One of the things that I’ve always thought was interesting was how trends change, and working in web design, especially a SEATTLE web design firm, I have seen the power of trends. Trends obviously apply to every industry, and as none of us can tell the future, looking at what has happened in the past and forecasting the future is usually our best bet. Web design – the process, the experts, and the overall execution - has had a trend that is very unique. In the beginning it was a specialized skill that was rare. True web design firms like Efelle Media didn’t have a stake in the market like they do today, instead large advertising firms and industries that revolved around marketing dominated the landscape. This is the point in the reading where I usually find myself in awe that it was ever pried away… after all, generally when large powerful companies dominate an industry that is where it stays…. I am always a little shocked that the solution that arose to free web designers and developers from traditional advertising agencies was “Open Source” technologies.

What I’m going to call “The Great Web Designer Liberation” was the release of free or “open source” firmware into the market. Freely distributed technologies like WordPress, Drupel, and Joomla made the market more accessible to designers and businesses alike and in many ways are responsible for the rapid growth and development of the internet as we know it today. Much like communism though, this concept was “good in theory, not in practice”.

The downsides to “open source” web design software eventually become more prevalent. Widgets, Gadgets, and Plug-Ins all had severe limitations. The result when added to the dilution of talent in the industry left businesses dealing with technology that wasn’t scalable and web designers that were notoriously unreliable. The fall-out would coincide with the downfall of the dot.com bubble and the birth of a recession. Times were tough – not like kind of tough, but like how your old man would walk to school uphill both ways in the snow, hopping on one foot to keep the other warm kind of tough.

What would rise out of the adversity is our current trend. The leaders of the industry stepped forward to create proprietary content management systems, systems that were scalable, with modules and features with broad spanning capabilities, all made specifically to work together, and with an interface that could put the consumer in the driver’s seat. I am proud to say that Efelle Media is pioneering this frontier along with only a handful of other companies across the United States.

What is the next trend? What will the future of website design and development look like? Though a change in trends is very far out there are some indicators that look to draw a few conclusions:

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