Web designing today is quite different from the flashy banners and graphic intensive websites of before. Customers have become more sophisticated and are not keen on having bright colors and annoying pop ups thrust onto them as they visit a website. The principles of Web 2.0 design focus on subtlety, ease of navigation and elegant designs.
Simplicity is the recurring theme of Web 2.0 design. Plain, light backgrounds with simple, big typefaces make the headlines and subtexts really stand out. The high contrast and limited use of containment boxes make Web 2.0 design minimalistic, but very effective. Substance takes precedence over fluff.
Unnecessary complexity brings about disproportionate design costs. It also hampers the user friendliness of the website. A website that is intuitively understood and easy to navigate will attract and retain more visitors than one that is chockfull of features, but cumbersome.