What drives trends on the web?

For instance, where did the shiny floor come from? Did everyone suddenly start using Murphy’s Oill soap on their web sites?

In the early days of the web there was a trend to mimic the physical space on-line. Making websites that looked and interacted like their physical world counterparts. There were a lot of kiosk and mall type web designs.

As the web matured and usability became a differentiator. Web designs began using the power of the virtual world to its advantage.

As far as graphic design goes I can think of three major trend setters.

1. Apple the shiny logo, cool textures, etc.
2. Microsoft, yes Microsoft. Much like Apple, they have tremendous influence over your working environment everyday. The OS is persistent surrounding every App you use everyday. Think about it, there was a huge explosion of 3D icons after the launch of XP.
3. Adobe. Their products are used by most graphic professionals. As they release features making things easier for designers, we start seeing more of those elements. Think about the gradients we see everywhere on the web. Years ago that was a painful process to create. Now it’s a one click in Photoshop.

There are loads of other influences like TV and movies but I think these are the big three for now…