13 March 2018 | 3 Minute(s) to read
Hello 2018, we're already a quarter into the year!
Looking at it from a design perspective there are a few trends that are emerging;
Hand-drawn / Handcrafted
This trend is a favourite of mine. It adds a unique aesthetic to a brand, making your social posts, advertising and collateral more personal, opposed to when you use mass-produced stock images. Don't get me wrong, stock images have a place, but when there's an option to customise/mix it up it's always best to!
There are many brands that have utilised this style for years now, and it's really working from them; such as Lush.
Below is the hand drawn wreath we designed for our Christmas cards, which was then digitised and coloured. It tied in our branding while visually setting us apart from the numerous stock-standard wreaths that abound at that time of year.
Typography Based
This is a lovely trend and a skill that brings a human touch to design but in a more structured way. It can be utilised in many aspects of design such as posters and brochures, not just logos. The letters themselves take on a pictorial feel when they are the sole element on the page.
Also there are many instances that when hand-drawn typography is used, colour also plays a big role in conveying the theme or mood of the piece. An example of this is in Sasha Prood’s sketch of ‘GROWING’ using tones on green, to further portray the vegetables she has constructed into letter forms.
Under the umbrella of typography there are four ways it’s being interpreted:
Creative/Imaginative - think drips, stretched or whimsical shapes to create letters.
Cropped - the letters are stripped back to the essentials for readability or stripped even further to the point of abstraction.
Chaotic - this is the way the letters themselves are laid out on the page, this directly relates to a main trend for the year of 'unique layouts'.
Negative space - mixing this style of using negative (blank) space with typography and photography gives an unusual sense of depth to designs, and can produce some very playful or serious outcomes.
Unique Layouts
Think Swiss style/design or just generally throwing out the rule book. This trend can be seen as ruleless but 'you need to know the rules to break them'. it may look effortless but as a designer it is hard to have elements outside of the 'grid'. This trend is all about experimenting and having fun with our layouts, creating a new sense of depth or the opposite and making the design feel flat.
Whichever direction you head in terms of design style make sure that you implement it across all of your communications with consistency. This way you will maintain and build strong brand recognition and the design will help to sell the character of your brand and differentiate you from your competitors.
