A new year means fresh starts and new beginnings for everyone, including business industries. The great thing about a new year starting is that it’s everything from the previous year is left behind and graphic design evolves fresh. Each year, like clockwork, graphic design trends reset. After the grueling year of 2020, there were a lot of predictions for the new year and a lot of thoughts on what 2021 would hold for the design industry.
- A new year means a fresh start for everyone and everything, including the design industry
- We’ve seen many interesting graphic design trends so far and even more that we’ll see in the future. A few of the top design trends of 2021 include 3D designs, comic designs, and more
- Summing everything up, we reflect on what we discussed in the article and the important factors of graphic design trends
With most of last year’s design trends centered around COVID-19, this year was expected to be a breath of fresh air for graphic designers. The public was hopeful about the new year and what to expect in the future going forward. Now, halfway through the year, we’re reflecting on what design trends have already been adopted and what ones we’ll see continued going forward in the year.
Some of these trends have taken off rapidly and others are more up and coming, slowly and steadily making their way in the year. Let’s take a look at these trends and what other trends we think we’ll see in the rest of the year.
3D Designs
Okay, fair enough, 3D designs aren’t new to graphic design and their popularity certainly isn’t new. 3D designs have been popular for a while now, but this year we’ve seen them take off and we’ve seen really cool concepts come out. With technology and new advancements, 3D designs are turning out to be cooler than ever this year. Designers have been upping their game with 3D designers and they’ve turned out more amazing than ever before.
3D isn’t only used for entertainment, it’s also used in designs with marketing to grab the attention of consumers and engage them. Animated, moving graphics are far more likely to keep consumers engaged than designs that are just stagnant on pages. Designs that are moving and are in 3D get the consumer to pause for a moment and really look at the design.
Comic Designs
This year we’ve seen quite a few old trends brought back or upped from what they used to be. One of these is comic designs and pop art, with graphic designers reviving grainy designs and heavy inking for comic art. Vintage comic style designs are a nice change from the style of flat, modern, and minimalist designs that we’ve seen most often these past few years.
This style of design usually includes a grainy and depth and halftones or dot shading. This is something that we haven’t seen a lot of lately and is now refreshing as a change from last year’s design trends. This design trend isn’t only used for comics anymore, now we’re seeing it everywhere, on marketing material, grocery labels, and other prime areas.
Optical Illusion Design
When consumers make it to your website or see your branding in the store, you want their eyes on it for as long as possible. The longer that you can keep their attention and keep them engaged the better it is for your business. Think about the last time that you saw an optical illusion and how long you spent trying to figure it out. If you’re like the rest of the world then it’s probably for longer than just a few seconds.
So far, this year has been the one where graphic designers have really taken the next step with optical illusion designs and branched out. Graphic designers have started creating more funky and unique optical illusion designs than we’ve seen before this year. For brands that have never done this before and usually don’t incorporate these types of designs into their brands since they’ll stand apart.
Cartoon Illustration Design
Cartoon illustrations are just about the coolest graphic design trend of this year. Marketing with nifty and unique cartoon designs helps marketing stand out and give it character. Illustrations are different than typical marketing designs. They’re unique, creative, and more varied than general designs are. We don’t see unique cartoon illustrations going anytime soon since they’ve not only been popular for a while, but they still are.
Cartoons are fun, they lift a smile and they add personality to brands. A reason why this trend is so loved by both graphic designers and brands is that cartoons are memorable. When a graphic designer creates a cartoon, it’s easily recognized by many. For brands, it means that their company is easily loved and recognized.
Summing It Up
Graphic design trends start out fresh every year, with different trends taking over the year and excitement rising on which will continue. 2020 saw interesting designs and, after all the different design trends, graphic designers were excited for the new year. So far, we’ve seen interesting design trends ranging from 3D designs to cartoon illustration designs. We expect to see more of these trends as well as new ones during the rest of the year!
