Designing trends to follow in 2022 - SenseBite Design Studioj Pune

Top Graphic Design Trends to Follow in 2022

Design trends 2022, and their extrapolations stem from creative minds, the gray period of the pandemic, digital and social evolution, and the inspiring trends of the previous year. Graphic design is not just a graphical representation of ideas. It is the fluid that blends creativity with intelligence to engage the audience. It adds brand value, and brings to life communication that responds to the viewer in many ways imaginable.

Design trends are much more than just fading fads. They are an amalgamation of the previous years’ trends, limitations, experimental discoveries that were a hit, and over the top clichés that made every designer explore their creative capacities, to upend them, to deliver something unique. 2001 saw design inspirations and trends that swayed with popularity for a whole decade. We saw minimal logos and geometric designs trending for quite the while.

Now, the new normal is ‘change’; and for the past couple years it has been rapid. All the clutter and uncertainty is churning and moving many sides of design in varied directions. The pace at which this is happening is however, phenomenal. Before we soak up all the inspiration, a new one has already arrived!

We followed the tides, and researched remarkable designs that made headlines in 2021. Top designers, agencies and influencers, weigh in these trends, and predict their reign as the best graphic design trends for 2022.

Designing trends 2022 – what is in, what will prevail, and what is back from the past.

While 2021 has whooshed by, yet again with bittersweet highs and lows due to the pandemic, designing trends have seen some major shift, with loud and boundary-pushing trends, that worked wonders. Considering the design trend curves of 2021, we can say 2022 has much more rule bending in store for graphic design. Get ready to witness bold, nostalgia, mixology of the unmixable and freethinking design trends in 2022. We have compiled a few expert opinions that predict designing trends for the upcoming year.

2D and 3D Mashup –

The 2D and 3D trend is still evolving and creating a mark, providing designers with limitless possibilities and giving space to create anything imaginable. Expect hyper realistic visuals in 3D that seamlessly blend the physical and digital to create designs with eye popping creativity, along with 2D and paper cut out elements. Experts predict 2022 will be a great platform for the fusion of 3D and 2D, to create stunning designs with the best of both worlds!

Typography with a twist

Fonts that break the rules overlook conventional standards, and typography that pushes the boundaries of legibility, have been in the limelight. Moreover, they will gain popularity in 2022 as well. The font fiesta is here to stay, with amorphous blobs, misaligned fonts, missing and mismatched letters, varied sizes and expressive lettering. Lettering styles that challenge the difference between retrospective readability and abstract will be popular throughout 2022.

Ukiyo-e flat designs

The style of printing artwork with hand carved wood blocks is known as Ukiyo-e style. More designers are using this technique to give creativity a unique effect, by using it to reinvigorate flat vector designs. The year 2022 will see more designs inspired from Ukiyo-e artists of Endo period of Japan.

Nostalgic 90’s and Y2K era

Everything old and retro, gives a feeling of comfort. With life on the fast track and the pandemic hustle, people want to slow down and soak in minimalism. Nostalgic 90’s trend is all about reliving this comfort through design. This trend welcomes back simple emojis, Memphis design patterns, bright colors, blocks, dripping slime and primitive internet frames. Designs inspired by this nostalgia are a peek into the far past, bringing back childhood memories, old school charm and warmth.

Unlike today, back in the 2000’s more people were certain that technology would lead them to doom. However, with time, people have embraced technology with more optimism. However, social media misinformation and isolation have significantly dimmed this positive outlook. The Y2K trend is one big leap in reclaiming this lost early excitement. This excitement was fueled with the belief that anything is possible with technology and innovation in early 2000’s. This era saw crude interfaces, grunge, low poly CGI, lustrous colors reminiscent of the back of CD’s, all of which will be prominent in Y2K inspired designs in 2022.

3D characters

3D characters have become the crux of app, web design and animation. 3D trends blend seamlessly with all design trends of 2022, which makes them versatile to say the least. They create harmony and give more freedom and abstraction, which design experts believe will continue to slay the trends in 2022.

Motion design

Static graphics are slowly fading with motion design creating the entire buzz. Be it a billboard or a website design, motion design, and animation is ruling the design style. Experts believe, this is a promising style and holds a good future. With digitization on the rise, people want to see new, unique and engaging designs. The online revolution has opened doors to new possibilities and opportunities to engage, and educate the viewers to enhance and upgrade the ways we approach story telling.

Candy colors and Bubble gum designs

Just like the quality of content, visual appeal too is a promising factor to grab the viewer’s attention. With a stampede of digital content from all directions, designers need a unique escape to stand out from the crowd and create an impression. More designers are turning to using a bold palette of candy colors that are inviting, and cheerful, that can make stunning graphic designs. Skilled artists use these vibrant hues for translating illustrations, web designs, animation, typography and more into friendly, positive and mesmerizing pieces of art standing apart with a tad bit of psychedelic touch. Bubble gum designs too will be prominent in the coming year. They focus on the use of rounded graphics and lettering, elongated forms along with candy colors. These impart the design with a grown up appeal, friendliness, and retain a childish spark and glee in the creative.

Doodle dreams

Doodling is a much of a personal expression of the mind, rendered in abstract and fluid designs when the mind wanders. More designers are creatively infusing their designs with a unique and abstract imagination. The fluidity of this art imparts a human touch to designs, making it more appealing to young adults, with unique features encompassing relatable words and personas. Think designs inspired with doodle patterns in 2022.

Escapism

2021 witnessed a big deal of stay-at-home for most designers. For many this opened doors to explore creativity to escape his entrapment. Many have dived deep into fantastical worlds, which inspired them to make designs that reflect escapism! This trend reflects tantalizing settings, unexpected color pallets, quirky character designs, which are an extension of the designers’ imagination. The main idea is to create designs that will make the viewers lose themselves in the process of exploring the design. While this style is commonly used for illustrations, it also creates great backgrounds for design.

Oversized elements

Big and bigger – these will dominate the digital and print graphic design trends 2022, right from oversized images, illustrations, to bold and ‘right-out-there’ typography. Experts suggest using oversized elements fairly encourages interaction and scrolling. Although using big elements that overlap in the design is uncommon, it is surely gaining popularity. Oversized, is thus a promising trend that can create impressive and impactful design.

Anti Design

Anti – design comes across as a strong rebellious term, which defines the bending, stretching and reinterpreting rules of conservative design. We can say that graphic design is slowly changing into an art form in its very own right. The app race has fostered strict design rules in the past decade. They focused on usability and design simplicity, so as to be understood by the layman. This has made the digital platform a predictable and grey area with a monotonous vibe. To break this design homogeneity, many designers have bent the rules of design to create attractive content.

In 2022, however, it is believed that designs will not only bend them, but also break them altogether to establish a fresh trend. Anti design will challenge us with bare interfaces, crowded elements, clashing colors and stark typography. This rebellious spirit can be applied in design context; although some may find it obnoxious, the champions, however will create stunning designs laced in freedom.

An exciting design journey awaits…

We can say graphic design trends for 2022 will resonate with our endeavor to make sense and find meaning in these tough times. They will bring on the excitement and purpose to break down what weighs us down. With fresh perspectives, freedom and an open mind, designers can create awe-inspiring designs that are perfectly imperfect, mobile, and futuristic. Does that mean designers will need to follow these to the ‘T’? Well, a lot of design is intuition, imagination, and personalized with many factors like product, intention, desired outcome, audience and more. Whether you go with the flow or choose to swim against the current, the result is all that matters!

What was your favorite design trend in 2021, and what do you think will prevail in 2022? Let us know in the comments.