Top 10 Graphic Design Trends To Watch For In 2020
In the own words of acclaimed designer Milton Glaser, “There are three responses to a piece of design: Yes, No and WOW! Wow is the one to aim for.” This article will help the designers to hear more “WOW!” by keeping them up to date with the latest graphic design trends.
Given the advantage of visuals over texts, graphic and logo designs have always been important aspects for every successful brand to communicate with its audience. However, in a fast-moving world that we live in, people expect change, innovation and creativity in what they see.
Hence, it is a challenging task for designers to think out of the box and present graphics in a wonderful way that creates a “WOW” factor among the audience.
People no longer want to see mundane, random or clueless graphics. They wish to connect with the graphics, logos and visuals that communicate with them effectively.
Here are some of the graphic design trends for 2020 that will certainly create the “wow” factor among the audience:
1. De-familiarized layouts will gain demand
2. Simplicity will be the key to popularity
3. Striking colour transitions and gradients will become mainstream
4. The clear-cut trend: Cosmic effects and shades of blue
5. Metals will dominate the designs
6. Signing back to retrospect mode: Bold duotones
7. Originality still wins: Hand drawn texts retain popularity
8. Life in Technicolour: Coloured fonts are verywhere
9. Gigantic growth of GIFs and Cinematographs
10. Love for Nostalgia: A recurring theme in 2020
1. De-familiarized layouts will gain demand
Until now, the layouts of websites and advertisements could be anticipated, and hence we generally avoided the extreme right corner of the windows since they were cluttered with advertisements.
However, be ready to get surprised in 2020 as you will witness unusual, asymmetrical and scattered grid styled layouts, where the information you are seeking would not be in the typical place that you had expected.
2020 is the year where designers will break the old patterns and open the door of innovation and creativity in design.
2. Simplicity will be the key to popularity
Navigating across the world of information overload is a tedious task, where complex graphic designs cause clutter or strain one’s eyes. Moreover, a complex graphic design may unnecessarily create confusion and take away the essence of a brand.
Hence, designers have realized the best way to communicate through graphics is to keep them simple yet powerful that is capable of conveying the intended message successfully. Moreover, minimal designs convey the message directly and sometimes the absence of description generates curiosity among audience to know more about the brand.
3. Striking colour transitions and gradients will become mainstream
Thanks to the huge advancement in device displays in the last few years, we will see more and more rich, vibrant and exuberant range of colours being used in the designs in 2020.
It is now effortless to create designs and backgrounds, making them more attractive using colour transitions and gradients. This is certainly a good tactic to create that “wow” factor.
4. The clear-cut trend: Cosmic effects and shades of blue
One of the biggest graphic trends in 2020 will be the use of shades of blue, violet and black in the design to give a feel of ‘cosmos or galaxy.’
These colours and shades not only reverberate well with the modern audience, but also appear brighter and beautiful on smart-display devices that possess excellent display features.
5. Metals will dominate the designs
You will see that designs will include more metallic colours in 2020. The output quality of earlier display and printing technologies were not great when it came to gold, silver or other metallic colours.
However, thanks to the latest technology, metallic colours will be seen everywhere – as they add depth and strength to the designs and typographies by creating a sense of luxury.
6. Signing back to retrospect mode: Bold duotones
Duotone graphics were popular back in the 1970s. After drifting away with the time, they are set to make a huge comeback in 2020. Designers have realized that duotone is the perfect way to make something stand out from the cluttered content and make a quick impression.
Here are a few great posts including techniques on how you can create duotone images in Photoshop and inspirational examples of duotones and colour filters in web design.
If you’re keen to learn more about creating an amazing Cosmic Photo Effect in Photoshop using Photoshop actions, here is a very useful tutorial:
Duotones too look impressive on high-quality display devices. Hence, duotones are here to stay for a long time when someone talks about the latest graphic design trends.
7. Originality still wins: Hand drawn texts retain popularity
You’re wrong if you wondered that hand drawn designs and texts are becoming extent in the digital space. In fact, illustrations are becoming more popular due to the latest innovative tools such as digital pens and stylus that can be used on touchscreen laptop or tablets.
Hand drawn texts always succeed to attract attention since they possess the traits of originality, innovativeness and intimacy in design.
8. Life in Technicolour: Coloured fonts are verywhere
There was a time when the digital fonts available were not only limited, but also their colours were monotonous. But not anymore!
In 2020, we will witness a rise in vector fronts with multiple colourful elements. Hence, expect a lot of opportunities in terms of art and aesthetics in presenting your ideas through texts.
9. Gigantic growth of GIFs and Cinematographs
It’s been a while since we’ve been seeing GIF on certain webpages. The advantage of GIF is that it plays like a video within a loop. In 2020, we will be seeing more of GIFs as more and more smart-apps are being created that have made it easy to create GIFs of lesser size.
Some digital media companies take advantage of this trend and design their websites homepages using animated GIFs in a subtle, professional manner.
Here you can click on the image and see how it looks:
10. Love for Nostalgia: A recurring theme in 2020
People say that nostalgia is a beautiful liar. But still, it’s beautiful. As we move ahead in time, we yearn for memories of the past.
The tenth graphic design trend in 2020 will be reflected in the graphic styles. Detailed vintage motifs and mid-century styles will be reflected in the graphics everywhere. However, these intricate details will be done with a modern touch.
BONUS: Pantone Color of the Year 2020
Pantone provides a universal language of color that allows essential decisions about it through every stage of the workflow for brands. They have chosen “color of the year” since 2007. For 2020 the color of the year is Classic Blue.
Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute, commented on TIME Magazine,
We landed back on the blue family, where we’ve been and where we are. Just not knowing where to go and who to trust…[blue is] the feeling of calm and reassurance that help us have that confidence to move forward.
From now and then [1999], there’s the same feeling of trepidation about the world, which is why, based on what we saw happening in our global culture, we selected Pantone 19-4052, Classic Blue, to be our color of the year for 2020. It’s a reassuring blue, full of calm and confidence. It builds connection.
In terms of graphic design, we have so much to see in the coming year. Art is an ever-evolving discipline and visual graphics is not an exception.
