Substance and Style

    10 Digital Design Trends Coming In 2024

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    1. Social issues. Gone are the days when it was savvy to keep your personal and political beliefs out of your business. Today’s customers, especially younger American ones, want to know that they’re supporting a brand or organization that shares their values. As social issues continue to grow in importance to consumers, we’ll see design that is more accessible to people with disabilities, artwork that is more inclusive and diverse, and marketing that encourages eco-consciousness while utilizing greener design methods. Even seemingly neutral businesses and organizations will produce more content with a slant.
    2. Nostalgia. As more people become Chronically Online, society develops more nostalgia for the last days of print-dominated communication. Aesthetics that were popular in the zines, posters, and advertisements of the 1990s and the turn of the century are starting to show up in design. Bright colors, custom fonts that look hand-drawn, and bold geometry are popping up on websites and social media content. Designers are drawing inspiration from the “paste up” days of print, creating collage-type designs of different textures and styles, and taking a “mixed media” approach to the digital world. Vintage looks that incorporate modern elements like 3D objects will be especially trendy. Layering photos and illustrations, mixing hippie-inspired photos with punk-inspired text, and dropping real photos into fantastical backgrounds will all be seen. Basically, if you saw it on a flyer in a nightclub in 1996, don’t be surprised if you see it next year.
    3. Storytelling. Content is king and visual design is starting to reflect that. There is a new emphasis on storytelling. The more connected we all are, the more depth is required for those connections to stand out and make an impression. Websites that take users on interactive narrative journeys, ads that focus on emotional personal experiences, and short form narrative videos will all be prominent in the new year.
    4. Escapism. A lot of digital design next year will be about offering respite from the negativity we’ve come to expect online. Gentle, ethereal styles like glassmorphism and airbrushing, soothing pastel and neutral color pallets, and subtle gradients will abound. We’ll also see psychedelic and surrealist graphics along with anything that brings in elements of spirituality, astrology, and new age religions. Expect a certain amount of sci-fi inspired artwork as well.
    5. Nature. Next year we’ll see a lot of designs inspired by nature. Elements that look organic or handmade, earth tone color pallets, and natural-looking textures and patterns will all be popular. Drawings of botanicals, animations of plants growing, and social media content focused on nature conservation will abound.
    6. Motion. Once again, motion design will be important as organizations compete for attention in a sea of content. Moving type, animated shorts, and video of all kinds will dominate social media. On websites, look for subtle motion on homepages in the form of hover effects, progress bars, and accent animations.
    7. Data Visualization. Organizations that have traditionally relied on written content to persuade the public of their mission’s importance have started incorporating visual design in order to reach their audiences. As a result, the demand for good data visualization has skyrocketed. Creatively and persuasively designed charts, graphs, and diagrams will take center stage, particularly those that incorporate motion design to illustrate changes over time, predictions, and differences between data sets.
    8. Simplicity. Elegant minimalist designs will continue to rise in popularity. Look for clean lines and simple shapes, clear borders, simplified user experiences, and designs that fade into the background to showcase text or products.
    9. Maximalism. While minimalism will be everywhere, so will its opposite. Look for layered images, bold colors, repetition, and general cluttered busyness. Pretty much everything they told you not to do when you were learning design will be out there next year.
    10. Focus on UX. Next year, it will be more important than ever to empathize with your audience and provide the experience they want and need. Websites will be transitioning to more intuitive hierarchies with better and easier navigation, and pages where every element has a clear purpose that can immediately be gleaned by the user. The biggest challenge for designers will be to design in a standardized way so that there’s no learning curve for their users, but also stand out from the crowd.