Each new year brings with it a host of new graphic design trends. Graphic designers (from students to professionals with years of experience) have to stay on top of these trends if they want to remain competitive today.
Sometimes these trends require that graphic designers make only a few changes to their signature styles. Other times, however, designers must make a variety of changes to their styles in order to keep up.
So what types of trends will 2017 give birth to? From GIFS to grids, we’ve got 7 of this year’s new graphic design trends that you should watch for.
GIFS
A Graphics Interchange Format, commonly referred to as a GIF, is a nice addition to any design. They’re just too sassy and fierce not to love.
Which is probably why everyone seems to love them nowadays.
While they’re typically used in social media posts, they also have their place in your designs. Perhaps, for instance, you can find a way to incorporate them into a client’s logo. There are also tons of other ways graphic designers are finding to use them.
Keep in mind that GIFS are not appropriate choices for all of your projects, so be sure to check with your clients before incorporating them into your designs.
Google Fonts
A well-chosen font can be an asset to your design for multiple reasons, the first of which is that a nice font is appealing to the eye. Yes, the observation is a simple one, but it merits vocalization.
The second reason? Functionality.
Believe it or not, tons of people are hopping on the functionality train, and Google Fonts is the conductor.
Okay. We know that advocating peer pressure sounds bad, but let’s be real here. If enough of your competitors are using Google Fonts, you should at least consider using a few of these fonts in your designs.
Peer pressure aside, if you choose not to use Google Fonts, you’ll be passing up an opportunity to use fonts that are already optimized for use on the web.
Alluring Storytelling
To be completely honest, storytelling isn’t a new trend. People have always loved a good story, and some graphic designers have been taking advantage of that fact for years now.
Even so, immersive storytelling hasn’t necessarily been incredibly mainstream where graphic design is concerned. Many designers are still perfectly okay with using static content instead of content that is engaging.
Fortunately for us all, the tides are turning, and storytelling is now becoming a mandate. Having said as much, if you want to keep up, you’re going to have to make your designs just a tad bit more immersive this year.
Minimalism
Some people say that less is more, and maybe they’re right, especially when we talk about graphic design.
Although fancier designs might look good on the surface, they often lack the functionality of simpler designs. Not only that, but simplicity can, in fact, look elegant. Consequently, minimalism has once again risen to fame, so much so that we reserved a spot for it on our list of new graphic design trends for the year.
And, yes, we’re aware of the fact that our last section about storytelling might sound as if it contradicts this one. We assure you that it does no such thing.
Real Photos
There is an endless supply of stock photos available to us online; the sheer volume is admittedly a little too convenient for designers.
As convenient as they are, however, no one actually wants to see them. We don’t mean to sound harsh here, but stock photos are incredibly dull. For this reason, they should only be used as a last resort.
So what should you first resort be?
Original images.
These images can come in any form as long as they are, in fact, original. Most designers who go this route opt to take photos using quality cameras. Doing so allows them to really personalize their designs.
There are others who instead choose to draw images and incorporate those drawings into their designs. This particular approach requires that you have some drawing talent, so don’t feel pressured to go the extra mile.
Lettering Logos
Almost every company wants an awesome, memorable logo, and we don’t blame them. A logo can, after all, make or break a business.
Of course, logos come in a variety of shapes and sizes. One common choice for a logo is a picture of some sort. This picture is ideally representative of the company’s services or goods. As much as some businesses want a
This picture is ideally representative of the company’s services or goods. As much as some businesses want a pictorial logo, though, they aren’t easy to come by.
Fortunately, logos don’t have to be pictorial. Businesses can simply settle for lettering. As a matter of fact, many businesses are doing just that.
As a graphic designer, you’re going to want to take advantage of this preference for lettering by adapting your style this year.
Grids
As far as new graphic design trends go, grids don’t exactly sound thrilling. Still, if you put them to good use as a designer, you’ll get fine results. Just look at Pinterest.
Needless to say, though, grids aren’t suited to all content. As a general rule, they work wonders for storing data and presenting it to audiences. For instance, they happen to work well for Pinterest since the platform focuses on photo-sharing.
This presentation wouldn’t, however, work well for some other platforms. That said, the next time you’re designing something for a client, think long and hard before you decide on grids.
What To Make Of These New Graphic Design Trends
What exactly should you make of these new graphic design trends? The above trends are definitely worth using if you want to keep up with your peers in 2017, but we can’t quite say that you should use anything just to stay ahead of the curve.
At the end of the day, your designs are precious to you, and you are in control. That said, continue to create the designs that you love. Just remember to incorporate a few of our ideas along the way.
Who knows? One of these ideas might just take your designs to the next level.