Biggest Trends for Graphic Design in 2020
Muted Colour Palettes: It has become increasingly popular for designers and brands to use more of a muted colour palette for branding. Muted colours are simply colours that have been desaturated and colours that have taken the vibrance out. The old approach of having the vivid more bold colours has become less popular as time has gone on. This could be due to brands wanting to have more of a professional look rather than a more quirky and vibrant look. I also believe people are starting to follow the bigger companies such as Apple with similar trends. Once Apple starts a new trend, everybody else follows.
Colour Gradients
Gradients have been a trend that has been going for a few years. This is because designers keep finding new and attractive ways to put gradients into their designs and branding. For years gradients have mainly been used for backgrounds and for colour filters over the top of graphics. Last year gradients were a massive focal point for a lot of graphics. For 2020 I believe gradients will just be a standard of most designs, from social graphics to web sliders. Even when the colours are similar or muted they can make a piece of work look a lot more eye-catching. With simple gradients, it can add a touch of quality to the piece.
Abstract Illustrations
Simple illustrations nowadays don’t have the same effect as they once did. Using more abstract and obscure illustrations is definitely the way forward to grab people’s attention. The good thing about creating these is that other companies can’t copy them exactly so in that case, they become unique to you and your brand. A good example of a company doing this is Mailchimp who have gone down the road of making more abstract illustrations as opposed to last year. These type of illustrations can be great when trying to distinguish a certain brand as they are unique to them.
Big, bold and simple fonts
A trend that has been going for a while now is the minimalistic approach to designs. Using bold and simple fonts is a great way to compliment this. These types of fonts give a modern and contemporary feel to most graphics as they both stand out whilst not being too overpowering. This bold text is also a great way to direct the reader to important parts of graphics so at first, they don’t look too overwhelming.
Neutral and subdued stock photos
Similar to the colours being muted so have stock photos within design. A few years ago bright and colourful stock images were very popular. Designers would purposely crank up the saturation so that images were unbelievably vibrant.
Minimalistic homepages
Minimalistic homepages for websites has also been on the rise due to more people going for a professional, clean look. A lot of people go for this look not just for aesthetics but more for function as the load speeds are less when its minimalistic.