What's your prediction for the top graphic design trend?

Predicting future graphic design trends can be tough. Still, we didn’t shy away from asking experts across various industries what they think will be the top trends in graphic design.

Predictions range from simple, eye-catching, and memorable designs to the rise of 3D designs and motion graphics. There is a mix of a return to more simple designs while there’s also room for exploration in how designers can use augmented reality.

Even though there will be a call for simplicity, businesses should look into working with creatives to create unique visual identities. It will be hard to stand out and brands need exceptional designs to grab the attention of their target audience.

Diversity and inclusion will continue to be big themes that dominate the world of design. Brands need to make sure they represent their wide range of customers in their visuals. Read on to find out what our contributors see when they look at the future of graphic design.

We have to take care about the effects of colour schemes on graphic design and how people feel these schemes. 

1. Colorful Minimalism

Design has carefully treaded the fine lines between complexity and dullness, without breaking the main principles of modern minimalism.

2. 3D elements

3D designs aren’t brand new, but in the coming years, we will likely see a rise in the visual trend.

3. Augmented reality

If the pace of growth remains unabated, AR will soon grace every stripe of the graphic design field.

4. Natural Patterns And Textures

Using traditional mediums like paper and watercolor is an emerging graphic design trend.

5. Inclusion

The world of graphic design will likely see a much larger emphasis on depicting people of different ethnicities, genders, sexualities, ages, and abilities.

Website: www.photographybymisty.com/

Social Media: www.instagram.com/PhotographyByMistyCo

Brandable memes will be the top graphic trend. Memes have a short lifespan, but memes with a brand label are everlasting and continue to be recognized years later.

The overall digital marketing strategies have evolved during the pandemic era and have impacted how brands use memes. This has given rise to one of the most fun graphic design trends: branded memes.

Website: www.invideo.io/

Social Media: www.twitter.com/parthsuba77

1. Colorful Minimalism

Design has carefully treaded the fine lines between complexity and dullness, without breaking the main principles of modern minimalism.

2. 3D elements

3D designs aren’t brand new, but in the coming years, we will likely see a rise in the visual trend.

3. Augmented reality

If the pace of growth remains unabated, AR will soon grace every stripe of the graphic design field.

4. Natural Patterns And Textures

Using traditional mediums like paper and watercolor is an emerging graphic design trend.

5. Inclusion

The world of graphic design will likely see a much larger emphasis on depicting people of different ethnicities, genders, sexualities, ages, and abilities.

Website: 2021.vintage.com.ua/en

Social Media: www.instagram.com/olga_vintage/

1. Outline Geometric Illustrations

2. 3D Shiny Custom Typography - Animated

Website: www.vectornator.io

Social Media: www.instagram.com/berenikagod

I'm guessing it'll be augmented reality. Why? Well, I'm already seeing people use Google Glass to put blueprints up on the ceiling of a building they are about to install required electric circuits for. 

I also saw someone "checking out" what their new purchase would look like in 8 different colors, which you could see instantly on your phone screen as the phone was pointing at the object. At 3D printing exhibitions, people sometimes create avatars that stand next to real objects and upload them onto their website for sales purposes. 

Adidas has also set up 3 stores that allow you to try on clothes without actually removing them from the hangers or take into the fitting room.

Website: www.respona.com/

Social Media: www.linkedin.com/in/farzadrashidi/

Odds are we'll see more work being made with non-Adobe tools like Procreate, but in terms of style, I want trends to become harder to identify. I'm not interested in seeing the same styles of design or illustration from every brand. 

Brands should aim to produce visual identities and communications that feel unique to them instead of co-opting another popular brand's style. Part of achieving that is by working with creatives who can root out truths in a brand's story and translate them into novel perspectives. 

The goal is to introduce something interesting to the conversation - otherwise, you're just lost in a crowded zoo yelling for your mom, but you're wearing the same otter hat as every other kid and even though you assume your balloon will help you stand out, every other kid has a balloon, you're all the same height, and everyone's mom is tired from driving.

Website: www.truantstudio.com/

Social Media: www.instagram.com/truantstudio/

Minimalist style, geometric shapes, and clean serif fonts.

Website: www.ashlybrook.com

Social Media: www.instagram.com/theashlybrook/

As a professional cover designer in adult books, my predictions for future trends go straight to display typography. I have found that the emphasis on hand-lettering and illustrated type treatment has dwindled in the past year or so. 

From personal experience, my clients and their audiences rarely show interest in hand-lettered typography to best represent their books. I anticipate many beautiful book covers with classic, san serif type treatment to be produced!

Website: www.jesslagreca.com

Social Media: www.instagram.com/jess_lagreca/

In the last year, we’ve witnessed a significant shift in certain industries using blockchain-based technologies. Whoever wanted to participate had to quickly adopt previously unseen ways of interacting with the systems built on blockchain.

Adoption of these new interaction approaches requires fast learning of the new tools and understanding of their benefits and consequences. To help novices comprehend the aforementioned aspects, UX/UI designers come to the stage.

Creating a bridge between technology and users is at the core of what they do. This trend only started and it will soon affect the work of the designers in more and more industries.

Website: www.victoryofgoliath.com/

Social Media: www.linkedin.com/in/viktorgolias

1. Approachable and down-to-earth design like we didn’t make much effort on fine design.

2. After a period of two-dimensional minimal designs, there will be a trend of in-depth color-loaded designs.

3. Upgrading the world of fonts: The same font will allow modifications and adaptations to our design needs.

4. Increase in video rather than stiles.

5. Vertical design formats.

Social Media: www.instagram.com/dudibensimon/

My prediction is the tendency will be focused on images that are simple. Eye-catching and memorable images that can capture the curiosity of people with a very short attention span. 

