211. What are the top web design trends in 2024? (f. Christy Price)
Curious about web design trends that truly captivate audiences? 🌐 Today, we're diving into the realm of innovative web design with Christy Price, a renowned Squarespace web designer. Get ready to explore the latest trends, from visually striking layouts to strategic effectiveness, and learn how to create websites that stand the test of time.
Episode transcription
Phil
Tired of cookie cutter websites that just don't stand out? Interested in the latest web design trends that capture attention and drive engagement? Well, you're gonna love, love, love my guest today, Christy Price, a well known Squarespace web designer. She has templates. She has tutorials. She's a wealth of knowledge, and today we're talking to her.
But a few things, web design trends this year, and it's good stuff, making websites that are going to stand out visually, but also be strategically effective. You're going to love this conversation with Christy, so let's jump right into it. I'm glad you're here.
Listener, you picked the right episode to listen to because today we're having a conversation with someone that I actually knew from the internet for so many, what feels like so many years before we actually met in real life. I'm the first to praise but also criticize Squarespace. Love the platform, don't necessarily love the company and the people, but that's a conversation for another day. There are so many people that I love in our Squarespace, expert Squarespace enthusiast world. And I really mean it because it's this bizarre thing where in my situation I'm working away on a website and I go to the internet to try and find a solution and here I am getting solutions from people like Becca Harpain, from people like today's guest Christy Price.
You guys, well both of you are now my very good friends. But for so many years, Will Myers, who's your podcast co host, will talk about that like, you guys, I just have so much respect and love for you guys. You don't even know the role that you've played over the years. In the hours I've spent developing what I hope to be some of the best personal brand websites on the internet.
So how cool that you've played a role in that and how cool that you're my guest today on Brand Therapy. So welcome.
Christy
Thanks so much for having me, Phil. And it's, you know, it's a full circle moment for me as well because when we initially touched base on the internet, I already knew who you were. I knew all about your branding work and was fangirling a little bit.
phil
No, that was me. I was fanboying, fangirling. But that's what I love. I really loved that we were all together in real life. Promise from GoLive has become such a great friend and all of our people, Henry from SEO Space and Kate Scott wasn't there, but she's another one that I really, really love.
I just love all, I love the Squarespace people and I do like the circle program. I just think they were a little bit late to the game and they're a little bit in their own little orbit.
christy
But yeah, regardless of how you feel about the platform, I do think it attracts a certain type of person to work on it because all the people that you just mentioned, they are all good people.
They're doing their best to help other people to make a career for themselves. But, it's all in a spirit of collaboration and community. And I think it's a rare thing to find a group like that.
phil
I should also clarify, I love the platform. I get angry sometimes when Squarespace feels like they need to add all these features and launch all these half assed things. And I'm like, you have the best website platform. I've built 130 websites. You've built, I'm sure, way more than that because that's your business. It's an element of mine. But there is no better platform, particularly with Fluid. There is no better platform on the internet for someone who is not tech savvy to have a portfolio on the internet and a website that accurately reflects their business, their values, their perspective and their access points. Like, what are the ways that I can get a little piece of you? That's the value in going through the exercise of making a website. And I think it's what you do so well. It's what we all work hard to achieve. So I do love the platform. I just get angry.
christy
I think understandably, I think it's great when you love a product and you want to see them put more resources to that core competency, but instead it's like, Oh, let's add all these other features that perhaps we could use other apps for that already exist. We don't necessarily need it as part of our website builder, but it's a changing landscape.
phil
It is. You have to be on the forefront of like what the trends are. And I know you're developing themes and you've got lots, I mean, you have so many helpful blog posts for people that are working away on their website.
Maybe let's start there, Christy. What trends are you noticing or what's getting you fired up? This year, when you think about websites and you make websites.
christy
Yeah, so I think we're going to be airing this pretty soon after the Super Bowl. And maybe people will have seen the Squarespace Super Bowl commercial directed by Martin Scorsese.
And that's kind of a prime example of a lot of the trends that I'm seeing rolled into one website. So if you haven't seen the commercial yet, it's a nod to aliens visiting earth and everybody's so busy on their phones. They're not looking up to see the aliens. So the aliens create a website using Squarespace that says hello down there.
