Design trends are thought to be mysterious things and much more than just patterns that appear on famous feeds on Behance & Dribble. They are a depiction of past and present, culture and media, fashion, technology and other sectors. These trends come and go and there’s no knowing when this actually happens. According to Madeleine Morley of The American Institute for Graphic Arts explains that a trend doesn’t suddenly appear in a single year and vanishes in a puff of smoke. Although it becomes famous mysteriously but it also disappears eventually.
So here are some graphic design trends to watch out for in 2016:
1. Contemporary Retro Style
In contrast to the old retro styles, which was influenced by the early 1900s all the way through the 70s, the ‘modern’ retro styles refers to the era of the late 1970s to the 90s. Imagine the very first PCs, pixel art, video games and space themes. In other words, nerdy is the new trend for 2016.
2. Material Design Trends
This trend came into existence when Google launched its material design guidelines. According to Google, this visual language is illustrated by edge-to-edge images, intentional colour selection, large-scale typography and deliberate white space for a striking and bold graphic appearance. The idea of this design trend was to uplift the flat designs by adding shadows, depth, light and movement to create a sense of realism.
3. Bold/Bright Colours Are Back
2016 will continue to see colourful hues that are perfect for material design and the 80s/90s style. From electrified colours to geometric shapes and much more, 2016 brings back the funk in graphic designs. This brings us to the next trending design in 2016.
4. Geometric shapes
Geometric patterns are a thing of the 80s era and can be applied in all kinds of way either as backgrounds, illustrative technique or as individual graphic elements. Don’t miss out on the ‘low poly’ style, which rose to fame as a 3D modelling technique for video games. You will be seeing a lot of this angular look for web and print projects this year.
5. Negative/White Space
If you are looking for a good design, then it is imperative that you include a negative/white space. However, you might wonder how this can uplift your designs? Quite simple! When negative space is used strategically, it adds double meaning to graphic designs, especially to branding and logo projects. In case, you are looking for a minimal look for your designs, adding negative/white space can help you achieve it.
Although there are several more graphic design trends that you might want to look out for in this year, you might want to consider selecting a design that best suits the requirements of your project and target audience. So are you considering using one of these trends listed above? Or do you have your own graphic design trends for 2016. Whatever it is, share your ideas with us.