Design helps us understand our world. Whether you’re a designer or are hoping to work with one, you need to stay on top of the latest graphic design trends. No matter the medium, understanding how styles are changing and evolving keeps your work fresh and resound with clients. Take a look at our top graphic design trend picks for this year and start imagining how these trends can help inform your style for the coming year.

As we conclude the year, we would like to discuss the top ten graphic design styles that were prominent in 2020. This list isn’t exhaustive but gives a guide to certain trends which stuck out in 2020. It was a strange year for everyone, and this included designers. While the business world faced forced closures, online shopping growing even further in prominence, the world of graphic design also faced changes.

1. Monochrome

Of late, graphic designers have begun using monochromatic colour effects on pictures to bring out a silent theme on their projects. It is a simplified version of the duotone craze that stood out in 2017. The monochromatic colour filter is used in full or partial elements to make the design look more composed. A monochromatic colouring is getting one colour and gradually reduces its shade to have a colour range called monochromatic. Some benefits of this type of design include:

1)   It creates a harmonious, visually cohesive look.

2)   It doesn’t draw attention to itself, but it lets your content shine.

3)   It can help associate brands with a specific, memorable colour.

4)   It makes your job as a designer easier and faster; you do not have to stress over picking colours or wondering if they go together.

2. Typography

Typography is an innovative and modern trend where designers use flowers, shapes, and creative elements to attract viewers. Most designers combine maxi typography (2019) and artistic typography (2020) to create an exciting craze. These designers can split words into many lines and using different fonts (mostly the heavy ones). The letters used must be huge.

3. Geometric Designs

This one incorporates different geometric designs, from the basic shapes to the sophisticated ones. The ones a designer chooses are dependent on their knowledge levels. Designers can use straight geometric shapes to create impressive results. Nevertheless, while they look comfortable and straightforward, these designs demand a lot of time and patience. The benefit of this design style is they are easy for the eyes to focus on. The lines and perspective utilised in a geometric design can also work together to draw the eyes where you want them to go. 

There are a number of famous logos out there which use Geometric Design. Geometric shapes often lead to more memorable logos which will last the test of time. Technology companies and forward-thinking companies use this type of design because their simple and smooth shapes make for a slick-looking logo.

A perfect example of this would be the Spotify Logo. Spotify has used rounded corners within their logo design and arch in the lines which gives the design a softer more friendly and very modern feel. This works perfectly for the streaming service which needs to appeal to a very broad audience

4. Retro Futurism

Also known as the ‘sci-fi dreams,’ the design is one of the most spectacular pieces. The visual style follows the ‘sci-fi’ film themes and characters. It can range from simple futurism images or images to deeply scary or mind-boggling photos. Depending on the graphic designer’s competence and thirst for exploration, they can create futuristic pieces and leave them to the audience to interpret. This design trend often conflicts with styles from the past and futuristic styles.

5. Comics and Pop Art

Like its arch counterpart, comics and pop arts have been in the market for quite some time and have managed to stay afloat. Most artists use widely known comic concepts to attract the viewer’s insight. Others use vintage comics to bring out a specific theme or action line.  Some see pop art design as a rebellion against the elitism of fine art that’s characterised by its focus on imagery and themes found in popular cultures, like comic books, advertising and everyday objects accessible to the average person. Some signs of this graphic design trend include:

·         Contains vivid colours

·         Includes several of mass-media, advertising, commercial and pop-culture images

·         Features everyday and commonplace themes, subjects and objects

·         Shows off a populist appeal or tone

·         Displays stylised illustrations and drawings

·         Blurs the lines between fine art and the lowbrow

·         Borrows and takes from any number of sources and influences

·         Is emotionally distant and doesn’t include much passion for the contemporary world

·         Is aimed at a younger audience

6. Blur and Grain

A competent graphic designer knows how to play with gradients and colour transitions. This trend has been relevant for quite a several years and has revolutionised graphic designing. As the year began, the blur and grain took the industry by a wave. They used a new tangent to bring about a blurry and blended background in a design or photo. It is a visually impressive design where the blend comes with intense blur and grainy textures.

7. Muted Colour Palettes

Muted colours are basically the opposite of vivid colours. These colours are created by adding black, white or another complementary colour to a base colour.