So some of the features of that website are things that I'm seeing in a lot of websites this year. One is this really large topography. Now that's something that we saw kind of come out last year really come to the forefront and it's definitely carrying over into this year. So we're seeing really big fonts and a lot of bright colors with those paired as well.
So it's not just this black and white editorial brutalism look that we had last year. It's more bold, more neons, more hyper reality looking this year. So that's one feature that we saw on that website that I think we're going to continue to see throughout this year's really large fonts.
Another thing that we saw on that website that was really cool, and you called out Fluid Engine earlier, which is the editor Squarespace uses, that allows for layering. And so on the website you saw, there was a background image of aliens, you know, the words hello down there. And then an alien kind of partially covering some of those words. So we're getting this layering, this depth effect. And that's something we're seeing a lot of as well, is creating depth. And that's the thing we've been trying to do since the beginning of the internet.
If you were around in the Netscape Navigator days, but I remember we would create images with drop shadows to kind of get this feeling of depth. And I think now we're doing that by layering elements on top of one another and creating this feeling of depth. So just a new way of going at that same old idea.
So that's another trend that I think we'll continue to see throughout this year.
Another one that that website also was a nod to was this kind of nostalgic 1980s feel of home computers with the black screen and this thin green lines. So I think we're seeing a nod back to 1970s and 80s like that kind of aesthetic is coming back and more analog as well.
So not just nostalgia, but more analog component, something retro or vintage patterns those sorts of things. We're seeing that come back into focus this year
Phil
You gave such a good answer to my question. You did. You came ready to deliver honey. You were like, these are the trends and I'm over here nodding. Cause there are things that we all observe but sometimes it's more difficult to put them into words, these things that we're seeing, and I was just thinking about how I've been landing on some of my clients websites that are asking for updates two, three, sometimes four years after, and I'm thinking to myself, my god, why did I make this text so small?
Um, you know? We're going to pump that up a little bit and that's, you know, that's literally how I'm feeling after the, being immersed in some respect in some of these trends.
christy
Yeah, and I think that's a really good point you made, Phil, because when we build websites, I think it's good to kind of give a nod to the trend.
But as web designers, we don't want to build something that's going to look outdated in a year. We want to build something that's going to live on for our clients for a good amount of time. And maybe that does mean in three years we bump up the font size or we tweak the palette slightly. But one of the trends we didn't talk about is minimalism. And I think that's a beautiful trend. It's one that I, you know, it's my favorite way to work. Minimalism with a nod to something that might be a little more trendy at the moment. But you're never going to go wrong with something that is clean, clear for your user.
I think a trap that it's easy to fall into is we're designers so we, we know we can do these really cool looking things. But sometimes we don't stop to ask, should we, should we focus more on just the strategy of the website instead of making it an art project? And I think that's something that it's, it's a little hard to reign in sometimes because you have got the tools to create a, you know, click jacking so that things are scrolling horizontally and it feels real fun.
But is that something that's going to hold up over time? Is it something that might be confusing depending? on your user demographic. I think that trends are great, but sometimes it's a little easy to go too far down the trendy road. I
phil
Is there something or certain lines of codes or plugins that you use on every single Squarespace website that you work on?
christy
Yeah, absolutely. So, one of the things that I use has to do with topography. Squarespace builds in this padding around all of their headings. And so if you have a heading 1 next to a heading 2, or you want to do a little eyebrow text of heading 4 above a heading 1, Squarespace adds all this padding. I write a little code for every site to take that out because I want a little more control over how close I can get those text blocks to one another.
So that's one thing that I will add. Another thing that I typically add is another spacing issue. So if you put social icons in your header, they're spaced about the same distance as your links. And so they seem really far apart from one another. So, I write a little code that kind of hugs those guys together so it looks like they belong together instead of their separate entities.
The other thing that I do is I set my site spacing specifically. So I have a go to of 1440 for my site width and my view width padding is always 6. 5 because Chris Schwartz Edmiston, who's another developer says that's his go to, and he explained it to me one day why he uses it.
