What Design Trends Are You Currently Embracing?
In an ever-evolving landscape of visual creativity, staying ahead of the curve is crucial. Seasoned experts like Founders and Creative Directors share their valuable insights in this exclusive Q&A. Discover how embracing Agile Camera Movements has transformed their work and why Minimalism in Branding is making a significant impact. Get ready to explore twelve unique insights that are shaping the future of design.
- Embrace Agile Camera Movements
- Incorporate Glassmorphism Accents
- Adopt Simple, Natural Presentation
- Focus on Minimalism in Photography
- Use 3D-Bubble Typography
- Apply Purposeful Minimalist Design
- Adopt Sustainable Minimalism
- Explore Procedural Generation
- Lean into Sustainable Minimalism
- Accept Minimalism for Branding
- Highlight Minimalistic Line Art
- Utilize AI for Maximalism
Embrace Agile Camera Movements
With camera equipment becoming smaller, more lightweight, and more powerful, the production industry is embracing agile camera movements made possible with advanced gimbals. These movements include rolls, long-distance tracks, and seamless one-take shots. This has been a welcome trend in commercial work, allowing filmmakers, such as us, to make more dynamic and interesting content that suits the social-first audience of today.
Incorporate Glassmorphism Accents
We've started incorporating glassmorphism into our designs, using subtle, glass-like elements as accents. It's a modern, clean touch that enhances the overall look without being too flashy. We love how it adds a fresh feel to the designs while keeping things simple and elegant.
Our clients have responded really well to it. They appreciate the polished, sleek vibe it brings to their projects. It's a great way to keep our designs up-to-date. We still focus on delivering their main message well.
Adopt Simple, Natural Presentation
The recent shift in trends seems to be more about how designs are presented, rather than the designs themselves. With social media evolving and content-creation becoming easier than ever, people are leaning toward simple, natural, and less-polished content. When something is presented in a way that feels approachable, as if anyone could create it at home, it captures more attention and resonates with a broader audience. It seems like we're in a phase where simplicity and an everyday aesthetic are trending, and this approach will probably continue to dominate for some time.
Focus on Minimalism in Photography
One trend I've wholeheartedly embraced is minimalism. Focusing on simplicity makes the photograph's essence shine, drawing the viewer's attention to the subject. Our audience has responded positively, often praising the clarity and emotional connection our backdrops bring to their imagery. Minimalism elevates the storytelling aspect and aligns with our brand's vision to craft evocative narratives. This approach has strengthened our relationship with photographers, demonstrating that sometimes less truly is more, and reinforcing our commitment to innovation and quality in the photographic experience.
Use 3D-Bubble Typography
In recent projects, I've embraced the trend of 3D-bubble typography, particularly when designing web interfaces for clients who want to capture attention quickly. One instance was during a rebranding project for a retail client. We used bold, 3D lettering to highlight special promotions, and the playful, eye-catching design resonated well with their audience. It gave the brand a fresh, modern look that really stood out from the competition.
The feedback from both the client and their customers was overwhelmingly positive. The 3D typography didn't just add visual interest; it created a sense of excitement and fun, which aligned perfectly with the brand's energetic tone. It became clear that incorporating this design trend wasn't just about aesthetics; it also enhanced the overall user experience by making key information more engaging and accessible.
For others considering this design trend, I'd suggest using it for elements that need to stand out, like calls to action or important messages. Keep it consistent with the tone of your brand, and don't overdo it. This trend works best when it's balanced with clean, simple design elements to ensure it doesn't overwhelm the user.
Apply Purposeful Minimalist Design
Minimalism is always in style. Because most of my visual design has a commercially-driven endgame, I find that “the least amount of design possible” is a yardstick that matters in generating the response rates that say it has been received well. It's all too easy to require a piece of work to serve every end and encompass every good idea and technique, but experience has taught me that design with purpose is best executed with addition by subtraction, letting the soul of the thing be heard loud and clear without distraction.
