Design , Infographics

8 Graphic Design Trends that Will Define 2022

2020 was the year when the world came to standstill. The world was caught between the Black Lives Matter moment, hate towards Asians, and the global climate crisis when the pandemic took its breath away.

The world first time witnessed a sudden shift in business and marketing activities. The marketing inclined more towards an inclusive culture to reflect the true values and backed everything with facts and figures. As the world gloomed in the four walls, the marketing creatives were more vibrant, inclusive, and fact-oriented to provide consumers with moments of relief.

2022 is the year where inclusive, bold, and educational graphics will take center stage. Here are 8 graphic trends to look out for:

1. Inclusive Visuals

Reflecting the diversity of human life through graphics is the go-to mantra that is marked to shine bright in 2022. Events of 2019-20, around racial reckoning, have influenced brands to realize the importance of embracing representative marketing strategy. Companies are using graphics to reflect the diversity of their workforce and implementing inclusive visuals in their marketing campaigns. Brands are switching to using images and icons that reflect a rainbow of races, genders, and body types. This has enabled companies and brands to widen the approaching horizon and reach audiences from various walks of life. Some of the best examples are inclusive visuals used by Slack, Trello, and Hubspot on their platform.

2. Fun Data Visualizations

Data is key to everything and its representation holds uttermost importance in every industry. In 2020 with hosts of bad infographics representing the spread of the pandemic, it became the need of the hour to adopt simplified data visualizations. Story-oriented charts and graphs that shared became the go-to tool to engage and inform audiences.

The same strategy was utilized by brands to come up with fun data visuals that will shine through the year 2022. The trend involves keeping the design simple and the content relevant to reflect a fun, engaging story. Instead of gloomy facts and figures that might inculcate fear in audiences, the brands are using data-related content about the topic that is appealing. Some of the best graphic remodeling strategies were adopted by Twitter, Linkedin, and Hubspot to adopt fun data representation.

3. Bold Backgrounds

In the past two years, there was a shift towards muted colors but graphic design trends for 2022 are set to be bolder with bright colors. The colors will help set the tone for the graphics by highlighting the background. Visually speaking, the bold background colors will help the lighter text or image pop on a social feed. Brands caught on to this trend and leveraged the same to recreate their image to look vibrant and appealing to all. This graphic trend lets brands use any color to help make information stand out. In recent days, Spotify took the advantage of this trend to revamp its platform.

4. Colorful Icons and Illustrations

Flat or 3D icons or illustrations are a thing of the past. Now, it is time to shift the gear to a colorful mix of flat and 3D icons and illustrations. Brands and companies are moving beyond the conventional icon design or sticking to brand colors and incorporating bold backgrounds to make the icons pop out. As icons act as a constant reminder for any brand, the companies wish to make the same more appealing, rememberable, and universally acknowledged. Cloud-based software companies like Salesforce and Zendesk are revamping their icons and illustrations to reflect the same ideology. Colors are used in various places to highlight minor details in the illustrations and icons.

5. Serif Fonts

In a world driven to madness with pandemics, people wish to see lively yet calming visuals. This is where Serif fonts shine the best. Serif fonts represent dependability and have a calming effect. It looks like that the Serif fonts are here to stay for 2022 and beyond. The fonts have been a favorite of classic authors for centuries for their stylish and nostalgic effect. The fonts can sometimes look outdated but these fonts are considered elegant as well by the industry experts. Also, the brands prefer Serif fonts over others as this helps make anything immediately catch attention. Mailchimp has recently paired these fonts with its brand fonts to create a calming effect on its homepage.

6. Branded Memes

Memes are like a shot of espresso coffee on a sleepy day. And brands are falling hard for these. Memes are hard to avoid as there is a meme for everything. Every expression, idea, or marketing gig can be converted into a meme. Some of them catch on & fade away soon and some become a trend that lasts longer. But memes have a short period to make it or brand it for any brand. Memes are also fun data visualizations that have given birth to the fun graphic design trend of 2022. Brands like Shopify and Buffer understood the importance of memes at the right time and rode the tide like a pro in 2021.

7. Quotes

One trend that pops up every now and stays for long- Quotes. A few years back, quotes were all the rage and inspired many graphics. Quotes by marketing gurus, business tycoons, and experts made it to the feeds around every social media platform, all thanks to this trend. Quotes have made a comeback! Instead of inspirational quotes, the brands are embraced quotes with an educational twist for marketing visuals. No quotes serve as social proof and reflect the effort of a brand or company to engage with the customer base. Linkedin and Teamwork are using quotes as a tool to increase interaction with customers as well as interestingly put across brand ideology.

8. Social Screencaps

Sharing the same content on various platforms can sometimes become monotonous. But every platform has its unique appeal and using the same content on every platform can lead to losing customers. Brands use various channels to share announcements, contests, or product launches at the same time. Social Screencaps or Screencaptures are making this much more interesting for the brands. This trend is becoming a rage on Instagram and Linkedin as it allows a brand to give a different twist to the same post. Hubspot and Zapier are ardent fans of this trend and hope to see it become bigger in 2022.

Conclusion

The graphic design trends of 2022 are driven by the pandemic and the changing social & political landscape. These events have changed the way brands communicate and present themselves. Brands are putting their best foot forward through visuals that act as a window into their ideology.