The world is changing. Trends are changing with it. My graphic design trends predictions are pretty much always accurate and it’s one of the reasons why I decided not to wait until January, but share them now so you can start planning your graphic design strategy.

Technology takes it’s toll

Technology changes Internet and the whole design industry, whether it’s web or print. Touchscreen devices, like tables and smartphones are taking over more and more overall Internet traffic and design community has to keep up with it, that’s why in 2012 websites will be wider and more touchscreen friendly (parallax scrolling – more about it below). General graphics will remain glossy and highly readable, to match the design not only known from Apple and Android operating systems, but also Windows 7 (and soon 8).

Social Media is also going to play increasing role in designing graphics for web and print. Design elements will be sleek and fresh to match constant changes in social media world.

Colour schemes – Rainbow!

In 2012 we’re going back to basics and the colour schemes will be revolving around black, white and the basic rainbow colours inspired by the spectrum of well known, prism refracted tones e.g. red, green, blue, yellow etc. At the same time these colours will be brave, bold, flamboyant and most importantly – attention grabbing. Using them with white, beige or light gray, slightly gritty background brings immediate sense of excitement. As an example, here’s a logo we’ve recently designed for Croft House Theatre Company:

Retro is Staying Alive!

Retro has been quite strong for past two years and here’s a good news – it’s not going anywhere! And what’s not to like? It’s still fresh, got a great edge and works with pretty much anything. In terms of web design retro always was my favourite way of displaying photos, I’ve implemented a retro design on few websites related to art and music and most recently designed some business cards for amazing fasion designer Ms Diana Clark

That’s what we kreated for Diana:

3D and Parallax Scrolling

Attempts of creating Real 3D or at least 3D illusions are one of the goals of modern graphic design. And although the whole industry may be excited about it – I’m not. Why? Well, I just don’t like 3D, it never worked neither for me nor my clients, yet undeniably it’s a very strong trend that’ll be getting stronger in coming years.

From the other hand scrolling with parallax is brilliant trend which started with gaining popularity touchscreen devices, especially tablets. Our front page slider has been devised to work in semi-parallax manner, however fantastic example of fully blown parallax can be found on Nike Better World website

Minimalist Design

Minismalism is another strong trend. For the last couple of years we’ve been moving away from buzzes and whistles in form of Flash animations and screens overloaded with graphics. Minimalism has become another trend determined by mobile devices. Most of the website designers prefer to keep their most recent kreations clean and simple, to ensure maximum compatibility with the devices they’ll be browsed on. Minimalistic design cuts website loading time, is readable and is touchscreen friendly.

In print minimalism stands strong as well. It’s been proven that colour overload distracts people from theccontent. That’s why NHS leaflets are not as colourful as they used to be. Simplicity and minimalist design are tools widely used in conveying desired message. As an example, have a look at the leaflet we’ve designed for the charity Derby Furniture Project:

Exciting Typography

Trends is typography will remain tightly bound with another trend mentioned by my me already – simplicity. Although there are no restrictions as for what fonts should or should not be used, the mainstream will be simple, sharp, bold and visible. Be brave and experiment with your fonts, stay innovative but not OTT and remember – stay unique and make your typography eye-catching.

Here’s a quick example on what kind of look you might want to consider:

Backgrounds and Textures

And last, but not least – backgrounds and textures. Backgrounds will stay toned down to keep uniformity with brave, thick fonts and bold colours. The dominant background colours will be different tints of washed out pastel colours, e.g. light blue or pink, however they’ll cleverly combined with soft textures and hand-drawn elements.

Textures will be creased or slightly gritty, just to give your background more depth and an illusion of 3D. Interestingly though strong, bold gradients will become less and less popular and designers will be encouraged to stay with light gradients.

To top it all up we’ll have a lot of hand-drawn elements, to ensure that our designs will have a personal feel to them. That trend will apply to web as well as print, so don’t knock down good, old pencil and a notepad and keep drawing!

All trends are like a living creature. They come and go, they change, evolve, revolutionise. You can mix an’ match them, so they’ll work for you. Personalise them and create a perfect symbiosis. Use them well and your designs will stay fresh, current and eye-catching, but more importantly, these trends will evolve into something different, maybe even something new?

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