22/02/2023 | Design insights
Graphic Design
Trends 2023
Written by Lauren Rogers | Brand Designer/Founder
I’m not one for following design trends unless your brand strategy calls for it, but I’d like to discuss the reason for actually using trends for your next brand and reasons why you should avoid the graphic design trends of 2023.
Everything in the modern world follows trends, whether it’s food and beverage, fashion or graphic design. 2020 brought in a new range of food & beverage trends, non-alcoholic beers and gins took off and now are prominently displayed on most major supermarket shelves. Plant-based food items also became a staple and moved into the meat and cheese sections of supermarkets, proudly merging into mainstream purchasing behavior.
All you have to do is open TikTok to notice the 90s seem to have made a resurgence, teenagers are proudly wearing their choker necklaces and bandana triangle tops, oh the memories, but also, it makes us Millennials start to realise how our parents felt as we grew up and corduroy came back in fashion.
Alongside fashion it seems graphic designers are also leaning on the 90’s aesthetic, you’ll notice the design aesthetic of overlapping images, rounded shapes overlapping each other and neon colour palettes. What I would say to emerging businesses and startups looking to brand themselves, is before jumping into a trend, first dissect your target audience. If they are teenagers who want the trendy aesthetic and this is their main driver to purchase, then go for it! Trends are your friends, see what I did there? But if your target audience are 50+ and value prestige, then unfortunately jumping on the latest design trend is not going to convert to sales or resonate. Choose your design style based on who is purchasing your product, I can’t say it enough.… louder for those up the back.
This is just a little reflection and my thoughts on trends. The thing to remember is that trends come and go, I’m not going sit here and write an article with pictures, showing you design trends. Trends to tend to go against my ethos as a designer, if they’re used for the wrong reason. My ethos is always “form follows function”. This means everything you design should tie back to the meaning of your brand, your strategy and most importantly your target audience. If your brand image doesn’t connect with your target audience then it’s all pointless, really.
There are many websites that talk about design trends and give you inspiration so you can build your brand and decide whether you want to follow trends or if they’re not suitable for your target market. The resources I recommend and use on the daily are Behance, which shows you what is currently happening in design land. Pinterest is a great source and DesignRush have a spotlight on trends and inspiration, check-out their latest graphic design trends of 2023 inspirations here.
So go forth and design, but remember to always put some thought into why you’re using a trend, it’s never about you but always about your target audience.