With the development of new technologies, web design is not only about the convenience of the user anymore. Today web designers compete in creating real pieces of art. It became a common practice to invite illustrators, calligraphers, and other artists to bring contemporary art in. Orlan, an artist and a designer who modified her body through plastic surgeries, said that what we consider beautiful changes with the world and the ideology that dominates it. It’d be fair to say the design as a whole — in all of its aspects — changes as well: with our aesthetic preferences, art, and with the world.
Trends in contemporary art have influenced the development of web design everywhere; with gambling becoming such a fast-paced industry, global trends major websites adopt start affecting it, as well. Find out what are the main art styles that are used in web design for online casinos with the CEO of Playtech Geek.
Art Nouveau Style in Web Design
Modern style or Art Nouveau gained popularity at the beginning of the XX century. The creators of the style wanted to imply a completely new vision of art. It developed into a combination of man-made elements with nature forms — most often, plants.
Artists of art nouveau also believed in the superiority of forms over colors. The main indicators of the style are:
- Depiction of simple everyday objects
- Escaping from classic art
- Flowing lines
- Muted shades of pastel colors
Nowadays this style is still presented in glamour magazines and street posters. It is quite popular among web and graphic designers as well. Art Nouveau’s motives with flower blossoms, greenery, and soft lines can be found in the design of platforms dedicated to the fashion and beauty industries. It’s also well-used in illustrations for slot games.
Bauhaus Style in Web Design
The opposite style of Art Nouveau is Bauhaus. It grew prosperous during 1919-1933. The word, from German, means “building a house”. Creators empathized that buildings (or objects) should look to fit their function. The primary focus of the style is simplicity, geometric straight elements — no ornaments, decor, flowery motives, and other extra stuff that don’t have a functional necessity. This style was a prototype of minimalism.
Bauhaus left a remarkable footprint in architecture and interior design, but it is quite notable in graphic and web design as well. Even today simple and huge text fonts, primary colors and black-white combo, sharp lines, and geometrical forms are widely used by web designers. Bauhaus is really common for websites of scientific and educational institutions, healthcare professionals, banks. This style can be suitable for online casinos’ UI but is still rarely used in games design itself.
Art Deco Style in Web Design
Art Deco appeared almost at the same time as Bauhaus and reached a peak of popularity around the early 30s. The industrial era was rising in the world, and people were celebrating the marvels of modern machinery. In the spirit of its time, the Art Deco style laced mechanical motifs with luxury. The main characteristics of Art Deco style:
- Rich and bright colors (mainly gold, silver, chrome)
- Exaggerated aerodynamic curves, smooth and straight lines
- Boldly layered shapes, symmetrical zigzags, cubism
Art Deco was mostly expressed in architecture and furniture design. Also, it is one of the main styles for graphic design, especially when it comes to video games and other digital worlds. Web designers often use Art Deco to create UI for commercial platforms. It is a widely used style for online casino platforms and casino games as well.
Pop Art Style in Web Design
The pop-art movement originated in Great Britain in the early 50s and became a phenomenon in the late 60s and 70s. One of the main themes pop-art worked with was the pointlessness of the elitist culture; its major goal was to reveal it and show its face to the world. Artists incorporated into their pieces mass-produced items and elements of popular culture. It could be comic books, road signs, even regular soup cans. The main characteristic of Pop Art style:
- Psychedelic combination of bright colors (mostly red, blue, and yellow)
- Amusing shapes
- Eye-catching typography
- Usage of satire and parody
- Pictures of well-known icons from popular culture
Pop-art engaged the audience perfectly. That is why it is heavily used by graphic and web designers even now. Posters and advertisements designed in pop art were considered catchy and effective. The same goes for all kinds of commercial websites. It gives a good vintage look to online casinos.
The Future of Web Design for Online Casinos
The oversaturated market of online gambling forces casinos to pay more attention to small details in web design. Being unique and staying in the vanguard of trends is possible if how the platform looks engages the players and gives them good reasons to stay.
Storytelling Elements
Keeping customers on the platform is a hard task if you use a set of forceful messages. The best way to glue an audience is by including storytelling elements: we all love stories, and stories are what most of the world is made of.
Retro Revolution
Another future trend in web design for online casinos is the upcoming retro revolution. Recently retro designs such as pop art and Art Deco started to become popular again. Design styles from the previous century most likely will become popular again.
Engaging Interactives
New technologies offer different types of interactivity to the player. Life table games and 3D slots are gaining popularity nowadays. Moreover, VR technology blurs the line between land-based casinos and online analogs. There will be more technology that attracts and retains in the future.
Summary
A few years earlier online casino sites were only pages with a list of the games — today some of them remind users of art. They’re beautiful and people navigate them easily. With this article’s directions, you’ll be able to experiment with incorporating elements of different popular art movements into the design of your casino’s user interface.