These colour palettes create an exciting view as they can be lightly muted or dark muted. When red is a light muted, it gives a subtle pink and maroon when dark muted. These colours are relaxed and understated hence suitable for most people. It helps eliminate all the negatives involved with some colours. Muted colours feel innocent and secure, even sentimental. They can also feel natural and clean. That’s why many health and wellness brands have been using this colour palette in 2021.

 

Muted colours are often viewed as very authentic and large brands can use that to their advantage, especially on social media.

8. Simple Data Visualisations

Michael Friendly defines data visualisation “as information which has been abstracted in some schematic form, including attributes or variables for the units of information.” In other words, it is a coherent way to visually communicate quantitative content. Depending on its attributes, the data may be represented in many different ways, such as a line graph, bar chart, pie chart, scatter plot or map.

Data visualisations work in making the work easier. Graphic designers have even made it more convenient with simple data visualisations. They are easy to understand and have minimal content. As such, graphic designers do not have to explain what they are trying to show.

It is important for graphic designers to adhere to data visualisation best practices and determine the best way to present a data set visually. When working with very large sets of data, developing a consistent format is vital to creating visualisations that are both beneficial and visually appealing.

9. Minimalism

At its essence, minimalist design is a functional form of design. No extras, no waste. Every element used in the design including shapes and colours is necessary. A simple shape or form is given the power to stand in for a more complex object or idea. Simplicity is valued above all things.

Minimalism works because our eyes and brains only have a limited amount of attention to give to a design. By giving our eyes fewer things to consider, we devote more attention to the ones that are there. This makes minimalism very versatile: from websites to logos and packaging design.
Nowadays, most people love shorter and more elaborate content or designs. There has been an uproar for minimalism where designers take away some flair and embellishment in the designs. The main aim of this is to come up with a simple and straightforward presentation of ideas. Not only are they easy to understand, but they are also creating an intuitive element for the viewer.

Minimalism can be seen across many different aspects of Graphic Design. Logo design is an area that is most pronounced. This design trend allows graphic designers to create a logo that is less cluttered meaning the message is communicated quicker and more efficiently.

Other areas that this style has become prevalent within is Web design and Packaging design.

There are several important components to be aware of when undertaking a minimalist design.

While minimalism does involve a lot of whitespaces, colour plays a very important role. In today’s world of design, often a wide range of colours could be used across the range but usually, designers stick to only one or two colours at a time within a single composition. Across a larger work like a complete rebranding, you might see multiple shades of one colour used, which keeps the palette minimalist.

The same goes for fonts. Present fonts either at a very small size or very large—both methods draw the eye to the text and make it the centre of attention.

With these details set, your design will evoke some key feelings of minimalist design: opulence, proficiency, individuality, and confidence.

10. Motion and Animations

With motion graphics, styles change over time so it is important to stay on top of trends. Have you noticed an increase in the GIFs (Graphics Interchange Format) in social media platforms? They are short and involve minimal motion. They are effective in catching the viewer’s attention, and they give the viewers an exciting experience.

This type of design always "wows" people when shown as a standalone item, but in practice, it should be used sparingly. Illustrators need to be aware of this trend as these skills are becoming much more in demand. This was further borne out during the lockdown which affected most of the world in 2020. As lockdown meant Movie, TV and advertising production shut down, animation remained the available option to continue to produce content quickly and efficiently. It seems like lockdown only expedited a growing trend.

They have been consistent in 2020 and are expected to even get more traction in 2021.

Conclusion

With design trends being influenced more and more by what happens on social media, and the way the biggest social media platforms are pushing people to use videos as means of advertising instead of still pictures, it seems like there might be a higher demand for motion and video.

These top graphic designs have gained a considerable following or reactions on social media and other platforms. The best thing about graphic design trends is that each year presents designers with a chance to reset the set records.

The great thing about graphic design trends is that each year arrives with the opportunity for a reset. And given the challenging shape of 2020, the design trends of 2021 may offer us the biggest breath of fresh air yet.

While the list sets a pace for the 2021 design trends, there are many transformations to anticipate as we welcome the new year.

Éire Graphic Design are a Dublin based graphic design company. We are here to help your organisation become more memorable through designing striking logos, eye-grabbing flyers, posters that pop, exciting animated emails and dynamic lightweight digital advertising campaigns – always backed by flexible and insightful support.