It’s quite common among designers to believe that following trends is a crucial part of their job. Being constantly up-to-date is seen as mandatory. Many designers evaluate the work of others through a prism of trends – tagging something as #old can be seen as an insult, as if not fitting the most recent style would automatically make the whole project less valuable.
However, there are reasons to follow the trends. Visiting such websites as Awwwards, FWA or CSS design awards may inspire you and as a result, help you to venture outside of your design habits. You can learn about the new visual worlds, which you can then (consciously or not) integrate with your graphic language. Watching the work of others helps you to keep on improving your skills while being up-to-date when it comes to the latest technologies.