What keeps changing all the time? Graphic design trends! No matter how much emphasis is placed on graphic design, it will never be enough. It is essential to understand that all trends are industry-specific and bio-individual in nature.
We see evolving trends all the time, some of which, stir the market and rule it for a long time while others just fade away. The importance of graphic design in the professional world cannot be underestimated. A combination of images, colors, and shapes is used by businesses, marketing heads, and start-ups to enlighten, communicate with, or persuade their audience.
You must have heard of Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) fuelling the world of digital art. They were well received when they first launched, and their market has grown rapidly since then. The designs now make their space in fashion, lifestyle, and many other industries. As a result, businesses are going big and connecting with their audiences in an unprecedented way.
Graphic design trends are a sure way to hop on the wagon. Good design goes far beyond how something looks and strengthens the identities of our favorite brands.
We understand that keeping up with changes in the graphic design market can be challenging because there are so many players. It’s advantageous for designers to stay current with graphic design trends and choose which ones fit well in their portfolios.
The graphic design trends you must avoid in 2022
Keeping up with trends is critical to success; however, not every graphic design trend helps the brand grow. If a trend goes wrong, it can damage a brand’s reputation and user experience. At times, we lose sight of the brand’s objective when we focus on trends.
As a graphic designer, you must evaluate trends to determine their applicability. Trends can assist in developing a solid brand identity. They also help devote following when appropriately used.
Some of the graphic design trends you must take a look at and why you must avoid using them:
Asymmetrical Layouts
It certainly sounds appealing to disregard symmetry and order. Asymmetry has always been a source of inspiration for designers who seek to create ground-breaking products. Web and graphic designers have come across design elements that were misaligned, crooked, overlapping, or unbalanced.
In asymmetrical layouts, the designs often lose the text or substance. The user experience is particularly delicate if you show crucial information in a specific way. Customers anticipate seeing it there each time they interact with your company. The design loses a piece of information as asymmetrical layouts induce users to deviate from this well-known behavioral pattern.
Modern consumers have limited attention spans, making time an expensive currency. When switching between tabs at the speed of light, users want information delivered at the right time and place. Asymmetrical layouts challenge the user, and not all users will be up for the effort.
Take a look at the poster from Swissted
The above example helps us understand how inconvenient this layout is from a consumer’s point of view.
Absence of White Space
Designers were famous for utilizing every blank inch of a project. Creating something entirely without white spaces was considered novel and intriguing. Any piece of graphic design must be cluster-free if we want to produce designs that make a statement in the year 2022.
Attempting to fill in blanks will only make the designs packed and uneven. But it’s worth the risk if you know just how to make it seem out of the ordinary and not clustered.
Improper Typography
Typography can be challenging to read. Humans are visual creatures, and while we are getting better at reading and understanding written language, attractive pictures will always win the attention war over words.
The designer can creatively use bold or twisted typography to transform the text into visuals. What does this indicate for the buyer? That they must simultaneously read, evaluate, and understand visuals. It can undoubtedly increase their attention to the design, but that spike won’t last long. If you still wish to use it, know more about typography and then go for it.
An example would help you understand the concept better;
The example given is a failed typography, hard to read and not pleasing to the user’s eyes, thereby diverting the user’s attention.
What are the popular graphic design trends of 2022?
3D Design
3D designs give a realistic touch to your artwork. It looks as if the user can touch the object in reality. The design seems to stand out from the background. The trend is all about experimentation and moving away from flat design elements. It focuses on depth, detail, and dimension.
The designers focus on a mixed-media approach with an attention-grabbing approach, combining animation, photography, and illustration. The designs are playful and powerful.
The examples above show precisely what 3D designs look like—incredibly lifelike and abstract while blurring the physical and digital boundaries. Start including 3D designs in your and stay up to the trends.
Candy Colored Artwork
It takes a lot of effort to stand out from the sea of digital content creation. Graphic designers have consequently started developing innovative ways to leverage color to catch our attention as we explore.
All over the internet, bright scenes in candy colors are becoming increasingly popular. The candy color artwork makes your designs funky and subtle at the same time. It all depends on the choice of color that you make for a piece of artwork.
This trend inspires the idea of choosing opposite colors from the color wheel and creating something outstanding. The designs from Marta Veludo Studio are a perfect example of using colors in the right way.
Crypto Art
Virtual reality is on the verge of replacing our current reality. NFTS & the crypto world has got significant attention around the world. Similarly, crypto art has been popular recently, and it’s time you must explore it. NFTs are design works published directly on the blockchain with proof of origin. NFTs can be 2D,3D, candy-colored, or anything the designer wishes to make.
To understand better, look at how this gentleman turned crypto art into a significant growth opportunity with his designs. People around the world love recent artwork.
Maximalism
In contrast to minimalism, Maximalism is about making adventurous and outgoing choices. It is coming out of your comfort zone to create something outstanding. Although minimalism is trendy in modern design, it may be a creatively constricting approach. Maximalism uses various graphic components to communicate with the same clarity as minimalism.
It’s about going over the top, bold colors, combinations, contrasting patterns, layered images, and repeated motifs. For design as a field to move beyond its current reliance on minimalism, exploring Maximalism is essential. If we dare to defend our right to experiment, perhaps the digital environment will change into something more luscious and fascinating.
Bug collection designs showcase the magic of Maximalism.
Back in the 90s
Cobra Kai and Stranger Things on Netflix, among countless others, have recently revived nostalgia for the 1980s and ushered in a time of vaporwave landscapes, neon colors, and Gothic serifs. And in 2022, the 1990s will finally see a comeback!
Many of the patterns on this list show a return to the 1990s. However, the nostalgia tendency shows romanticized nostalgia. The designs are majorly helpful for business logos and product packaging.
To that purpose, basic emojis, ancient internet frames, geometric forms, and scribbly images allow us to relive the 1990s. Childhood favorites like drippy slime and vivid color blocks are still rulers.
Australian design agency Date of Birth came up with a design that is a visual identity of nostalgia and freshness for this toothpaste brand;
While you are stunned by the above logo, do check our logo design ideas article for some ideas and inspiration.
Takeaway
In 2022, if you want to be a well-known graphic designer, you can browse many websites and get ideas from other bloggers and designers to create outstanding designs.
We hope the article helps update you on the popular graphic design trends and what to avoid in 2022. However, you must understand that no matter where you find your inspiration, you need to be able to assess a design’s viability simply by looking at it. Trust your instinct if you feel, as a graphic designer, that your strategies have combined to produce something worth looking at.
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