ahh the prognosticators of 2018 have been out 
And while these trends are always sort of taken with a grain or two of salt. It is nice to see animation in the trend watch for this year!
"Alexey Galyzin, Product and Lead Designer at Crello. Alexey is a dedicated product designer striving for perfection with over 10 years of work on education, e-commerce, and entertainment projects.
Alexey Galyzin: I see that more and more media, companies and brands hire illustrators to create a unique visual style. Illustrations set a tone for a brand and add playfulness to their content. The best part of using illustrations is practical - illustrations can be of any size, style, color and can be incorporated into any design seamlessly.
Animation is a new norm in web design, as Depositphotos stated in their trends for 2018. Animations allow one to translate more information in an efficient way, driving attention and helping to tell a story in a few seconds. Logos, backgrounds, and menus become animated, which means better engagement."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomaslaurinavicius/2017/12/20/web-design-trends-2018/#143158ab2375
Small Simple animations:
6. Subtle Animation
2018 trends
Small, simple animations can surprise and delight users. They can also help provide information and lead the user through more active engagement with the design.
But subtle animation isn’t about a loading feature that hides lagging time, it’s movement within the design itself.
From hover states to cinemagraphs to illustrations that seem to come to life, subtle movement can be a great tool to help create user engagement. To make the most of subtle animation in the design stick to a couple of basic rules: pick just one animation “trick” and stick to it, animation should feel realistic and mimic the laws of physics, don’t force sound or click actions to motion and make sure the animation plays on a reliable loop so users know when the animation is complete. (That’s a sign that they can move on to do they thing they came to the website for in the first place.)
Integrated Animations: