Web Design Trends of 2025 are a Blast from the Past

Have you ever noticed how fashion comes back around? Suddenly, the styles you cringed at from old photos are the coolest things in stores. Well, the same thing is happening on the internet. After a long era of super-clean, minimalist websites that all started to look the same, designers are hitting the rewind button.

But this isn’t just a lazy copy-and-paste of the past. The web design trends of 2025 are taking the most creative ideas from bygone eras and giving them a high-tech, modern makeover.¹ It’s a rebellion against the boring, a search for personality, and a fun, nostalgic trip that’s making the web feel more human again.²

So, buckle up! We’re taking a quick trip through web design history to see how we got here, and then we’ll dive into the top “comeback” trends that are making the web exciting again.

A Quick Trip in the Time Machine: Web Design Through the Ages

To understand where we’re going, you have to know where we’ve been. Web design has gone through some pretty distinct phases.

• The Wild West (The 90s): The first-ever website was just black text on a white background with blue links. But as the web grew, it became a chaotic and vibrant free-for-all. Think tiled backgrounds, flashing animated GIFs, and neon colors that burned your retinas. It was messy, but it was full of energy and experimentation.³
• Making it Feel Real (Early-to-Mid 2000s): As more people came online, designers tried to make the digital world feel familiar. This was the age of Skeuomorphism, where everything was designed to look like its real-world counterpart. Digital calendars had faux leather stitching, and note apps looked like yellow legal pads. It was a bit cheesy, but it helped people feel comfortable with new technology.³
• The Great Flattening (2010s): With the rise of smartphones, websites needed to be fast, clean, and work on any screen size. The solution? Minimalism and Flat Design. Designers stripped away all the textures and shadows, focusing on simple icons, bold colors, and tons of white space. It was efficient and clean, but after a decade, it started to feel a little… sterile.¹

Which brings us to today—a creative explosion where designers are looking back to bring personality, texture, and fun back to the web.

The 2025 Renaissance: What’s Old is New Again

Today’s biggest trends are all about remixing the past. Designers are taking the core ideas of older styles and rebuilding them with modern technology, creating experiences that are both nostalgic and cutting-edge.

The Tactile Web: A Comeback You Can Almost Touch

After years of flat, untouchable screens, we’re craving a sense of depth and texture. Enter the spiritual successors to Skeuomorphism.

• Neumorphism: This is a soft, subtle style that makes elements look like they’re extruded from or pressed into the background, like a piece of soft plastic or clay.⁴ It uses gentle, matching shadows to create a clean, 3D effect that feels modern and touch-friendly without being cluttered.²
• Glassmorphism: This trend creates a beautiful frosted-glass effect, where elements look like they’re floating on top of a blurred background. It adds a sense of light, airy depth and is often used in modern operating systems to create a sophisticated, layered look.²

See it in action:

• A perfect Neumorphism code generator at Neumorphism.io
• A live demo of Neumorphic components at(https://demo.themesberg.com/neumorphism-ui/)
• A concept for a(https://dribbble.com/shots/6914699-Smart-Home-App) that shows how tactile the style can feel

Breaking the Rules: The Rebellious Spirit of Brutalism and Maximalism

Some trends aren’t just a gentle evolution—they’re a full-blown rebellion against the clean, safe, corporate look.

• Brutalism: Inspired by the raw, concrete architecture of the same name, web brutalism is intentionally unpolished.⁵ It features clashing colors, oversized default fonts, and a stripped-back, almost “ugly” aesthetic that puts content front and center. It’s a bold statement that screams authenticity and is perfect for creative brands that want to stand out.¹
• Maximalism: If minimalism whispers, maximalism shouts. This trend is all about “more is more.” It embraces curated chaos, with dense layers of bold colors, competing patterns, and a mix of different fonts.⁶ It’s designed to be an immersive, visually rich experience that grabs your attention and refuses to let go.²

See it in action:

• The high-fashion brand(https://www.balenciaga.com/) uses a stark, brutalist layout.
• The digital art app Glitché offers a masterclass in maximalist chaos.
• The design studio Koto’s “(https://seasoned.koto.studio/)” site is a great example of playful “Retro Maximalism”.

A Blast From the Past: Retrofuturism and Y2K Nostalgia

Nostalgia is a powerful emotion, and designers are tapping into our collective memories of what we thought the future would look like.

• Retrofuturism: This is the future as imagined by past generations.⁷ Think of the optimistic, space-age visuals from 50s sci-fi movies or 80s pop culture—friendly robots, shiny chrome, and neon-pastel color palettes. It’s a fun, hopeful aesthetic that’s especially popular with tech and AI companies trying to make new technology feel friendly and approachable.²
• Y2K Revival: This trend hones in on the turn-of-the-millennium vibe of early internet culture.⁸ It’s all about translucent plastics, metallic surfaces, icy blues, and bright gradients—the look of the original iMac G3. It’s quirky, optimistic, and full of digital energy.

See it in action:

• The Paperback website captures the feel of vintage sci-fi comics.
• Designer(https://ryanhaskins.com/) is a perfect time capsule of the Y2K aesthetic.
• Pinterest has great collections of(https://www.pinterest.com/daleran0086/retro-futurism-ui/) for inspiration.

The Human Touch in an AI World

As AI becomes more common in design, there’s a growing counter-movement that celebrates things that feel uniquely handmade and imperfect.

• Organic Design: This trend swaps rigid grids for natural, flowing shapes and earthy colors.⁹ It often features quirky, hand-drawn illustrations to give a website a warm, authentic personality that feels like a breath of fresh air.²
• Expressive Typography: For years, web text was all about being clean and readable. Now, typography is becoming the art itself.⁹ Designers are using animated (kinetic) type, custom hand-drawn lettering, and playful fonts to give brands a unique voice and create a huge emotional impact.¹⁰

See it in action:

• Squarespace’s “Organic Matter” template family shows off this natural, flowing style.
• The portfolio of Mat Voyce is a fantastic playground of fun, animated typography.
• The work of(https://www.tinatouli.com/) shows how moving text can become a captivating art form.

Weaving the Past into the Future

The web design of 2025 is more exciting and diverse than ever. It’s a landscape where designers are skillfully blending the best ideas from history with the incredible power of modern technology. The result is a web that’s rediscovering its personality—one that’s more expressive, more engaging, and ultimately, more human.