In recent months designers have been taking bigger risks with web design, including using visual effects that are more unusual. One such visual effect is the use of blur. While this might seem like the opposite of effective web design, blur can be used to create a striking result, but how?
What are the options for using blur effectively in web design?
While blur isn’t viewed as something that is very practical in web design, this has been subverted recently with web design trends that actually make use of this as a well defined and cohesive design choice. So how can blur be used in web design, without reducing the visual quality or impact of your website? Well, there are several options available, including:
- Blurring and deblurring on scroll
- Background blur effects
- Using blur as an image effect
Blurring and deblurring as a scroll effect in web design
When scrolling through a website sometimes the amount of content and particularly the amount of text can become slightly overwhelming. At the same time, for one page scrolling websites it can be difficult to separate one page from another. Blurring scroll effects can provide an effective solution for both of these issues. This works by Blurring the content that you are not currently looking at, and devouring the content as you scroll down the page. This allows just one area of the screen to be looked at, at a time, with content above and below being blurred to reduce visual strain. This works most effectively for text heavy websites or those that are one page scrolling websites. Websites with a minimal amount of text, and an effective balance between imagery and text, may need to use blurring effects in a different way.
Background blur effects for website content
Instead of using the blur and deblur scrolling effect, some company websites can be better suited to overall background blur instead. This involves using either a background image that is blurred to some degree, ranging from very blurred to only a slight blur, to using a blur colour wash. Either option can be very effective, depending on company branding and web design style. When using this style of background it’s essential that the text and images have enough contrast to stand out from the blurred background to provide clear, easy to read text, and to ensure image clarity.
Using blur as an image effect
Finally, an effective way to make use of blur in web design is to use blur as an image effect. For images that need clarity, like product and service images, the blur effect will not be appropriate. But for heading content and hero content at the very top of the landing page, a blurred image can help draw attention to the website, promote the interest and intrigue of potential customers or clients, and help text and the call to action button to stand out.
For more information or advice, or for high quality, professional web design solutions, get in touch with the experts today, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester.