Here at KIJO, we are unapologetic specialists in luxury web design. It’s our lifeblood; what we live and breathe every day. Website design is now an essential part of any business, particularly for luxury, high-end brands. Your website is the first stop for any potential or current client.  So, it’s important for these brands to adopt modern website design principles and stay abreast of the current design trends. 

Of course, the internet and site user expectations are always evolving. But, staying up to date with design trends for luxury websites is essential for preventing conversion losses and keeping your brand at the forefront of people’s minds.

Read on to discover what the expert KIJO team anticipates as the most popular design trends of 2024, and perhaps provide you with some future modern website design inspiration.

What are the Luxury Design Trends in Websites for 2024?

We asked our KIJO team what they anticipate seeing more of in modern website design this year.

Expansive Imagery/Video

Large, expansive imagery and video is something our Website Service Leader, Liam Terry thinks we’ll be seeing more of on luxury websites in 2024. “Expansive imagery provides a captivating, memorable visual experience. Its impact is pretty hard to match. Using a large photograph or video as the backdrop to a website (like arts management company Askonas Holt’s site does here), simply elevates the user experience. This luxury design choice works even better if coupled with complementary typography, subtle animations and smooth scroll effects.”

Fluid Layout

These are going to be key to luxury web design. Fluid layouts mean that the site will adapt seamlessly to different screen sizes and resolutions, providing a consistent user experience across all devices. Nowadays, a user is most likely to access a site for the first time on mobile. So, it really is essential and should be a priority for every website designer now, particularly those in the luxury space. KIJO’s Website Service Leader, Liam Terry, adds “Naturally flowing content, no matter the device, is essential in modern website design. With the ever-expanding array of devices continuously entering the market, prioritising a fluid layout in theory means a future-proof design. Google now adopts mobile-first indexing too, so it prioritises mobile-friendly website designs on its rankings! The more mobile friendly your website is, the higher it can rank.”

Metaverse (Virtual World)

Metaverse is predicted to be the next big thing: a virtual reality platform that many companies are working on. “It’s attractive because it offers a more immersive experience,” says KIJO’s Website Service Leader, Liam Terry, “and pushes a web designer’s creativity to go beyond the traditional 2D layouts. It emphasises social collaboration despite it existing in a virtual environment. I think this will be applied to the eCommerce experience on many sites and within the luxury sectors. I think there will also be a push for authentic avatars and identity designs to promote a properly personalised experience too. When presenting data, the metaverse presents opportunities for building this in 3D. This can provide more interactivity and dynamism on sites as well, as well as upgrade the user experience to feel particularly premium.”

Smooth Scroll

The smooth scroll is back and set to continue dominating luxury design trends according to KIJO’s Co-Founder, Jordan Thompson. That’s because “smooth scroll creates a more immersive interface, and provides the sleekest navigation experience you can get. It pulls the user in so much so that they almost forget it’s a web page they’re interacting with. Smooth scroll also helps make animations appear and feel flawless which is ultimately a very luxurious addition to a website. Lenis’ smooth scroll library demonstrates this perfectly.”

Bold & Custom Typography

The right fonts in the right places can catch our attention and make us feel something. We predict that bold and custom typography are going to come up a lot this year in luxury, modern website design.

KIJO’s UI/UX Designer, Danny Findon-Kent, says: “Bold typography helps create a distinctive, memorable brand identity. It sets the tone for the personality and values of a brand too. Not only does the right typeface enhance readability of your content as a whole, but it aids in establishing clear visual hierarchy within the interface. It also grabs attention quickly. When used well, bold typography can complement multimedia elements on a site and allows for creative micro interactions and animations, promoting user engagement. This trend is certainly going to be embraced by the luxury website design community in 2024 – we’re already seeing it now. Take the Bloom Nine Elms website, for example. That’s because it allows us to tell a visual story through text and compels users to stay on site.”

Courageous Colours

It’s not just typography that will be bold this year according to UI/UX Designer, Danny Findon-Kent. Colours are set to also take a more courageous step in luxury, modern website design. “We’re seeing it already. There’s full neons like the Bloom Nine Elms website I mentioned above, but also take luxury fashion label Burberry’s most recent rebrand. They’ve adopted a bold, royal blue for words that need to stand out and for their hover effect. It’s confident, eye-catching and in tune with that regal air this brand has. I think we’ll be seeing a lot more bold colour themes this year.”

Neutral Colours

Website Service Leader, Liam Terry thinks that brands who are going to side step the bold colours, will instead push toward a minimalist and muted feel for their luxury website designs in 2024. That’s because “neutral colour palettes offer a sense of sophistication and elegance, whilst remaining clean, natural and confident. Take a look at the luxury tequila brand Casa Obsidiana’s website. This site demonstrates what I mean by sophisticated neutrals.”

Complexity

UI/UX Designer, Danny Findon-Kent is certain the confidence isn’t going to stop at colours and typography. He thinks luxury website design is going to see far more complexity over the next 12 months. “From complex graphics, textures and patterns, industries are starting to really understand the importance of a business website. Luxury brands tend to have more flexibility with budget, so I think it’s possible they are going to invest properly and do all they can to create even more immersive experiences for their users via their websites. You just have to look at sites like Glossier’s. The complexity is amazing; videos, animations, expansive imagery, patterns and bold typography all at one. And the pay off? It’s awesome.”

2024’s Modern Website Design Trends

2024 sees a design trend of fluidity predominantly in this year’s modern website design trends. However, these design trends are also really embracing that growing consumer hunger for storytelling, brand purpose, and a clear mission and values; even more so in the luxury space. These can all be enhanced by the right website styles and designs. 

Design trends in websites are ever changing, but the shared understanding between luxury website designers is that keeping your finger on the pulse of them is key. This will help to keep a high-end site relevant and engaging.

If you think your luxury website could do with a refresh and you think you may benefit from a chat with a team of experienced expects, contact the KIJO team today.