14 Trends in Graphic Design for 2021

hey everybody welcome back let's talk about 14 trends in graphic design for 2021 in this video i want to show you 14 trends that i've seen in graphic design that are moving into 2021 that are exhibiting themselves in the marketplace now the thing you want to remember about trends is that trends aren't seeing into the future they're not some sort of crystal ball they are movements in design that have gained enough traction and enough usage to actually be recognized as something that is trending now trends aren't always brand new in fact very little has never been done before i recommend you use trends to stay inspired take them and make them your own take them to a different place or you can consciously react completely against them if that's what you choose to do but knowing what is trending is critical so with that let's jump right into it the first trend is called ai design now everything you're going to see on this slide was actually designed by a computer this is machine learning this is artificial intelligence design created by computers now it's not great design but it's important because even though it's clunky and it's primitive so was microsoft paint back in the day so are the first macintoshes right it will only get better it will only get more sophisticated over time yes these look kind of surreal and deconstructivist but they are something that you have to pay attention to now trend number two is called electric fade electric fade has been around it for a while but it just keeps getting deeper and deeper electric fade is characterized by electric turquoise and cyans and purples and magentas being used in curvilinear blends it's being used in tech and in sportswear and in print and in environments it's even being used in political ads two of the graphics on this slide in the upper right hand corner are from the biden harris campaign it used to be really cutting edge but now in many ways it's going much more mainstream this is a classic definition of a trend it is something that's been around for a little while and gaining momentum and used to be a little avant-garde but now it's definitely getting mass usage now trend number three is called environmental this is typography that's being used in physical environments it's used in wayfinding and interior design art installations retail stores and a museum display these are single letters or blocks of text or numbers that are much like a trend that's going to come later in this presentation called singularity it's stacked typography it's often in all caps often it's wrapping around three-dimensional objects or surfaces or around corners and it uses elements of force perspective that's optical illusions that are making elements feel closer or farther away than they really are now trend number four is called figure isolation these are human figures where the background has been removed and they've been placed on open airy or blank environments this creates a juxtaposition between the 3d of the figure and the flatness of the design elements colors and text that surround them there are graphic elements text shapes wrapping around through and over the figures and this gives the design a focal point or an anchor to these more abstract elements the figure kind of grounds in the abstract composition in reality and it gives the eye a place to rest and orient itself in terms of the picture plane trend number five is called redline red line is characterized by red black and white compositions red black and white are one of the most striking color combinations it's an emotional spectrum color red is angry and powerful environment in fact when psychiatric patients are given colors to work with in our therapy red and black always run out first this color combination is often used with black and white photography and it shows up in outdoor advertising activewear apparel print packaging transportation and even retail there's almost no way to go wrong with black white and red trend number six is called sliver of light sliver of light isn't as much of a trend as it is a graphic technique to draw the eye into a composition it's mainly used in illustration and text layouts where the illustration is the primary storytelling device it's characterized by a ray of light that acts as a visual pathway to pull the eye into the composition it's often used with a human figure as the focal point of that light it's used in things like movie posters and book covers and editorial illustration and it really creates an intense sense of drama and mystery in the composition trend number seven is called architects this is characterized by text blocks that are used as the main design elements they're used as whimsical shapes circles curves asymmetrical building blocks these can be paired with photography and illustration but generally text is the primary focus headlines and subheads can sometimes be put at right angles to each other in this trend the legibility or the ability to navigate the reading order of these paragraphs is of very little importance this trend is arty it's pretentious and in it typography becomes the main design element in and of itself trend number eight is called decontextualized this trend is characterized by typography in a state of mid-destruction it's traditional elements of designs typography graphics photos shapes and elements that are put into a kind of a visual blender the result is abstract design designed for design sake it's used in design publications in the music industry in print and magazine work and