(Photo : Latest Graphic Design Trends)

Trends are essential tools that dictate the pace in the design space. One thing to remember about trends is that they don't see into the future because they aren't crystal balls. However, it is essential to note that they are just movements in design that have gained enough traction and usage to recognize move in the market place.

They aren't always brand new because a lot has been done with them over the years. Trends are crucial to help stay inspired, and it's essential to take them and make them your own. It is also possible to consciously react entirely against them. However, knowing what trends is most especially in the graphic design space, is critical.

Below are the listed graphic design trends you need to watch out for this year, 2021.

• AI Design: This is an artificial intelligence design created to make life and jobs easier. It doesn't look like a great design, but it's important because even though it's clunky and primitive, Microsoft Paint and other design tools were too. It will only get better and more sophisticated with time. AI designs are something that needs attention this year.

• Electric Fade: Though it's been around for a while, you get to know new things about it daily. Different electric colors are useful in curvilinear blends applied in Tech, and Sport wears Political ads and the Environments. It used to be the cutting edge, but now, it's getting more attention in a lot of ways. Electric Fades classically defines the trend, used to be little avant-garde but getting massive usage.

• Environ-mental: They are typography used in the physical environment used in wayfinding and interior designs, art installations, and museum displays. They are single letters or blocks of text or numbers often wrapped around three-dimensional objects or surfaces or corners. It uses elements of forced perspective optical illusions that make design features feel closer or farther away than they seem.

• Figure Isolation: These are designs where the background is removed and placed on open or blank environments. It creates a contrast between the figure's three-dimensional look and the flatness of the design elements, colors, and text surrounding them. Graphic elements and shapes wrap around through, and over the figures, which gives the design a focal point.

• Nostalgic Designs: Many creators have responded to the unpredictable year 2020 by introducing some nostalgia dose into their creativity. Finding inspiration in previous years isn't new, and antiquated designs have been popular. However, the thoughtful design has captured the designer's imagination as the need for comfort, familiarity, and reassurance took mainstage.

• Serif Fonts: This year's font trend seems to be going in a new direction, with a whole lot of designers embracing the return of the Serif. It communicates a sense of excellent reputation and trustworthiness, and in uncertain times, people seem to be craving confidence and stability more than ever.

• Redline: This kind of design is mostly red, white, and black compositions. These three colors combine to give the most striking combinations, which is an emotional spectrum. When you present psychiatric patients with colors to work within a therapy session, red and black come first on the list. These color combinations show up in apparel print, outdoor advertising, retail, packaging, and transportation. I bet you won't go wrong with these three color combos.

• Data Visualizations: This is a method to make graphics like charts or infographics out of raw data collection. They are common everywhere on pictures at the moment, and this is what affords them a spot on our list of design trends. Many designs nowadays feature a graph, chart, or some representation that breathes life to your graphics. Data in its raw form is dull and unattractive, and only your prowess in applying data visualization will save you a lot of stress.

• Flat Icons:  Familiar, isn't it? If they are, it's just because they are a massive trend in 2015, already making a comeback in 2021. We have seen a lot of hyper-realistic icons recently. While they are great and exciting to look at, sometimes they are a bit frightening. One inevitable fact about most of these trends is that less will be more this year (2021). That's why flat icons feel so fresh, and they are ideal for creating a lot of visual outputs because they work well across all results like social media, graphic reports, webinars, videos, and so on.

• Silver of Light:  This is a graphic technique, also called grafisk design teknikk in Norwegian, that is mainly used in illustration and text layout where illustration is the primary storytelling device. It is characterized by a red light that acts as a visual pathway to put the eye into the composition. It often works with a human figure as the focal point of that light. We can find it in movie postal, book covers, and editorial illustration. 

• Increased Saturation: Recently, major companies have increased their logo and brands' color saturation in designs. The reason for this is that screen technology is rapidly evolving. Because a lot of people can access a company's branding and marketing on screen, it provides some different hues and increases the saturation to segment them by making them stand out.

• Singularity: This design model is a composition that uses a single letter, number, or symbol as a main abstract anchor of the piece. It's the celebration of the abstract beauty of a single letter or number, forms, and shapes. Often dramatically cropped and used as an abstract element to wrap text around or intertwined with other formats. Designers can also treat it textually in brush strokes or patterns. It applies everywhere from packaging to editorial prints, illustrations, and promotional posters.

IN CONCLUSION:

Trends in graphic design are interestingly huge! This New Year, with typography, mesmerizing color combos, a blast from the past with retro style line drawing, doodling, and even more incredible patterns, we can see unique design trends that will breathe new life into our graphic design experience. Let's all watch out and be on alert as we engage in and follow the New Year's latest trend.