And I'm like, oh, because it mimics mobile for your list sections. And it's, it makes perfect sense. So, you know, I think as you have more of these interactions with other people, and you see their starting points and what they're doing as well, we're kind of sharing that with one another. We're all kind of making the platform better.
phil
Now, I wish that Squarespace would listen to these incredible, brilliant observations. And instead of launching all these features and acquiring these apps, please make these minor, what seem like minor, little edits and adjustments that are actually a huge difference for us. I have one for, uh, I hate when it hyphenates words randomly on mobile, and I have a line of code for that. I'd have to actually pull up a website to be able to recite the code that's on every website. But yeah, we have more or less a CSS, um, template. A starting point. Yeah. Yeah, a starting point. Even organized with labels. Global, you know, per page, footers. I have a lot in the footer. Oh yeah, in the footers. Yeah. Adjusting like, um, even my own site credit. Depending on the brand, sometimes I'll write the word site credit if it's a celebrity or if it's a band that I don't need my name plastered everywhere. But if it's a coach or a consultant, I'll write out site by Phil Pallen Collective.
But I always have to, in code, make that smaller so it's not absolutely humongous. You know!
Christy
There's all those little tweaks. And I think that, you know, Squarespace is built as a DIY platform and it absolutely can be. And I've seen some amazing DIY websites. But I also think that the more you know these little ins and outs you can kind of notch up that professionalism with each little bit of information you learn like that.
phil
Squarespace has to market itself as a platform that everyone can make their own website themselves because that's where the money is. But in terms of a platform, I think that's secondary. The everyday user can't make a website that's great look as good as you and I can make it look good because of how many websites we've done right and how many late nights we've had in Squarespace forums and how many little victories you've had where you finally crack the code to a certain line of code and oh my God, boom, it works.
I mean. We have over a decade of that. And so I really believe that Squarespace is the best platform for a web designer, someone who knows and understands the aesthetic and can bring it to life without having to hire a team of other people.
christy
And to add to that, not just aesthetic, right, but the starter Squarespace templates.
They're cool looking, but they don't really have strategy behind them. So, that's something that the DIYers, I think, miss out on, because it's not baked into the templates. Because they're trying to be..
phil
Thank God for that, because it keeps us employed. No, I shouldn't say purely aesthetic. I think maybe we lead with aesthetics. When I think about our community, I think about the fact that we're all kind of visually conscious. Some, more than others. And I love, like, also I think of like, Will and I think of Becca, they have nice brands, but we rely on them for being utility driven.
christy
They're the code experts. Yes, exactly. Like, how do I fix this thing?
phil
Yeah. How do I fix it? And, um, Chris is another great example. He helped me with my mega menu. I bought his mega menu from my site. I was like, it needs a little more. And so he helped me, oh my god, code this custom little flipping arrow with JavaScript that I don't know how any of that works.
christy
But you don't need to because we have these experts.
phil
Yeah. And these, all these little extra touches that are absolutely possible in Squarespace. So we talked about trends and you gave such good answers. And I'm like, yes, yes, yes. But let's talk about business trends and this, and to kind of give a little tease on where I want to go into this. This relates to your own business as well.
It's this idea of having a business with multiple access points, let's call it. But let's kind of talk about that, how you're observing that with you and even with your clients.
christy
Yeah, I feel like since 2020, the landscape for entrepreneurs and solopreneurs has been so interesting and changing so rapidly.
And we're seeing these swings of periods from being really busy to swings where, you know, it feels very quiet. And it seems like it's a little different than it has been in the past. And one of the things that I think I was fortunate in ahead of the pandemic was that when I set up my business, I set it up with three different service levels.
So I had my custom builds, which is, that's, that's the cash cow, right? That's what all of us web designers, we rely on those to pay the bills. I also had an hourly help, um, screen share that I would do with clients. So that was a low entry price point. So that was to get people in the door. And then just for grins, I threw in a day rate for like, do you have a website? Did you DIY it? And you're like, it doesn't look quite right. I need a hand with that. And that was almost an afterthought. But when the pandemic hit, what I experienced and what I think a lot of web designers experienced was that people weren't willing to invest in custom builds, because things were so uncertain, and they weren't ready for that, but maybe they had some extra time on their hands and they were DIYing and I was fortunate that I had the day rate. And so I recouped all the money I would have made with custom builds through my day rate service. And, and it just, it really just brought home how important it is to have diversity in your offerings. Or, if you don't, at least be ready to pivot if needed.