It’s like they glimpse something and they will try to get back to it after having given it some thought. This is where the scrambler technique works. It’s something so thought-provoking that it’s going to stay in their minds and they will want to return to it in a short lapse of time. 

Website: www.lordofthelogos.com

Social Media: www.Instagram.com/Christophe.szpajdel

This may not be a 'trend' but I think sustainability will be a societal theme again. Sustainability is a very broad area and "Sustainability is not just environmentalism. Embedded in most definitions of sustainability we also find concerns for social equity and economic development." - quote from here.

Social Media: www.linkedin.com/in/padraig-murray-a28b3718/

Inclusivity. I've been an advocate of inclusivity for a long time and I think we'll see a lot more inclusive representations as brands get to grips with the understanding that their audiences are much wider than they believe them to be. 

Making sure that assets are genuinely diverse and reflective of our society is crucial - not just for the obvious likeability factor, but because the audience demands to be seen.

Website: www.braincandy.digital/

Social Media: www.linkedin.com/in/emmalinemcandrew

There's lots of talk of an updated roaring 20's hitting, call it an antidote to all the negative energy of the pandemic. So, big, bright, brash bold backgrounds and statement colours. 

Website: www.adelie-creative.co.uk

Social Media: www.linkedin.com/in/selenadurrantacl/

More humanity! Less pretense, fewer cold flawless sans-serif fonts, more imperfect lines. Culturally we're moving toward more honest connection and representation and I think design will follow suit through a more honest, personable approach. Seriffed fonts and softer, textured design are already making a comeback.

Website: www.aweber.com/

Social Media: www.twitter.com/JesseKennedyPHL

I think we will have more brands and designs in motion. 90's nostalgia combined with playful typography in a maximalist style will probably stay, and it will go bigger next year. 

Website: www.junedigann.com

Social Media: www.instagram.com/junedigann

RISE OF PERSONAL BRANDING

In light of the pandemic, your audience and community is craving connection more than ever. Based on a poll CL Designs had engaged with my audience, 90% of people preferred an eclectic feed opposed to a highly curated feed. Ensuring a cohesive, personal, and humanized design; it will increase your brand’s credibility, authority, and monetization organically.

Businesses can use this approach to develop stronger relationships with loyal customers and clients with higher customer lifetime value. By delivering a personal aspect of design as well as inclusive and accessible design, you’re able to reach more people. The content and visual communications will increase your impact and sales that’s aligned with your values.

Gone are the days of a 'perfect' curated feed. With personality and values intentionally behind your designs, the ability to directly communicate with your target demographic, reflect your goals, and share your expertise will help better serve you and your community with integrity.

Website: www.christineldesigns.com

Social Media: www.instagram.com/_clieu

My prediction is based on how I think businesses are trying to stand out after the pandemic. This involves seeing more bold colours, bold typefaces, art, and patterns because there is such a market now and it’s more about standing out. Colour and art murals would have a huge influence on businesses.

Social Media: www.linkedin.com/in/corinne-gondouin-9082971a6

3D will continue being a huge trend in motion graphics especially combined with 2D animations. Advances in Blender (which is free) and Cinema 4D make 3D easier to pick up than ever. 

The retro 70s style will be popular with soft, pastel color schemes, black outlines, and cartoony characters along with bold typography that is visually appealing and down-to-earth, which is also easy to animate.

Website: www.lauraporat.com/

Social Media: www.twitter.com/lauraporat

My prediction is that this year will bring with it a reinvigorated desire for simplicity in graphic design. Minimalism will continue to carry itself forward with a stronger and ever-growing focus placed on clarity.

Website: www.behance.net/nicebeardguy

Social Media: www.instagram.com/nicebeardstudios/

The continuation of simple designs on social media like tweet templates, memes on white backgrounds, and bold words.

Website: www.thesociallock.com

Social Media: www.instagram.com/sociallock

I think the “cartoony” style will continue. Also, I think (based on what I am working on..!!) I would say line drawing animations will boom. Also, I see funky typographies coming strong, especially fluffy 70’s inspired ones!

Website: www.majasbokshop.com/

Social Media: www.instagram.com/majasbok

A trend that is likely to grow in prominence is 3D Design elements. While 3D designs are not a new concept in the design world, new technologies make rendering intricate 3D textures easier than ever. 3D application can be used across many areas of the design world from user interface to illustration.

Website: www.graphicdesigneire.ie/

Social Media: www.linkedin.com/company/%C3%A9ire-graphic-design/about/

As the social media giant Facebook changed its name, we will likely see an uptick in metaverse-related designs.

For instance, many companies will invest time and effort into designing worlds and characters for virtual and augmented reality. Beyond that, there's little doubt the NFT craze has taken hold - so we're likely to see more NFT designs. This is why 3D-related designs always sit on top of trending lists.

This is on top of an ongoing trend to simplify logos, slogans, UX and UI, web designs, and mobile apps.

Website: www.brandcrowd.com/

Social Media: www.linkedin.com/in/clancy-clarke-86298521/ 

Our experts cover a wide variety of areas in graphic design to give you a forecast of emerging trends for the coming year. There seems to be a move towards simplicity and minimalism, which goes hand in hand with predictions of a shift towards classic sans serifs and clean serifs in the area of typography.

As in any other industry, technology propels everything forward and in graphic design, it will increase the use of 3D elements and augmented reality. 3D textures and animation evolve for designers to experiment with and discover new ways of creating graphics.

Representation and inclusivity continue to be at the forefront and brands are expected to display their diverse customers in visuals. Businesses should work closely with graphic designers to create unique visual identities that include everyone and stand out.