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Another year, another shift in design trends!
The new year is officially upon us and we are so excited for a new season in the design world. As you’ve probably already figured out, design is constantly evolving. If we want to have captivating web pages or scroll-stopping social media content, we must learn to move with the tide of trends.
We want to offer you a glimpse of some design trends to anticipate as we move into 2023. This coming year will build on some already existing creative trends, but it will also offer some fun and unique styles too. Let’s dive right in!
Okay, okay… we know this is already a controversial trend, but it is an important trend nonetheless!
Throughout the end of 2022, AI-Generated art blew up online. Several different programs and platforms empowered everyday users to create various illustrations and images with a click of a button (and some highly-innovative AI technology).
There has been a ton of mixed feelings about new-found artistic expression. Is AI ripping off other artists? Are there any copyright or privacy concerns? Is AI diminishing the value of human creativity?
If you’re a graphic designer, we understand this could be a bit of a concern. (What if the robots replace me!?) However, just as with any innovation, we can choose to embrace it instead of pushing against it.
This trend is a great opportunity for designers to push the boundaries of their creativity. This artwork seems to center around whimsical, almost other-worldly design aesthetics. Creating design pieces that fit this model may be a huge benefit in the coming year.
Fonts are a very important element in design. Without the right font, a design can fall flat. In 2023, serif fonts are going to be all the rage.
While distorted fonts, geometric sans serif, and eclectic typography have been popularized over the past several years, this font trend brings an element of refinement to design pieces.
In the booming days of print design, newspapers and magazines alike sought to use bold, tall, serif fonts for their headlines and front pages. This font brings a natural element of refinement to a design piece and is a great way to bring attention to a specific quote or message you want to highlight. Serif fonts pair especially well with photographic images and simple, minimalistic designs.
Make way sans-serif typography, serifs are stepping back into the spotlight!
Combining different elements is a delicate balance in graphic design. Too much going on in a design image and you may lose the message, but the right combination of diametrically opposite design styles can work wonderfully.
Case and point: illustration and photography. These two types of design are different from one another, but when they are combined they offer an incredible multidimensional type of artwork. Colorful pops of color, hand-drawn elements, and minimal line art can all work to highlight a photographic image into something whimsical and unique. This unique contrast takes a flat, static image and brings a bit of life, color, and movement to it.
Speaking of movement…
We all know by now that video is the next big thing. Whether it is on your social feeds or brand’s homepage, video content is imperative for engagement from and captivation of your audience.
However, video is also ever-evolving just like all design does! The video trend to take note of going into 2023 is motion graphics. Motion graphics are exactly what the name suggests: graphics that move! This means that in our photography, textual elements, and even illustrations that there is an inclusion of motion in it.
This trend is largely influenced by the quick-cut, short-form video content that is popular on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Motion graphics can be as long or as short as you want, but in our busy world, utilizing the few seconds you have to grab a user's attention is key.
Compared to static images, motion images can’t be beaten. Movement captivates your attention differently than an unmoving image does and it also tells a story in a meaningful, interactive way. This coming year, the motion graphics trend is one you want to follow.
The LBD (little black dress) is said to be a staple that every single woman should have in their wardrobe. Why is this the case? Because this piece of clothing is timeless. It is a perfect go-to for any sort of fancy, dinner, elegant wedding, or even funeral.
Minimalism is a timeless design style that will never quite go away. But minimalism does not need to be confined to excessive white space and beige carpets, it can also include more vibrant elements too.
The main hallmark of minimalism is the “clean” look to designs defined by it. When you add a bit of spice to this style, you get vibrant minimalism. This style has fewer adornments and noise than many other design styles yet pairs a fun pop of color with a clean, simple font (hello, serifs!) or illustrative icon/symbol.
This minimalism will be popular especially when it comes to logo branding, print design, and other design elements that need a look of simplicity.
Okay, we promise we’re not contradicting ourselves here! While minimalism is a staple design trend that isn’t going away anytime soon, maximalism is becoming a rising star.
For the more refined, Type A kind of person, maximalist design may seem like a giant catastrophe created by a designer bent on creating chaos. And this is kind of the point. Amid all of the refined, clean, safe styles, we all need a bit of chaos in design.
This design style can be a delicate balance. Too much content and the design can look like a kindergarten art project, too little content and you lose the eclectic majesty of maximalism.
This style is not just a random placement of contradicting elements, it is much more scientific than it may seem. The art of maximalism is piecing together things that don't seem like they should go together but somehow does. An extensive knowledge of color theory is vital to make a design that someone works on, even its apparent color contradictions.
Mixing multiple (yes, more than 3!) colors along with different fonts, illustrations, and other elements like photography is what maximalism is all about. These elements need to be delicately balanced to bring movement and texture without being chaotic. Semi-controlled chaos is the goal of maximalism… with a lot of fun sprinkled in too!
In the same vein as maximalism, brutalism is a design trend that is bound to continue in 2023. This is a style that you either absolutely love or completely hate.
Brutalism is a slightly more unhinged form of maximalism that brings a more unfinished, raw look to it. Sometimes designs using this style can almost look like the designer got interrupted in the design process, which is exactly the point.
While this style may not be for everyone, it has surely become a popular style as it hones in on the uniqueness and imperfections of the human experience. Not everything can be finely polished and perfect looking; a bit of authenticity can be just the right thing to grab someone’s attention.
Traditional print advertising is slowly beginning to fade away as highly digital (almost utopian) styles are beginning to take hold of the design world. But as humans, we tend to look back every so often and cling to the nostalgic trends of the past.
Over the past few years, design has begun to include elements that are common in the paper printing styles of the past. Distressed paper, folds, ridges, and even plastic textures have been all the rage. In 2023, we see another physical printing element coming back to life: Risoprint.
This unique printing style boomed in popularity in the 80s and was distinguishable by its vibrancy, double exposure style, and grainy texture. This style is far from clean and simple; it is fun and eclectic.
While we may not be buying a Risoprint printer on eBay anytime soon, this style can be recreated digitally using different vibrant colors and textures that bring depth to design. This design type is a unique take on the growing trend of colorful art that pushes the boundaries.
There you have it — 8 design trends to expect in 2023! This new year is bound to be marked by design that pushes the limits with color, shapes, and motion. While simple design styles will always be classic, the move to bring some human authenticity to design is rising in popularity and will continue to do so.
Do you need help creating designs that move with the tide of trends and are guaranteed to captivate your audience? Our design team at PMF Creative has got you covered. Our designers are constantly growing in their skills and staying on top of the more popular design trends. Reach out to our team today to add some incredible content to your toolbelt.
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