So have an idea of where you can go and be agile. And I think that that's something I'm seeing more web designers do now, is perhaps have offerings across different price points. Once I kind of figured that out. I decided to differentiate in other ways. So I had started blogging and I leaned into affiliate marketing with my blog.
It was bringing in income through affiliate marketing in addition to one on one work. And then I started creating products for passive income. So those were three buckets of income that I could lean into. If, for example, I wanted to take some time off and travel. Instead of doing one on one work that might require a little bit more time bound with a client, I could lean into affiliate marketing, content marketing, or I could create a product and launch a sale while I was traveling.
Just having these different buckets of your business that you can lean into as needed has been really, really useful to me, and I'm seeing it. Being very helpful to a lot of web designers, instead of just saying, I build custom websites for coaches, and that is what I do, being able to provide different levels of service, or being able to provide different types of products and services, and being able to switch those on or off as needed.
Phil
Is there one particular vertical of your business that brings you the most joy? Not the most money. I mean, it brings you the most joy. Absolutely. Even if it's like a new one.
christy
Yeah. No, for me, it's, it's always been education. I grew up thinking that I was going to be a college professor. And when I realized that that was not the path for me, the things that I took with me from that experience in grad school were I love sharing information and showing people how to achieve something.
phil
Me too. And teaching.
christy
And so for me, you know, that could be a blog post. It could be a product that I put together, a course. It could be a YouTube video. So it comes out in a lot of different ways. It can be my one hour screen share. So that's what brings me the most joy is giving people information and empowering them.
phil
And what about creating content? I know podcasting is something you do, but paint the picture on how you, you know, you, you have clients, you have products. How do you also create content consistently?
christy
Actually it started with blogging for me. So in 2018 is when I, which is how I found you. Yeah. Yeah.
So it worked. Um, in 2018 is when I pivoted my business to focus solely on Squarespace. So I'd been a web designer. I worked in WordPress. I did custom coding. I did SQL database stuff. But in 2018, I decided I'm going to pivot. I'm going to choose a platform that I enjoy, that I think the clients I want to work with would enjoy, and I'm going to go all in.
And so that was the year of Squarespace for me. And as I was learning Squarespace, I realized that there were questions that I had that I had to figure out, and it was hard going. And instead of just like, I know this thing now, I thought, if I have this question, I know other people do as well. And so when I would figure something out, I would write a blog post on it.
And within two years, I started ranking on page one for Squarespace Web Designer. And it was that consistency with blogging that paid off and really set the stage for that content creation. Now, the beauty of that is that, you know, at the time, I didn't have as much client work, I had more time to blog.
And so I was blogging once a week, once every two weeks. But as the client work took off my blog is still carrying me. I don't blog that often now because I have more client We're gonna I just don't have time, but it's still relevant It's still answering questions that people have and I can go in and update Information on the blog and keep it relevant without having to create new content there. But this year for me is going to be the year of YouTube.
So I'm excited. I've committed, um, starting February of 2024 to post one video a week and just see where it goes. So this is an experiment for me. And it was super encouraged. You mentioned Becca earlier from inside the square. She talked with me about it too, was super encouraging. She's had a lot of success, as you know, with YouTube.
And again, it's a great community because it could be seen as competition. We're both in the Squarespace space, but because it's such a lovely community of individuals, and we all have the, I think we all have the feeling that a rising tide lifts all ships. You know, we're going to help each other. And so just, you know, in that moment of, of Becca showing YouTube and encouraging me, you know, it's like, I'm going to try that this year.
Phil
You should try. Well, if, if it makes you feel any better, this is my year of blogging. So I have YouTube, like that's, we are good on that front. And I will, in the same way that you would write a blog post that answers a question that you know other people have. I've done that maybe on the topic of Squarespace in 300 videos, maybe 10 videos.
