Did you know that more than 40% of consumers value images the most in visual content, followed by color and video?
Visual content is here to stay and will get better as time goes on. This is but one of many web design trends for Chicago brands that want to grow and prosper in 2026.
Chicago brands need websites that feel local but can scale both nationally and internationally at a moment’s notice. All while looking good and loading quickly.
This article will go through some of the biggest web design trends for Chicago brands that want to start 2026 as well as they can.
Trying to improve your web design but don’t know where to start? Let us help.
Our Favorite Web Design Trends for Chicago Brands
This list is in no particular order. All of these web design trends for Chicago brands aim to be implemented on most, if not all, websites.
So, make sure to take notes and strategize how you plan to implement them into your website.
1. Performance as a Brand Experience
No one wants to wait for a website to load. If your website doesn’t load quickly, then people will close it and look for an alternative.
High-performing Chicago brands always focus on website speed because they understand how important it is for both reliability and professionalism.
For the most part, a faster website means higher organic rankings and overall better client satisfaction.
When pages load instantly, the interaction makes any morning commute through Chicago a lot better.
If your Chicago website loads slowly, consider the following:
- If you’re using high-quality images, consider compressing them with a new format such as WebP to retain most of their quality while reducing how much users need to load per page.
- Consider using CDNs in strategic locations for faster overall load times for your potential clients.
- Ensure that your code is free of fluff and unnecessary lines that only slow down your website.
2. Headless CMS Architecture
Many Chicago businesses, especially manufacturers, universities, and healthcare networks, need to manage several digital properties.
To keep up with their ever-increasing demands, they tend to migrate toward a headless architecture.
Why?
This modular approach separates the content layer from the presentation layer.
So, they can make quick changes without rebuilding each time.
Contentful and Sanity are popular headless CMS alternatives that power many Chicago websites.
For Chicago brands that need to scale across multiple markets, these systems are game changers. Marketers want to keep visuals uniform and test quickly. This balance helps them optimize better.
A headless CMS lets marketers edit content without developers. This flexibility also cuts costs over time.
3. AI-Assisted Design With a Human Touch
AI has rapidly increased many design and content workflows, but Chicago brands are starting to understand that they have to balance both AI and authenticity if they want to stand out.
While AI can work on alt texts, draft outlines, and even design variations, it doesn’t mean that human input shouldn’t be used. It’s hard to replace human judgment when it comes to compliance, tone, and creativity due to its nature.
When it comes to web design trends for Chicago brands, AI usage is high on the list. AI now allows both designers and copywriters to focus on more content at the same time, which leads to them meeting deadlines earlier.
The synergy between AI efficiency and human judgment and taste defines how web design trends shape for Chicago brands.
4. Stronger Focus on Local SEO
With competition going up every year, Chicago brands have understood how important local SEO is for their web design.
Big Chicago brands structure their websites to reinforce Google’s E-E-A-T framework (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).
For professional brands, locally optimized content mixed with a solid Google Business Profile helps secure “near me” results.
For companies that heavily rely on local exposure, such as urgent care facilities and law firms, doubling down on local SEO is a must and a priority.
Explore how we increased Platt College’s organic traffic by 48% after a complete website redesign in our latest case study.
5. Motion Design That Serves a Purpose
Motion design has evolved over the past few years. It has transformed from a quick way to increase the attention span of visitors into a storytelling tool.
Subtle micro-interactions, buttons that respond to hover, icons that confirm form completion, and animated infographics all help a brand tell a story.
Some of the best Chicago brands use motion design to guide users through a website to avoid distracting or overwhelming them.
6. Dark Mode and High-Contrast Themes
Users have grown accustomed to having some sort of customization option on websites. The biggest one by far is dark mode.
This is one of those web design trends for Chicago brands that most, if not all, websites should be using.
While dark mode seems like such a small web design trend, the reality is that it helps in a lot more ways than you might think. People with visual impairments can benefit from a high-contrast dark mode option since they can distinguish text a lot more easily.
Other visitors might be checking your website out in the middle of the night or in a dark room and could use a dark mode to avoid bright lights.
Offering either a dark mode or a high-contrast option on your website shows that you care about your visitors and clients with very little effort.
7. Multilingual Design
Chicago has a vast cultural diversity, which means that inclusivity is a must for most websites. Chicago brands are starting to recognize the importance of multilingual interfaces, especially those in Spanish.
Both translation services and onboarding pages let Chicago companies reach a bigger audience while also demonstrating respect for their culture.
True and functional multicultural design doesn’t just stop at a translation; it adapts and changes examples, imagery, and tone to match the audience’s expectations.
This approach, when properly executed, improves engagement and builds loyalty among groups that are generally not considered for digital marketing strategies.
8. Accessibility as a Core Design Value
Accessibility evolved from only being a compliance checkbox into one of the web design trends that Chicago brands overlook without understanding its importance.
Chicago’s healthcare and education sectors have always pushed accessibility to the forefront of digital ethics, and brands are starting to follow suit and not only stop at ADA and WCAG compliance.
Websites with clear color contrast ratios, keyboard navigation, intuitive headings, and motion settings that facilitate exploring the website are becoming the norm. Designers should be creating unique visuals that are great to look at without losing any sort of readability.
The result is a Chicago website that feels equitable, modern, and open to anyone, regardless of their impairments.
Accessibility improves SEO, lowers bounce rates, and makes your Chicago website a trustworthy pillar that other brands look up to.
Explore how we improved ERP Maestro’s page views per session by 128% in our most recent case study.
9. Authentic Photography and Inclusive Visuals
Stock images are not good enough anymore for local users.
Chicago citizens want to see real images taken and used on websites, not something they would find on Unsplash. Chicago brands that invest in a professional photographer for their images will see a quick decrease in bounce rates and an increase in conversions.
Natural lighting, expressions from people, and an editorial-style framing can all help you sell your product or service more than a simple stock photo.
Remember, brand identity and consistency are just as important as web design trends for Chicago brands.
Customers should feel welcome when going to your website, and custom images help with that when done correctly.
10. Transparent Data and Consent Design
Consumers have been learning more about privacy and starting to understand why they should be cautious about it.
This means that brands should rethink how they ask for information now. Forms are an exceptional way to ask for information without overwhelming the user.
They are now short and easy to understand, making it the perfect option for most Chicago brands that need user information and don’t want to be invasive.
Transparency turns what was once a legal formality into a brand differentiator by letting users be in control of the information they share.
This amount of clarity also aligns with new privacy laws and greatly helps a Chicago brand’s ethical credibility.
Get a Custom Web Design That Converts With Blacksmith
After going through these web design trends for Chicago brands, you might have noticed that while all of them are actionable, they also take a long time to implement.
Staying up to date with web design trends can be difficult, especially if you’re trying to use every single trend on your website.
Some of these trends can take weeks of your time to properly add to your website and set up correctly. This is time you could be using on other aspects of your business. So what now?
That’s where we come in. Blacksmith is a web design firm in Chicago, with a group of professional web designers ready to create a custom and modern website for your business.
From the latest trends to specialized strategies for your industry, we will ensure that your Chicago brand stands out for all of the good reasons.
Still unsure if investing in a custom web design is what your Chicago brand needs? Don’t worry, click here to schedule a call with us and we’ll provide you with a free audit. This way we can show you the areas where your website is struggling and how we can help fix and improve them.
