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It is important for brands to have a distinct style. To create an effective brand, designers must keep a close watch on trends that populate the marketplace. They have to be able to get more creative with how they display their products and services. By studying trends, designers can get a better understanding of what the consumers naturally gravitate towards to. Trends are incredibly difficult to spot at the time but they become a lot more visible years after they have happened.
We have gathered a list of predictions from companies like Adobe and Shutterstock to help you get a better understanding of visual trends coming your way this year.
Color Trends 2019
Color can help communicate ideas and give life and meaning to everything we see. Its power to invoke an emotional response in the viewer can help form a visceral connection between the object and the viewer. Shutterstock gathers data every year by looking at what the users are downloading most frequently. Keep scrolling down to get an in-depth look at some of the best color trends from around the world.
UFO Green, Plastic Pink, and Proton Purple seem to be the most popular choices to look out for this year. UFO greens bright and neon like quality seem to exude an otherworldly quality while plastic pink, on the other hand, has a sharp intensity while proton purple can represent the imminent change in our daily lives. On a global level, Japan’s pink, Brazile’s green and Germany’s Aquamarine where some of the stand out colors this year.
Branding and Design 2019
Colorful, loud and plastic trends are coming back again this year. The pinks and purples from the 1990s are making a huge comeback too. Another trend to catch on to is 80’s opulence. Animal patterns, gold chains, and other mixed media collage prints dominate the market.
Languages of Protest is another trend that will pick up momentum this year. This, paired with bright and bold colors, can represent and showcase a wide variety of ideas that are centered around politics, media, and culture.
Creative Democracy is all about catching on to the creative trends on social media. Brands are tapping into this trend by going after user-generated content. Creative Democracy is about bright colors and diverse subjects that move people.
It is important for brands to be able to instill a sense of trust in their consumers. It is important for them to be able to state their values and have a commitment to transparency. To be able to reach a wide variety of customers, they should be able to incorporate their values into their messaging. This will help them become more ethically aware of themselves.
Abstract Art
Paper cut-outs, unpolished designs, and rough-edged layer and grain textures define the raw look that easily stands out in the midst of polished, pixel-perfect designs. Suggested shapes and objects have replaced well-defined and photo-realistic elements. Shutterstock predicted that 3D patterns are going to be huge this year.
Playful patterns, bright colors and raw home crafted styles have made a comeback. The sheer amount of liveliness of colors and elements show us just how loud and playful designs can be.
Photography and Graphics
This year’s photography trends are going to be inspired by art history and famous paintings. Adobe stock has predicted that there is going to be a lot of nature photography coming our way this year.
With technology seeping into our daily lives, it is becoming increasingly important to surround us with photographs that evoke feelings of well-being and peace. Wellness is another trend that has continued to rise in popularity this year. You would be seeing a lot of graphics related to yoga, mandalas, chakras and other elements related to this theme.
Complex, futuristic Imagery
Futurism is another trend to look out for this upcoming year. The use of AR and VR has created a necessity for futuristic imagery. It celebrates the technological advances of the current year and also draws inspiration from last years futuristic landscapes.
Minimalist Photographs
Photographers are experimenting with minimalism and meaning. We will be seeing more imagery with elements and metaphors that will inspire meaningful discussions this year. By experimenting with form, function, meaning, and metaphors, photographers are taking on projects that contribute to deeper thinking and introspection.
Environmental Awareness
Brands are being more aware of their environment and their impact on a global level. On a survey taken this year, we found out that about 9 in 10 millennials would switch to brands associated with a cause. The visuals like the one below, showing the true state of our environment is bound to inspire change.
Typography
With the emergence of 3D design, type designers have started experimenting with typefaces that have depth and dimension. Vector-based lettering and whimsical typography is a trend that we will be seeing more of this year. Serifs are making a come too. If you are using serifs for your web projects, make sure to use fonts with thick strokes. This will help easily differentiate the ascenders, descenders, serifs, and ligatures. Making the whole sentence a lot easier to read. Above all serif styles help add a sense of character and charm to the overall design, making them a good choice for your web projects.
We live in times of fast-paced visual change, to keep up with the ever growing needs of the economy, brands have to find ways to find visuals that are able to reach their customers. The purpose of learning about trends and their role in shaping the visual culture we see today has never been more relevant. We hope that this year’s predictions will give you a preview of the visual trends that will shape our visual landscape and inspire messy cultural conversations about values and how we express our individuality.
