Graphic design is one of the important things in the business world and is a supporting factor for a product. With graphic design, businesses can be developed and marketed to their target market. In addition, design can also be a benchmark for the times. A designer must of course be able to see designs that are currently booming so that their products or businesses can be in line with the interests of people in the world.
Graphic design is also an important factor in determining people’s taste. For this reason, the Game Lab Team will provide some design trends that will be booming in 2021. Check out this article until the end to find out about these trends.
Monochrome and contrasting colors
The first thing you need to know about design trends in 2021 is the use of monochrome colors with contrasting colors, as well as a tendency for bright, bold colors.
As we know, lately we often see the tendency of graphic and web designers to use monochrome color effects in the images they create. This duotone color filter is mostly used on photos or partial elements in graphic compositions. The use of this filter, of course, involves colors that tend to be bright and contrast with each other.
In addition, in terms of using colors for illustration, they tend to use bright, bold colors, such as neon colors. In graphic design, bright colors like this are often seen as futuristic colors that are often associated with Cyberpunk, a science fiction genre that usually depicts dark, futuristic cities, with lots of neon here and there.
Unique and custom typography
As in previous years, the use of typography is still an important thing in graphic design. In order to create more modern and innovative compositions, designers will mostly use custom typography that is personalized. This trend is expected to develop in 2021.
In recent years typography has gotten bigger, bigger, and more expressive in ways we’ve never seen before. This proves that the composition in the text does not limit the designer to continue experimenting in finding a unique type of typography in accordance with the personalization of the product or brand.
One thing that deserves attention is the increasingly expensive font license prices, especially for global brands. So that to personalize special fonts professionally also requires a lot of funds. Creating a special font for a brand or brand can be a great thing to stand out more in 2021. Custom and unique typography will be a big trend in 2021.
Geometric Design
As one of the basic elements of graphic design, lines can also express the shape and nature of an object. Geometric lines depict objects made by humans and technology, while curved lines describe natural shapes. In 2021, the combination of the two lines can create a beautiful shape that looks unreal or impossible. The designers combined the two geometric lines to create a futuristic and mysterious design. This kind of design will be popular in 2021.
Line design that is thin, sleek, abstract and difficult to do without the help of a computer, so it will be popular in the field of technology and branding because it can express the technology of the future. The geometric design may look simple but it actually takes a lot of patience and time to create a composition that can carry meaning that the audience can understand.
Isometry Illustration
Who doesn’t know isometric illustration or design? Isometric illustration or design has actually been a trend for years and of course this illustration has had a lot of transformations. Isometric illustration has been used frequently for infographic design, presentation design, and web design. This illustration is liked by many designers because of their ability to depict 3-dimensional objects into 2-dimensional surfaces.
As previously explained, this illustration has undergone various transformations, but in 2021 the transformation that looks striking is the animation on the illustration. Because in 2021, animation is everything. Isometric illustration or design develops into a very attractive visual work in the form of animation. The expression of a 3-dimensional object into a 2-dimensional surface looks more real than before.
Simplified illustrations
Illustration in a graphic design is also one of the important points to convey information, the intent and purpose of the work or product created. Illustration is used as a visual aspect that is used by designers to convey the intent and purpose of their work or product, so usually illustrations that are made are adjusted to the concepts and ideas to communicate messages better. When illustrations are important, in 2021, illustrations that are simpler or simpler will be the main choice.
Simple or simple illustrations allow the designer to focus more on the message conveyed, not on the art or images in the work. In 2021, the illustrations used will be more simple, the same, and even look childish.
Collages of Drawings and Photos
A fairly interesting and creative trend that will begin to be widely used in 2021 is a combination of photos and drawings or doodles. Doodling was starting to be a fun trend in illustration long before it even became the trend it is today. We can remember that when we were in school we often scribbled on notebooks or textbooks with doodle pictures, maybe we were inspired by that.
Doodling, by hand, sometimes looks abstract, untidy but keeps a personalization from each designer. This makes the doodle different from one another according to the graffiti of the designer. In 2021, designers are trying to combine simple photos and illustrations to replace parts of the photo or seem to interact with the photo. Similar to the trend of scribbling on mementos or on wallboards but with a much more creative portion. It is certain that this trend will be met in 2021, because it is a predisposition for creativity and is a great opportunity to create a unique work.
Image and Text masking
Image and text are two important elements in a graphic design, so what if the two are combined? A trend that a lot of graphic designers will use is text masking on images. By using hiding some pictures and text it will look quite modern and look more mysterious and futuristic.
Like most trends in 2021, the design is quite minimalist and simple. Using this text masking can help make the design look quite minimalist without the many images on that one frame. It doesn’t stop there, in 2021 designers will continue to compose images and text masking to achieve the desired effect.
Use realistic 3D
One of the things that will be increasingly booming is the use of 3D. This trend reached its peak in 2019 with various works and the use of 3D-oriented graphic design, of course not making this trend fade quickly. Thanks to modern technology, in 2021 we will continue to see even more amazing 3D compositions. In addition, to make it appear more creative, sometimes designers combine it with several other realities.
In addition to the composition of characters in 3D, utilizing modern technology allows us to take advantage of the use of 3D shapes to provide a real experience, such as an application icon or button. It creates a user-friendly tactile experience and reduces flatness without dominating the visual aesthetics of the screen.
Animations are continuous
Animation in 2021 is a must, because animation is one of the most powerful ways to do marketing for a brand or product and is becoming increasingly common in the online world. Then what kind of animation will be the trend in 2021?
Animation looping or animation that is continuous without stopping, is an animation that will become one of the trends in 2021. This type of animation has a very smooth transition on each scene voluntarily from all the elements in the frame. This is useful for bringing the audience as if they were involved in the animation and are in the real world of the animation. Animations like that will make the audience focus on the message in the animation and keep repeating it.
Vintage Illustrations
Believe it or not, it’s hard to get over the great 50s trends and the following trends can prove it. The 50s are a source for designers, namely vintage styles. Ink illustration in warm, earthy colors and drawn by hand, it is being re-implemented by today’s designers in both web and graphic design. It seems that in 2021, we will have a blast from the past.
Illustrations with watercolor nuances and hand drawn drawings like this can be applied to your work or products. Look for ways to integrate the two to create a design or piece that is fresh or in line with current trends. One of the characteristics of this vintage style is artistic elements and hand-drawn, of course, still using digital technology to create it.
So, those were 10 graphic design trends that are ready to take on the edge of 2021. The good and bad or whether these trends are true or not is that you as a designer should see the current trends, markets and opportunities. If this is positive, please take it and throw away the negative part.