2017’s Game-Changing Graphic Design Trends

Having good complementary visuals in a business context ensures more than just visual presentation and aesthetics, it gives your brand a face and the capacity to stand out from the competition through eye-catching visual imagery. It also ensures that your brand is represented accurately and consistently across the average website, brochure, posters and signage. At this point, graphic design becomes important.

It should not be forgotten that, with technological innovations and the changing preferences of the global market, the role of graphic design is becoming more and more important and valuable for businesses. Moreover, a blog post published by Adobe stated that design-focused companies have outperformed the S&P index by 219% over the past decade. It was also stated that companies that value creativity in their businesses gain 1.5 times more market share.

In light of all these important developments, we all see that there are many changes and updates in the design world as a dynamic field. Based on this idea, we have compiled for you the trends that shape the field of graphic design in 2017. We believe it will be beneficial for your brand, here you go…

1) Bold and Brighter Colors

Over the last few years, many brands have used solid, safe and simple colours. To change the course of the controlled design scheme, many brands have started a trend of using bolder and brighter color schemes. Instead of white, gray and black as commonly used, many brands today are opting for bolder and brighter colors like those offered in the Google Material Design color palette.

Spotify has been using this for a while, as seen in its music programs. They use a combination of high-quality photographs of the singers and bold colors to create an aggressive and provocative design. Instagram also renewed its logo using bright color transitions; This gave the brand a new look without straying away from their iconic logo. Although many criticized it, this move helped Instagram unify all the different apps in one color and the brand became known across the web as well.

2) Bold Typography

Typography is one of the key elements in creating great design. But more than meets the eye, a carefully chosen font is extremely important to ensure that the audience can easily consume the content.

With today's decreasing attention span of readers and saturation of content online, this year has seen an explosion of differentiated, medium-sized typography. Another driver for this need is the shift to mobile and ultra-high-resolution displays in web development. As more people increasingly use mobile phones to consume content, the way content is presented must also be optimized for maximum experience.

3) Regular and Original Photos

As the rate of published content increases day by day, the need for quality images also increases. Many people appealed to the consumer by constantly using stock photos in their posts; So over time, consumers found it mundane and boring.

Regardless of whether the image is unique and thought-provoking, when many people see it on other sites they think you can't create your own material, thus losing interest in engaging with the content. Therefore, you should consider producing unique original images that represent your brand. This makes your brand more unique and renewed, allowing you to attract more followers and stay ahead of the competition.

4) Pattern Design

Flat design has become accepted and widely used in the graphics world over the last few years. While it has helped many designers simplify layouts and improve user experience, it is so popular that it now feels saturated.

The pattern and print trend is expected to make a comeback in 2017, especially for packaging and brand design. Whether in marble and gemstones or the iconic organic print, nature-inspired pattern design has definitely become a trend this year and is set to continue.

5) Minimalist Design

If pattern design for your brand doesn't seem very appealing, minimal designs with their “flashy” and “independent” style in graphics will probably appeal to you. In 2017, we already see brands using ultra-minimal designs on their websites.

Inspired by Scandinavian design, the ultra-minimal visual approach on typography and layouts continues this year to help brands appear more elegant and stylish to their followers.
The secret is to keep the fonts simple but stylish and reduce the size of each element to make the layout feel more than aggressive. The choice of color should also be limited here, but small touches of a strong, metallic element should also be added in the background, for decorative purposes only.

6) Cinemagraphs

Images, videos, and GIFs have been used openly across different platforms in recent years. And a new and valuable technique has recently been added to the literature: Cinemagraphs.

Cinemagraphs, similar to GIFs as we know them, are images that contain only small moving elements. Cinemagraphs can be used to tell stories and increase engagement; These, when deployed properly, can drive more organic traffic to the website. Brands such as Netflix, Kraft, Macy's, A & E and IKEA are already using cinemagraphs in their marketing strategies, which shows that cinemagraphs will have an important place in graphic design after this year.

7) Hand-Drawn Graphics and Icons

As authentic images rise, so do hand-drawn icons and graphics. Adding hand-drawn elements to design or content work is becoming more popular as brands find ways to differentiate themselves from the competition.

In addition to making the brand recognizable, hand-drawn elements also put the user at ease, appeal to our inner child and make the product more accessible.

8) Vintage Fonts and Plans

It may be commonplace to use design cues from the last decade, but the design industry will be using more of it in 2017 and beyond.

Trends from the past are today—from Chokers to Nintendo NES to polaroid cameras—authentic vintage and retro fonts are making their way to the heart of modern pop culture. The key to achieving this trend is originality in packaging; This means letterpress and screen printing can be used to enhance the vintage typeface and hand-drawn logo. The candy colors of 2016 will be used to add a sense of confidence and happiness to the product.