Repetition and patterns are found in almost every aspect of our lives, from architecture, social media, food, and education. Incorporating repetition and different patterns in your web design can help draw in more viewers and create consistency with your brand. In web design, using repetition allows our visitors to find things easily, better understand interactive elements, and helps your design stand out among the competitors. This blog will take a deeper look at how including patterns or repetition can benefit your website.
Why Our Minds Gravitate Toward Repetition
There are many biological reasons why we gravitate towards routines, repeated patterns, and designs with rhythm. Humans have a biological need for patterns, habits, and things we already know we like. Learning or seeing things in a repeated manner helps it to stick in our memory while reducing our cognitive load. Creating a sense of familiarity is important for visitors to stay on your site because it feels more predictable and easier to use.
How Repetition Helps Your Design
When you include patterns and repeating colors in your website design, you help build a sense of trust with your users. Having repetition will show users where to go on your site and direct them towards different areas of content. Creating a rhythm in your graphic or website helps it to feel anchored. A sense of familiarity in a new digital space will keep visitors from immediately leaving your site.
Using repeated shapes or colors helps us to enhance certain pieces of content. You can emphasize promotions or essential pieces of information you want to ensure your audience doesn’t miss.
Having a repeating layout or scroll animation on each page helps the user know exactly what to expect while navigating your website. For example, every profile on the Instagram app has the same layout, which helps users to know where to find a user’s bio, name, links, and highlights. Using a similar layout on each of your subpages will make navigation easier for a new user.
Overuse Can Cause Visual Overwhelm
When it comes to repetition, there is a possibility to overdo it, overwhelming your users or making your design confusing to read. Too many shapes, overlapping patterns, or a multitude of colors can be too stimulating for many users. The Law of Repetition dictates that you follow a color scheme and stick to it. Sticking to your brand colors and 2-3 fonts will prevent users from being overstimulated and confused.
On the flip side, too much repetition can become boring and monotonous. It is important for web designers and graphic designers to find a balance that will appeal to users without causing a headache. This is why choosing a color scheme or a few shapes is better than trying to incorporate everything at once.
Ideas For Patterns And Repetition In UX Design
Looking for some inspiration on how to include patterns and repetition in your website. Let’s look at some prominent examples.
Abstract Shapes
Using a combination of triangles, circles, and wavy lines across the background of a design can create visual interest and an interactive design.
Stacked Repeated Words
Seen mostly in graphic design and promotional flyers, repeating words like SALE in different colors can be an eye-catching way to improve your design. Other words you could use in a repeated pattern include free, quality, contact, results, or other page headings.
Repeated Elements That Fit A Theme
Repeating different symbols, graphics, or numbers that match a theme can help it look cohesive. For example, an invite to a birthday party can include confetti, birthday hats, candles, or party poppers. For your website, if you are a dentist, your website may include graphics of toothbrushes, teeth, or floss. Other websites could use a specific shape or unique graphic across their site, like a mouse design, or for bullet points.
Detailed Website Design From PDM
Our graphic design and web development team can help your website stand out from the competition. With years of combined experience, we are able to help your website utilize repetition and pattern without becoming too overwhelming. Performance Driven Marketing knows how to make your website visually appealing as well as SEO friendly to help you rank on search engines. With hundreds of responsive websites in our portfolio, you can find a design or some inspiration for your own website. Let the experts handle your website so you can focus on other important aspects of running a business. Reach out to us to get a free website audit or start redesigning your website today.
