2019 will be an exciting year for graphic designers. The revival of old visual trends, emergence of new tools, the development of technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and the need to communicate values and ideologies, are shaking the creative industry to its core. And, if there’s one thing history has taught us, it’s that innovation thrives when things are shaken. Here we show a few of the many trends that 2019 has for us.
1 Bold Colors
In 2018 designers have used mostly vibrant colors and this trend is just going to grow bigger in 2019. Colors will be even more shocking, with designers using supersaturated tones. Pantone has already revealed their color trend forecast for 2019 with Living Coral as it king (or queen) so, this year, use bolder colors if you want your work or business to stand out.
Open composition style, via Bruno Pego.
2 Activist Design
Millennials are being described as a more politically active, ethnically diverse generation than preceding ones. These characteristics are important because they’ve shaped a generation of creatives who leverage design to advance social causes. The surge of thoughtfully designed feminist, environmental, and political posters are a clear evidence of this trend, and hopefully we’re going to see a lot of it this year.
Deva Pardue, “For All Womankind”
3 1970s Bookman Revivals
Even if you’ve never heard of them, you’ve most definitely interacted with these typographic styles before that are making a brilliant comeback in the form of interesting new typefaces. Inspired by popular 70s serifs, designers are creating bold, stylized fonts that work well on print or screen. Unlike the original font families, these new Bookman-inspired fonts are light, legible, and crisp enough for web design projects that need that extra touch of personality.
4 Animations
Small animations can be integrated in all media. Using them on a web site, in advertising or in app design can make the users interact more with what you are promoting. Brands are exploring how seemingly small motion elements can contribute to their users’ overall experience. Expect to see many more subtly animated logos and user interface elements in 2019. Don’t say we did not warn you.
Project: MyTaxi Driver
5 Smashing stereotypes
Merging ideas from a broad and diverse range of sources can have an amazing outcome. An eclectic approach to design can be pretty challenging and difficult to achieve but it can definitely bring a unique identity to a project. Designers and illustrators are feeling encouraged to explore more multi-dimensional portrayals of men and women that confront the status quo.
Author: Marion Ben-Lisa
6 Gradients are still here
Last year we talked about how gradients saw a huge comeback in late 2017–2018, but now they are here to stay. With brands like Apple or Instagram using them in their identity, you know this is a winning choice, and you can take it even farther using three, four, five colour combination. If you haven’t use some kind of gradient, now it’s the moment. You can experiment with the expected combinations (blue/purple, red/orange) or use chunkier multitone fades.
Combination of bold gradients, via Bruno Pego.
7 Isometric Design
With isometric designs we can create whole universes in tiny little spaces full of details. It sounds highly technical, but it’s simply a method of drawing a 3D object in two dimensions. We have seen this design trend for the past years, but in 2019, with the illustrations taking over all design fields, we really need to add it to the 2019 Trends list.
Isometric landing page. Via Ghani Pradita.
8 Augmented Reality
While some are skeptical about adding this technology as a tool for graphic designers, Augmented Reality is here to stay, and if you’re in doubt, Adobe just announced Project Aero, a tool that make easier to design an AR experience. This is a relatively new trend so keep an eye on it.
9 Memphis
Memphis design trend isn’t something new, it has influenced design before, and it is expected to continue influencing all kinds of graphic design work in 2019. At its core, Memphis is a rebellion against strict grids, “good taste”, and meticulously arranged elements. The movement emerged in Milan in the 1980s, and has recently caught the interest of brand identity designers, illustrators, and web designers around the world.
Set of Memphis-inspired icons designed by Nate Tate.
This is a small sum up of 2019 trends, we can assure you that this year will be one full of adventure and fun for designers that aren’t afraid of breaking boundaries. If you are one, keep exploring. If you’re not, but you have a brand, keep exploring too. You’ll find a world as diverse as the human kind.
