A new year, a new way to look at aesthetically pleasing webpages, apps, news articles, social posts and more! In recent years design trends have become greatly anticipated news for designers and non-designers alike. 2021 is no exception and we have already seen some amazing and unique design trends emerge to take over your screen.

As you are aware, 2020 wasn’t the best. With shop closures leaving most having to take their business online, it had never been more important to stand out from the crowd. Businesses all over had to utilise their online selling space if they were to thrive in the new climate. So, having a well-designed website was a must. As well as looking good and being able to catch the attention of the user, it would also have to be just as easy to use, and that can be the difference between good design and great design.

Graphics trends can change dramatically year on year, much to the excitement of an ever-growing community that will attempt to create wonderful things with them, only to help pave the way for the next wave of design trends years after that.

We have listed a couple of our favourites below to get you up to speed:

3D Design

3D design has stood the test of time for quite a few years now. This impactful, exciting design trend has been made easier and easier with improvements and the availibility of user available technology; and it shows! Adding a simple 3D, almost Play-Doh-like character to your design can instantly catch someone’s attention and helps to create a sense of fun while telling a story.

This wonderful design trend has evolved and grown with the times. It is proven to be responsive with all devices and screen sizes. With it becoming more and more accessible to everyone, it’s hard to see this trend leaving the top spots anytime soon. 

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Glassmorphism

A design trend that’s definitely making waves in 2021 has been coined as ‘Glassmorphism’. This minimal but stunning technique gives the illusion of a frosted glass effect. Mainly used in UI (user interface) and taking the advantage of recent HD mobile screens, this trend can create an eye-popping effect you won’t forget. Designers all over create digital planes of glass and then overlay them over a coloured background highlighting the dramatic effect.

This fresh trend has piggybacked off of the 2020 (and 2021) trend, neumorphism, which has helped to create compelling wallpapers, icons, app interfaces, websites and much more!

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Typography Chaos Design

After the past year, what could be more perfect than creating chaos using typography!? This emerging design trend sees regular fonts being skewed, twisted and turned into beautiful works of art. Mainly being used for posters and adverts, it’s likely you’ll be seeing more of this trend out in the world and online. The evolution of easily accessible software to create moving images has helped this trend come into its own as movement helps turn even the most boring word into something worth looking at.

Big brands such as KFC have recently adopted this style in their branding. Filling up space in various ads with stretched fonts and moving text. As it has through many years before it, typography will thrive in 2021, and this design trend will only help it to grow.

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Voxel Art Design

Nostalgia helps birth new design trends from time to time and as mentioned before, with easier access to 3D modelling in 2021, this Voxel Art trend is born! This graphic design trend creates an intentionally low-resolution-look to a 3D design. Essentially each element of a voxel art design is created using small cubes giving it a pixelated, retro effect.

You will probably be familiar with this look in video games such as Minecraft, making it an instantly recognisable style, one that has been around for a number of years. But in 2021 this trend is taking a new and fresh turn with designers creating complex models of anything from robots to ice cream that can look incredible against simple, colourful backdrops. Perfect for any website and nostalgic consumers!

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Conclusion

It’s exciting to see so may new design trends emerge from those before them. With the ability to share what we see almost instantly, design is constantly evolving and changing. Keeping up with these trends is beneficial to help keep your online space new and up to date. 

Looking forward into 2021, we will no doubt see other design trends emerge keeping the wonderful trend cycle flowing. Watch this space.

@TechmashUK #TechmashUK