And some of them are in the tens of thousands of views. Phenomenal. Because, literally, Christy, they were things I thought, why was it so hard for me to figure out how to change the color of a logo on a single page on Squarespace? Right. And you go now, you go to YouTube, and I have one of the highest ranking videos on that topic.
It's not particularly poignant in terms of sending me traffic for people that will hire me to design their brands and businesses.
christy
But it's so helpful. Like, you're putting good out into the world. Circle Day and people are like, oh, there's that guy, you know?
phil
It's useful. And to that point, I wake up every day and for the large majority of what I look at in terms of comments on YouTube, they're kind replies from people that say thank you so much for helping me figure this out.
And I feel that because I've had those moments in Squarespace forums going why is it so hard to find the answer to this question? And when we serve it up like Becca does so brilliantly, and like you're going to do, you already do so brilliantly, I think you speak really, really well, and I think you'll enjoy the process of educating in the way of a video. I get such a kick out of it. I know you're going to as well. I think video is going to be even more exciting for you than writing a blog.
christy
I'm excited to give it a try this year.
phil
Well, you also got a podcast with Sweet Will. And so podcasting has also primed you for, uh, tip top communication.
christy
Well, I'm lucky in the podcast to have Will because he's like the perfect partner for that.
He makes me laugh a whole episode, just a lot of fun, super smart, very insightful. So yeah, somewhat useful is the name of our podcast.
phil
It's perfect. I think you're both well known in the Squarespace world. And so it's, it's a perfect. Perfect match. And you're right. The rest of us are the cheerleaders for YouTube.
What I am excited for you also, YouTube is a great way to get those affiliate links up, uh, front and center. And so in the same way that you're creating content, that's helpful for other people and likely advising your clients, right? Like clients are like, well, how do I get more leads? Or how do I increase my disability?
Well, think about the questions that people ask you on a client call, on a sales call, on a strategy call, start to answer those questions. So the right people looking for those questions find you very simple. But also I think selfishly content creation, when it gives you more than it even gives someone else. For me, when I make a video, I'm usually making a video on a topic I don't know about yet, but because I have to make a video out of it, I have it in my calendar, and I have an excuse to spend my valuable minutes on that instead of something else. And it's so rewarding because in essence, YouTube is actually a form of education.
christy
Absolutely. That's a really good point. You don't necessarily have to be the expert. You just have to know how to answer what people are asking and help them along the way. And I think maybe that's something that has stopped me in the past or maybe stopped some people from producing content. It's like, well, I don't know everything there is to know about Squarespace.
You don't have to. You just have to know enough to help somebody else who's stuck.
phil
Hundred percent. Are there any other tools that you use and love that fit into your web design ecosystem?
christy
Yeah, absolutely. One of my favorites is my client relationship management tool, and I use HoneyBook for that. And I know there are a few different options out there. I've tried them all. And HoneyBook is the one that it has the sweet spot of features and ease of use. So it's not so feature rich that you're just like, how on earth do I do this? Because I've used that tool. It was not fun, but it does exactly what I need it to in terms of being able to automate processes for me, for custom clients and keeps everything seamless in one place and it looks really beautiful.
So it's one of my favorite tools. And just shout out to HoneyBook as a company as well. They have one of the best customer support groups I have found. So when I started using HoneyBook, I can't remember what the question was, but you know, you say there are no stupid questions. It was a stupid question that I had. And I went in to help and they were so kind to me without being, they could have just been like, no, you dummy, this is how you do it. They were so gracious and so kind. And then I saw the answer and I'm like, oh, you dummy, this is how you do it. So shout out to them for just, you know, overall customer service and support as well.
So that's one of my favorites. I also have just started using Descript for video recording and editing. And so that's a new one for me and I'm loving it. It's so much faster than other video editing tools I tried to use in the past, just in terms of getting things done quickly.
phil
I used Descript for simple transcription because it is free up to, I think it's an hour or a few hours.
So I actually used Descript, the free version. Instead of, for example, other platforms like Otter, which is great, but you have to pay for it. And I don't think, the way that they've grown, I don't think the subscription price is worth the features unless you're using it for your meetings and stuff. And Descript was one that I didn't identify with in the beginning. I thought, why is everyone using Descript? And now I use it. Now I use it. So it's kind of a funny journey. HoneyBook, I really wanted to sign on to use them to get us out of Asanaland, but it's U. S. only, and we have too many international clients. It is. Yeah, it's U. S. and Canada. So, yeah, if it's international, it's not the right fit, sadly, but.
phil
Sadly, yes.
