel to the web page design, making the site appear more welcoming and approachable. Your website may be the first way you communicate to a user, so consider what message you want to convey about your credit union.
Final Words
The basics of design haven’t changed much in centuries. However, how those principles are applied to web page design is constantly changing. These three design trends are easy to implement. The new year and the new decade are prime times to give your credit union website a makeover, creating a user experience that makes users want to do business with you.
CUWebsite™ Services’ website designs are not only modern and aesthetically pleasing, but they’re also responsive, so your users can view your site on any type of electronic device. In addition to the examples you’ve seen, we have several templates you can choose from. If your website needs an update, credit union website design is our specialty.