Adopt Sustainable Minimalism
As the founder of Twigs Paper, an eco-friendly stationery brand, I've embraced minimalism and sustainability in our recent designs. Our customers appreciate products that reflect an ethos of reducing waste and protecting the environment.
For example, our new line of greeting cards uses 100% recycled paper and plant-based inks. The simple yet nature-inspired designs with organic shapes and textures have resonated well, leading to a 15% increase in sales of greeting cards this quarter.
We also redesigned our shipping boxes to eliminate plastic and use 100% recyclable materials. Though a small change, customers have responded positively in reviews and social media, praising our commitment to sustainability. Reducing excess packaging and using recycled materials are easy ways for any business to embrace sustainability and gain goodwill from environmentally conscious customers.
Explore Procedural Generation
3D modeling, rendering, and procedural generation have been a recent focus of mine, particularly for branding projects that need unique mock-ups, or bespoke websites featuring 3D visualizations with ThreeJS. What really gets me excited is working with procedural textures and generative art (the coding kind, not AI)—and it’s no surprise really as I lean toward game design.
Procedural generation is a niche area, and while most clients don’t understand or truly value the technical side behind the process—which is totally fine—it’s something I really enjoy. Crafting designs through algorithms and mathematical formulas is both fun and rewarding, and the end results when working in 3D always seem to impress. I’m certainly hungry for more of these types of projects, so if you’re reading this and thinking, “Hey, you know what...,” I could be that missing puzzle piece you’re looking for.
Lean into Sustainable Minimalism
In my recent work, I've leaned into the trend of sustainable minimalism, and the response has been fantastic. As someone deeply invested in eco-friendly designs, incorporating this trend was a natural progression. My audience appreciates the elegance and simplicity, which resonates with the broader shift toward mindful consumption. Through my work with Ora Gift, I've consistently seen that minimalistic designs speak volumes when crafted with high-quality materials and thoughtful intentions. It's not just about aesthetics—it's about creating pieces that hold meaning and authenticity, reflecting a responsible luxury that today's discerning customer values. This approach aligns with my philosophy and strengthens the bond with my clientele, who value elegance without compromise.
Hope this helps! Please link https://oragift.shop/collections/star-necklace if quotes were used.
Accept Minimalism for Branding
Here's my answer:
For our branding work recently, I've accepted minimalism. When we redesigned an eco-friendly snack company's packaging, we used a minimal style with sans-serif type, muted colors, and minimal graphics. Since launching, the brand's expanded into 200 new stores, and online sales rose 43%.
For a travel tech client's mobile app redesign, we minimized the flashy style. The update focused on white space, simple icons, and a neutral palette with bright accents. The app now has a 4.8-star rating, with praise for its simple, intuitive design.
A minimal aesthetic conveys polish, premium quality, and reliability for crowded industries. By stripping excess, the product and brand story shine through. For our clients, this approach has allowed their brands to stand out while staying highly functional.
Highlight Minimalistic Line Art
At Photo2painting, we've embraced the trend of minimalistic line art, which highlights simplicity and elegance. Recent custom portraits featuring this style have resonated with clients, especially for modern home decor, leading to a 30% rise in orders. The appeal lies in the ability to convey emotion with just a few strokes, creating impactful yet understated pieces. It's a reminder that less can be more, where subtlety adds charm. The positive feedback has encouraged us to explore similar contemporary styles.
Utilize AI for Maximalism
It sounds super cheesy, but the trend is a trend for a reason. AI is everywhere because it just works. I've been diving into the maximalism trend—a lot of bold patterns and textures. But to keep up, I've had to lean on tools like MidJourney and ChatGPT. MidJourney churns out quite a big part of visuals/mood boards and inspiration, even if I'm not a huge fan of relying on it. And of course, ChatGPT. It's like a robot assistant that deals with the stuff I'd rather avoid—sorting through ideas and organizing everything when it gets overwhelming.
We're in an era where these tools are unavoidable, even if they're not my first choice. But they get the job done, and people seem to respond well enough to the final designs that it more than justifies using AI.
