Whether your art is hanging in a gallery or you’re trying to convey a message to users through UX design, you are doing what all artists and designers do. You’re telling a story.
As an illustrator or visual designer, your role as a storyteller is part of the process—whether at the beginning of a project, the middle, or the visual icing on the cake at the end.
Of course, you have your own style and aesthetic, but when a company hires you to create some “visual wow”, they want the art to be current and fresh.
We looked at the trends in illustration over the past year and also peeked into the future to discover where illustration styles are headed in the next year. Take a look!
Illustration Trends 2020
Check out the useful links on the YouTube page for this video which include patterns, themes, vector art, and more.
- Character Illustrations 0:14
- Grain Effects / Texture 1:12
- Abstract Illustration 1:48
- Bright and Bold 2:21
- Hand-drawn Illustration 3:07
- 3D Illustration 3:46
- 90s Geometric 4:17
- Kawaii Animals 4:44
- Isometric Designs 5:19
14 Trends in Graphic Design for 2020
This is a great video for reference of styles. It covers the following illustration and graphic design trends many companies are using now:
- Betamax 1:27
- 1890 ornate 2:01
- Double exposures 3:00
- Electric gradient 3:36
- Fruitopia 4:21
- Paper cut 4:58
- Sign painter 5:36
- Geo max 6:09
- Tactile type 6:57
- Stacked + packed 7:31
- Isometronic 8:06
- Essentialism 8:56
- Bad flyer 9:29
- Through bad pixels 10:15
Now that you’ve seen what trends are popular now, let’s jump into 2021 to see what we might expect in the coming year.
(And aren’t you glad 2020 is almost over?)
Graphic Design 2021: The HOTTEST graphic design trends you need to know about for 2021
From shapes and graphs to fonts and illustrations, Venngage counts down the hottest graphic design trends for 2021 with loads of easy tips to help you stay ahead of the game.
Visit their blog for their full run down on the top graphic design trends 2021: https://bit.ly/3m3FLj5
- Trend number 7: Muted colors
- Trend number 6: Data visualizations Learn more about using data: https://bit.ly/3mY8uHc
- Trend number 5: Slide decks
- Trend number 4: Text heavy videos Learn how to pick fonts: http://bit.ly/353TKxb
- Trend 3: Geometric shapes
- Trend 2: Flat icons
- Trend 1: Classic serif fonts