Design trends are always changing. What’s popular today may not be popular tomorrow. Therefore, it is important to keep up with the modern trends to ensure your products are not lost to time.
Why Design Trends Change?
Design trends change due to many things, they are fluid and unforeseeable. A trend can come as a resurgence of an old trend, or as something brand new. Some trends build up slowly, whereas others appear suddenly. Similarly, trends can last for a long time or a shorter period. As it can be difficult to foresee what will become popular, it is often best to use something that is trending in the present, as this will ensure your products are modern with minimal risk.
Of course there can be certain situations where following modern trends may not be beneficial, as mentioned later in this post. In such cases, in can be useful to still incorporate trends in a small manner in order to allow a larger potential.
What Trends Are Popular in 2019?
Gradients
Gradients were very popular in the early 2000’s, however the gradients that are popular now vary greatly. Whereas the older gradients were harsh, providing a sharp colour change over a short distance, the gradients in use now are much subtler. These gradient create smooth transitions between similar colours, or perhaps add a slight shadow effect as seen in material design.
Comparison between gradient from the early 2000’s and a modern gradient
3D Type
Not the 3D type popular among elementary school students when they learn how to use word art, this 3D type is more interactive, combining with other design elements. It is used to help create a sense of movement and flow in a piece. 3D type not only utilises the illusion of 3 dimensions, but also various textures to the type creating a much more natural feeling to it than generic word art.
Art Deco
This may not be the correct title for this trend, but regardless it is a trend that makes use of a single stroke weight. It is most popular with logos as it creates a clear and visually distinct appearance, and is flexible enough to be able to create anything.
Vibrant Colours
There are millions of colours that can be used, but the current trend is to use vibrant and neon colours. Often this uses several colours in order to create contrast within itself. However, this contrast would be complimentary, between colours that fit well together, often combined with the aforementioned gradient trend.
Multiple boxes making use of vibrant colours
Responsive Logos
In the digital age, your audience can use a wide variety of displays to see your content. As such the trend of responsive logos arose. These logos are flexible and change for varying sizes, yet is consistent enough with itself and the rest of the company’s branding that it is still. You can preview how some responsive logos work here, click to view
Sample of the different stages of responsive logos for some popular brand
Retro Design
This trend works best for well-known long standing companies. Companies that have a long history and have changed with the times. These companies will often design in a way to honour their past. This creates a sensation of nostalgia in their audience which is very powerful for a company’s branding.
How You Can Make Use of Design Trends?
To make use of design trends it is firstly important to be aware of some of the trends as mentioned above. Once you know some of the trends you can decide which ones would work best for you and how you would like to use them. When deciding this you should acknowledge your target demographic and what would be best for them. Where some of these trends would target a younger audience better, some older demographics may find older trends more appealing.
Like any design piece, it should go through several iterations to ensure that the style works as intended. It is typically best to follow trends that have been established for a while, as they likely have quite a while left in their lifespan, whereas new trends can die quickly before picking up steam. It is also wise to avoid old trends unless it suits your demographic or you’re going for the retro design as older trends may make your products appear out of date.
If you are looking to create a logo for your brand, contact us, we’ll work with you to develop a design that works for your brand.