We've got clients in 34 countries, so we cannot kind of close them off from At least Benel take their money, you know, that's not really going to work. But we are looking at Dub Sado, we're looking at, um, Monday. We spent a lot of time, we, we've invested a lot of time last year in getting our SOPs updated and organized.
And so I like Monday because it has a built in CRM and a project management, and that's feeling good. Ooh, two in one. Two in one, I gotta get the hell out of Asana because it gives me anxiety. I was reading somewhere that it's great for companies that have 200 people or more. And I'm like, yeah, that's not me. And it's so complicated and it works. It works for us, but it's been four or five years to ready to shake things up. So we're actually, we're in the process of switching all of that.
christy
I think there's, like you said, sometimes it can be a little bit too feature rich or a little bit too in depth, and then you just spend all your time trying to figure out how to use it instead of actually using the platform.
phil
Using it. Mm hmm. 100%. Anything that you're excited about this year, business wise, tell it to, you know, set some goals. What are you going to make happen this year?
christy
Yeah. So, you know, I already mentioned the YouTube goal. That is one. The other goal I have is, I have a template shop for Squarespace. So, we mentioned earlier Squarespace templates, you know, the ones that you can get for free, don't have a lot of strategy behind them. So, I created some templates have any strategy behind them.
phil
Yeah. They have just pretty little designs with absolutely no explanation.
christy
So, I developed some templates for DIYers that come baked with a strategy built in. And they can just plug in their content and images and launch. So this is the year that I'm going to be spending a little bit more time developing more templates, getting my template shop really more broad than it currently is across authors, coaches, service providers.
So that's something I'm really excited about for this year. Because I think that DIYers having that other option with a small investment and a weekend of time could have an amazing website.
phil
100%. I love that idea for you. And it's super cool that you've already got so much content that builds people's trust, you know, as someone that they can trust to get to that next level. That's a very smart progression for you, in my opinion. Not that you asked. I appreciate your opinion, though. Ha ha ha. No, I didn't. Think about it. Someone lands on your blog post, even if it's a few years old, but it teaches them this little light bulb moment. Then we go, I mean, you don't realize how many people don't know you but trust you. And that's really powerful.
christy
I think that is so important in terms of finding clients and customers for products as well as, you know, they'll stumble upon a blog post and that you've written. I mean, no matter what your industry, if you've created content and you've helped them in some way or shown them something that they didn't know, then that's already like an indicator, like you said, of trust and so much more likely that they would seek you out to work with you in the future when they have another problem down the road. So.
The other thing I'm excited about this year, Phil, is Circle Day again!
phil
Yes! I don't know if I'm going yet, but Oh, you have to go. That's where we get to see all of our Squarespace friends in real life.
phil
I probably will. You know, I'll like, make this whole drama out of, oh, am I gonna go or am I not gonna go? One of the things I'm thinking about, my developer, um, shout out to Lucy! She is over in the UK, but I want to get her over to meet all kinds of people. Um, Lucy Budge. I don't know if you know her. Do you know Lucy?
christy
I know the name. Wolf and Wild? Yes!
phil
Yeah, absolutely. Wolf and Wild. Now she has Untitled site, but she works hand in hand with me nowadays on all of our client projects, and she's an absolute delight.
And, anyways, we've talked about, I want to get her either to the U. S. for Circle Day, New York, or, um, Adobe Max in L. A., so we're still deciding which, which is going to be the best one, but, yeah, we'll see.
christy
I vote Circle Day!
phil
I know you do. Yes, I would also love to see you again, and we had so much fun, so, so much fun.
Thanks for hanging out with us on Brand Therapy. You're just a gem of a human, and I'm excited for you.
christy
Oh my goodness, Phil. Any excuse to hang out and talk to you. You are the best. Thank you.
phil
Thank you for hanging out with us on Brand Therapy.
christy
Thanks for having me.
