2018 Design Trends

Hello Creatives!

Welcome to 2018! A new years brings new trends and new energy. This year has a multitude of different trends that we will continue to see emerge. Some previous trends will peek into this year like gradients, bold typography, hand-lettering and animation or animated GIF's.

1. Gradients

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Gradients went from being a student-only utilized skill to becoming a trend within logo design, web design and branding. Many companies have already incorporated gradients, specifically Instagram, iTunes and even MasterCard. Before 2014, gradients were as comical as Comic Sans but recently companies have learned to appreciate the dynamic look of gradients to enhance their logos and make them memorable.

2. Galaxy Colors

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Galaxy colors have increased in popularity into a rising trend since November of 2018 when Pantone released its Color of the Year as Ultra Violet. The color pairings released reflect the cosmos and encourages everyone to reach their full potential and go for their dreams. We will be seeing a lot more of this vibrant, multi-dimensional color in web design, package design and editorial design.

3. Bold Typography/Hand-lettering

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By now everyone is familiar with hand-lettering, it's everywhere. Hand-lettering and typography have become synonymous these days so it's grouped together with bold typography this year. These two concepts have been trends in the past but this year they seemed to have evolved.

This type of bold typography is the chunky, in your face 1980's bloated kind of fonts. Hand-lettering is going in the opposite direction, one of sophistication. We will see these trends continue to evolve throughout the years as they lead us into the next trend.

4. Color Fonts

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This trend is also no stranger to us, we have seen it before but this also has evolved with a new twist thanks to Adobe CC. Not only are we going to see more bold ccolor choices for fonts this year, we will also see colored textured fonts with the help of Open Type-SVG fonts. There are some classic fonts like Trajan, which has an Open Type SVG selection.

SVG is style variable glyphs, they apply certain textures or color styles to a font to add depth and dimension to the font. Back in 2016, these were not available to use. Adobe has released these specialized fonts through their Creative Cloud service; we will be seeing many of these fonts revealing themselves in branding.

5. Duotones

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This trend is making a comeback as well this year. In the past, duotones were in reference to photography but this year we will be seeing them more in web design and branding. Duotones provide a bold statement contrasted with colored fonts. In web design and branding we will see a minimalist boldness.

6. Textured Papers

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Textured papers have been rising in popularity since 2014 and have grown into a full-on trend this year. In recent years, textured papers have popped up in business stationary, business cards and branding print work. In the past we have seen engraved fonts accompany these papers from companies like Mohawk, Moo and Jakprints.

These papers are being partnered with embossed and foiled typography to give the print work a more sophisticated look. From engraved fonts to foiled and embossed fonts, this year is looking very bright.

7. Line Art

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Line art is coming back strong this year. It made a grand appearance back in 2015 and looks like it's here to stay. Line art has made a massive headway in package design and web design recently. With the rise of natural and organic companies, line art has risen to enhance simple typographical-based design in packaging. In web design, it is used as a playful accent to landing pages.

These were a few of the design trends that are making their debut this year. Do you agree with these predictions for 2018? What will you incorporate in your design work this year? Share your concepts with me on Instagram @angeladesigns2 with the #mydesigntrend2018.

See You Soon Creatives!