With every new year, design trends appear and disappear as quickly as you can say ‘Is it March already?’.
Some are so on-trend and popular, they grow and evolve from year to year. You can check out our Graphic Design Trends of the Last Decade for more on that or read on for 6 Design Trends you can expect to see in 2020.
1. Oversaturation Central
Recent years have seen brand colours becoming more and more vivid. This started out as a less is more approach with pops of oversaturated colour here and there as an accent tone to lift the design with contrast. Now we are seeing these colours in a much braver approach; using super vibrant colours alongside other crazy vibrant colours. The whole colour spectrum is your playground! Although it’s a risky trend, do it wrong and it could make the viewers eyes hurt, but do it right and you’ve got yourself a head turning piece. This one is not going anywhere anytime soon!
2. Environmentalism Chic
A social movement which has been blowing up the headlines in the past year is… you guessed it, corporate environmentalism! Granted — this is nothing new, however we have witnessed some compelling events which have supercharged this movement of late —McDonald’s roll out of the paper straw and the controversial antics of Extinction Rebellion to name a few. Design and marketing campaigns for big brands are jumping on the disruptive environmental bandwagon. You can also cross this with the increasing vegan/vegetarian population. Veganuary anyone?
We’ll see this influence in design as companies put their foot forward to try and prove they’re part of the popular do-gooder crowd. So expect to see leaves, greens and natural textures because Mother Nature has never looked more chic and ‘on trend’.
3. Minimalist Landing Pages
Minimalist design has been increasing in popularity in the last decade and digital design is pushing it forwards in 2020. A website landing page is often a portal to all your online web content or a one page with all on offer in one place. Presenting this is a minimalist way can be difficult. However, web developers are pushing the consistently popular trend for minimalism with their sleek, low key landing pages. This minimalist landing page for Cats & Dogs The Weather App is a great example of minimalism and UX design, the call-to action is clear and the design is striking.
4. Breaking Design Rules
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” — Pablo Picasso
A slightly rebellious attitude can go a long way. Every designer has been asked to make the logo bigger by a client. Landor took this to the extreme in their new packaging range for Kellogg’s cereal by spanning it across two faces of the box. This is further complimented by the barcode doing the same. Of course the common practice is to have these two elements tucked neatly in the corner somewhere. Going against this has left Kelloggs something that is truly unique.
Breaking design rules to stand out is something to be embraced within design more and more.
5. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
Want to really throw your brand in people’s faces? The year itself is repetitive…2020. Repeating elements can be used to create backgrounds, displays and also a practical way to show off variation when using a harmonious colour palette.
Inspired by Andy Warhol Pop Art paintings and patterned sock design, repetition like this can straddle the line between minimalism and a desire to use up blank spaces.
6. Continuous animation sequences
Inspired by seamlessly repeatable Gifs, continuous animation sequences that loop forever are all the rage. Just look at our very own website for an example of how they can give an otherwise minimalist website design, some personality. GIFs have only every increased in popularity and shareability. Social media channels favour video over anything else so it’s not wonder designers are turning to this kind of loop-able animation to bridge the gap between the two.