in event announcement posters it's very reminiscent of david carson and ray gun magazine it breaks all of the rules of design graphic design that skirts the edges of fine art communication in this trend is of very little importance at all trend number nine is called bright geo this is very similar to the geo max trend of last year except the difference lies in the icon and the block shapes it's characterized by tetris-like building block shapes that are bisected and quartered circles simple color palettes of reds blues oranges and greens also muted tones of gray and they're all grounded in black or dark navy bright geo is used in brand id systems and web icons and editorial it's even used in google's g suite icons it's usually used in flat color compositions only but it can be used in combination with photography and natural textural elements now number 10 is one of my favorite trends i call it it's all a blur it's a very popular trend and it's characterized by kind of an overlaid scrim of plastic or mylar or just elements that are plain out of focus we're seeing it everywhere it's in video media and animation and signage and editorial and print it's being used with figurative elements typography numerals photography and it creates a depth a sense of mystery it sparks curiosity and creates a level of visual movement that brings a real level of interest to a flat graphic picture plane trend number 11 is called chiseled type it's retro typography that's really historically anchored in the sign painting industry it's kind of a subset of the sign painters trend from my 2020 trend video it's been adopted by art graffiti street culture tattoo culture and modern sign painters this trend is characterized by fonts that are crafted to look 3d as if they were carved out of or into stone or wood type designers have really adopted this style and are putting really interesting new twists on it single letter forms take on a monolithic life of their own and really become sculptures in their own right trend number 12 i call singularity singularity is characterized by composition that uses a single letter or number or symbol as the main abstract anchor of the composition it's a celebration of the abstract beauty of a single letter or number and its forms and shapes it's often dramatically cropped and often used as an abstract element to wrap text around or intertwined with other forms or it can be treated textually in brush strokes or in patterns it's being used everywhere from editorial print to packaging to illustration and promotional posters trend number 13 i call wavy gravy wavy gravy is kind of an offshoot of a trend from my 2019 video that i called warp speed in this trend typography is warped to create a wave shape sometimes they're regular waves like an optical illusion to impede legibility of the text sometimes it's visually faithful to the text but it's printed like it's on a waving fabric like a flag or a banner it's often used in black and white but not exclusively it's used mainly in print and animation and posters trend number fourteen i call b yellow now pantone announced its colors for 2021. the colors are illuminating yellow and ultimate gray this is not a graphic design trend in and of itself it's really more like a dominant color story trend of yellow black white and an injection of gray i feel it's a psychological reaction against the difficult year that we've had in 2020 with the political upheaval and the pandemic all of our financial struggles and the negativity overall in the world it's kind of forecasting or encouraging a brighter outlook for 2021 and it's already being heavily adopted and used everywhere it's showing up in product design and web design sports apparel editorial print the financial industry promotional marketing travel and even entertainment so if you're interested in learning how to execute any of these trends or if you just want to get better at your favorite adobe applications i encourage you go to bring your own laptop o l dot me forward slash philip will take you to the website of daniel scott certified adobe trainer and he puts out some of the most amazing adobe application training videos that there are available in fact i challenge you to find anybody who's better or whose prices are more competitive so i encourage you check out byol dot me forward slash philip if you want to learn more about your favorite adobe applications so that's it i hope you enjoyed this video on 14 graphic design trends for 2021 and if you did please hit subscribe below so you can see my videos when they come out and make sure to hit that notifications bell so you can get alerted when i post something new visit me at if you need help with your brand your brand strategy or your professional creative career reach out to me and let's see what we can do to take you to the next level and with that thanks again for watching bye for now you

Channel: Philip VanDusen

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Keywords: graphic design trends 2021, graphic design trends, graphic design trends 2020, philip vandusen 2020, philip vandusen, brand design masters, design inspiration, graphic design inspiration, graphic design inspiration websites, graphic design inspiration 2020, graphic design ideas inspiration, how to get inspiration for graphic design, how to find inspiration for graphic design, design trends now, graphic design, web design, graphic design 2021, design for 2021, top trends

Id: h8yjthFnHEA

Length: 11min 21sec (681 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 05 2021