2019 Graphic Design Trends

Brands, big and small, all use graphic design in different, distinct ways. There are, however, some universal trends that seem to be cropping up everywhere. Like in fashion, what’s cool in graphic design one year might be passe the next. If you want your company to be noticed, it’s important to revisit your marketing strategies, branding, and design on a regular basis in order to keep your look fresh and innovative.

The word on the street in regards to 2019 is that designs will have a very futuristic feeling about them. This only makes sense considering we are now living in a time period that many books, movies, and shows have portrayed as so tech-heavy that it seemed nearly magical. Our hoverboards may not actually hover, but they do exist, and even our graphic design is starting to take on this “Back to the Future” aesthetic.

It might as well, we do have the technology after all. If half a century ago you would have told someone about smartphones, they probably wouldn’t have believed you, and now most of us carry them in our pockets every day! One technological advancement that’s specific to the graphic design world is Adobe’s new tool called Project Aero, which helps to facilitate augmented reality (AR) experience design. AR is similar to virtual reality except that it incorporates the real-world environment into the digital design instead of just replacing everything in sight with a simulation.

The goal of using experiences like this in marketing is to tap into multiple senses with one piece of content. This doesn’t have to be as fancy as AR. At this point, it’s really just bigger brands that can afford to digitally design content that can only be viewed through mobile devices or headsets, although who knows what the future holds. Right now, using video on social media is a strategy that has become popular among companies of all sizes. This trend has also affected graphic designers who, in response, have started to use motion more and more in their work. Motion designs don’t have to be incorporated into videos, though, they can also be little animations on a company’s website, for example.

If all of this technology talk is making you nervous, don’t worry! There are plenty of ways that you can modernize your marketing with ease. Isometric design is a great example of utilizing classic techniques while staying on trend. The term may sound rather technical, but it’s really just a method of drawing a 3D object in a two dimensional space. Think back to doodling cubes on the edge of your geometry notes while bored in class. Sure, it may still be ink on paper, but isometric design adds depth to a piece that could otherwise fall flat. Even in terms of doodles, cubes are more interesting to look at than squares.

Baring all of this in mind, there are two big trends in graphic design that are being predicted by many. The first is the interesting use of vivid colors, and the second is bold typography. We’ll break these down for you below, and hopefully it will spark some 2019 inspiration!

Predicted 2019 Color Usage

The key terms here are gradients and duotones. Gradients have been rising in popularity for a couple of years now. This year, however, people are getting more innovative with them than ever before. Often used as a simple background, you will now start to see gradients taking center stage more often. For example, they can be overlaid on images as color filters. This is a great way to jazz up boring stock photos and can be part of a very interesting visual strategy for a brand. Unique use of colors and patterns helps consumers recognize your content and instantly associate it with your company.

If your marketing uses two key colors, gradients are a great way to incorporate both of them into one design while staying on brand. You can also achieve this with duotones, which are images that replace the whites and blacks in a photo with two colors. Using multiple, vibrant colors with these kinds of techniques give two dimensional designs more depth and a sense of movement. It’s a great way to help your printed material fit in with your digital designs. Plus, it’s pretty simple work, definitely much easier than designing an AR experience.  

Predicted 2019 Typography Choices

Bold fonts are another predicted graphic design trend, and like gradients, they’ve been making their way back on to the scene for a little while now. Again, the difference this year is that the text will be a main focal point in a lot of graphics, instead of just a small element of them like we’ve seen in the past.

The concept behind this trend is that, the bolder the font, the easier it is to grab a reader’s attention. Consumers are exposed to more content now than ever, everywhere we go. And, we’re consuming that content faster than before. It’s important for your company’s message to be loud and clear so that both people on the go and those passively scrolling can connect with it quickly.

Besides the practicality of big, bold text being easy to read, these types of fonts also carry connotations of strength and confidence. Used alongside other trends, like vivid gradients, bold typography can be extremely effective. Colors or images catch someone’s eye, then the text holds their attention.

Both bold typography and vivid colors are important trends to take note of because they can help you create designs that look amazing in both print and online. People are trying harder than ever to create a look for their businesses that translates well across multiple platforms: posters, flyers, websites, mobile device apps. Consistency is a big part of keeping a brand relevant and memorable. Simple tasks like incorporating trendy colors and fonts into the graphic design work you use in your 2019 marketing campaigns can help you achieve the goal of making your company appear unified and modern.