A revival of the past

Retro means looking back or remembering, so retro web design is a style where designers pay tribute to the glorious designing style of the past by recreating the art forms in their own unique way.

Since retro web design is all about relieving the past trends, it can help a website stand apart from other sites as most present-day designs are built around the latest trends like flat design, minimalism, etc. By making people revisiting the past trends, you will be able to connect with your targeted audience on a deeper emotional level.

Art Deco

Art Deco is a form of visual art and a design style that gained prominence during the 1920s and 1930s. Art Deco is a curious combination of Machine age materials and different craft motifs. Some of the prominent traits of Art Deco are beautiful and gorgeous ornamentation, bold geometric shapes, use of rich color combinations and more. It is a modern style that focuses on the rise of machine culture and its impact on society.

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an art form born out of the angst of modern art in the 19th century and has since been inspired by different natural forms. Art Nouveau distances itself from straight lines and embraces floral structures to carve out a niche for itself. This works well when it comes to website design, this is because it can add a classy style as well as being unique. Some of the prominent characteristics of Art Nouveau styles that can be used in website designs are:

• Use of artistic designs on everyday objects
• Breaking away from rigid restrictions of classical arts
• Use of pastel colors
• Use of flowing lines.

Shapes in Retro Web Design

Retro design is commonly associated with different geometric shapes like starbursts, rectangles, circles, etc.

Retro website design style is marked by simplicity, so straight lines are often accompanied by different shapes and floral designs to create a long-lasting impact.

Retro Web Design Textures

Without the right texture and the right amount of noise, the website design will never look retro. Paper texture is widely used to design a vintage look and feel, coffee stains, crumpled papers, wooden texture etc.

These textures can be implemented easily, the tricky bit is the balance of the textures within the website design and trying to make it look engaging for an audience.

Video-Game Style

How many of you think “Super Mario Bros.” when you think of video games? The common connection between the video-game style and retro design pattern is popular because of how much we loved video games in the ’90s. In a high-def everything world, an intentional, more pixelated style starts to stand out, the combination of old and new works well for websites and really exemplifies what retro is all about.

Ornamental Borders in Retro Design

An ornamental border is something that will probably never die as long as the retro design is around. Website designers use creative or fancy borders to give a website design a truly retro look. There is nothing wrong with using a simple border but the impact will not be that powerful; you want the web users to be engaged by the website design.

The trick to retro website design is adding enough modern flair, so it doesn’t just look old. If you would like retro website design, why not contact Blue Whale Media today?