10 Graphic Design Trends You Should Know In 2021
Graphic design is one of the important things in the business world and is a supporting factor for a product. With graphic design, a business can be developed and marketed to its target market. In addition, the design can also be a benchmark for the development of the times. A designer must of course be able to see the designs that are currently booming so that their products or business can be in line with the interests of people in the world.
Graphic design in Singapore is also an important factor in determining people’s tastes. For this reason, we will provide some design trends in 2021. Check out this article until the end to find out these trends.
- Monochrome and contrasting colours
The first thing you need to know for design trends in 2021 is the use of monochrome colours with contrasting colours, as well as the tendency of bold bright colours.
As we know, lately we often see the tendency of graphic and web designers to use monochrome colour effects in the images they create. This duotone colour filter is mostly used on photos or partial elements in graphic compositions. The use of this filter certainly involves colours that tend to be bright and contrast with each other.
In addition, in terms of the use of colour for illustrations, they tend to use bold bright colours, such as neon colours. In graphic design, bright colours like this are often seen as futuristic colours that are often associated with Cyberpunk, a science fiction genre that usually depicts dark, futuristic cities, with lots of neon here and there.
- Unique and custom typography
As in previous years, the use of typography is still an important thing in graphic design. To create more modern and innovative compositions, designers will use more personalised custom typography. This trend is expected to develop in 2021.
In recent years typography has become bigger, bolder, and more expressive in ways we’ve never seen before. This proves that the composition in the text does not limit the designer to continue to experiment in finding unique typographic forms under the personalisation of the product or brand.
One thing that deserves attention is the increasingly expensive font licence prices, especially for global brands. So to personalise special fonts professionally also requires no small amount of funds. Creating a custom font for a brand or brand can be a great thing to stand out more in 2021. Custom and unique typography will be a big trend in 2021.
- Geometric Design
As one of the basic elements of graphic design, lines can also express the shape and nature of an object. Geometric lines depict objects made by humans and technology, while curved lines depict natural shapes. In 2021 it’s the combination of these two lines to create a beautiful shape that looks unreal or impossible. The designers combined the two geometric lines to create a futuristic and mysterious design.
The line design is thin, sleek, abstract, and difficult to do without the help of a computer, so it will be popular in the field of technology and branding because it can express the technology of the future. The geometric design may look simple but it takes a lot of patience and time to create a composition that can carry meaning that can be understood by the audience.
- Isometry Illustration
Who doesn’t know illustration or isometric design? Illustration or isometric design has been a trend for years and of course, this illustration has had many transformations. The isometric illustration is widely used for infographic design, presentation design, and web design. These illustrations are much liked by designers because of their ability to depict 3-dimensional objects onto 2-dimensional surfaces.
As previously explained, this illustration has undergone various transformations, but in 2021 the transformation that looks striking is the animation in the illustration. Because in 2021, the animation is everything. Illustration or isometric design develops into a very interesting visual work in the form of animation. The representation of 3-dimensional objects into 2-dimensional surfaces looks more real than before.
- Simplified Illustration
Illustration in a graphic design is also one of the important points to convey information, intent, and purpose of the work or product made. An illustration is used as a visual aspect that designers use to convey the intent and purpose of their work or product, so usually, the illustrations made are adapted to concepts and ideas to communicate messages better. When illustration becomes important, in 2021, simpler illustrations are the main choices.
Simple illustrations allow designers to focus more on the message conveyed rather than on the art or images in the work. In 2021, the illustrations used are simple.
- Collages of Drawings and Photos
A pretty interesting and creative trend that will start to be widely used in 2021 is a combination of photos and images or doodles. Doodle has started to be a fun trend in the illustration world long before it became the trend it is today. We can remember when we were still in school we often scribbled on notebooks or textbooks with doodle pictures, maybe inspired by that.
Doodling, by hand, sometimes looks abstract, untidy but keeps a personalisation from each designer. This makes doodles different from one another according to the scribbles of the designer. In 2021, designers are trying to combine photos and simple illustrations to replace parts of photos or seem to interact with photos. Similar to the trend of doodling on a memory book or a blackboard but with a much more creative portion. This trend will certainly be encountered in 2021 because it predisposes to creativity and is a great opportunity to create a unique work.
- Image and Text Masking
Images and text are two important elements in graphic design, so what if they are combined? A trend that many graphic designers in Singapore use are text masking on images. Using partial hiding of images and text will look quite modern and look more mysterious and futuristic.
Like most trends in 2021, the design is quite minimalist and simple. Using text masking can help make the design look quite minimalist without having a lot of images in that one frame. It doesn’t stop there, in 2021 designers will continue to create image compositions and text masking until they achieve the desired effect.
- Realistic 3D usage
One of the things that will be more and more booming is the use of 3D. This trend reached its peak in 2019 with various works and the use of 3D-oriented graphic designs, of course, this trend did not fade quickly. Thanks to modern technology, in 2021 we will continue to see even more amazing 3D compositions. In addition, to appear more creative, sometimes designers combine it with several other realities.
Besides the character composition in 3D, utilising modern technology allows us to take advantage of the use of 3D shapes to provide real experiences, such as icons or application buttons. It can create a user-friendly tactile experience and reduce flatness without dominating the visual aesthetic of the screen.
- Continuous Animation
Animation in 2021 is a must-do, as animation is one of the most powerful ways to market a brand or product and is becoming increasingly common in the online world.
Looping animation is an animation that becomes one of the trends in 2021. This type of animation has very smooth transitions in each scene in real-time from all the elements in the frame. This is useful for bringing the audience as if they were involved in the animation and the real world of the animation. Such animation will make the audience focus on the message in the animation and repeat it over and over again.
- Vintage Illustrations
Believe it or not, it’s hard to forget the incredible ’50s trends and the following trends can prove it. Ink illustrations with warm and earthy colours and hand-drawn, this is re-implemented by designers today in web design and graphics. It seems that in 2021, we have a blast from the past.
You can apply illustrations with watercolour shades and hand drawings like this to your work or product. Look for ways to integrate the two to create a design or work that is fresh or in line with current trends. One of the characteristics of this vintage style is the artistic and hand-drawn elements, of course, still using digital technology to make it.
So, those were 10 graphic design trends in 2021. Whether it’s good or bad or not, it’s best for you as a designer to see the current trends, markets, and opportunities. You can apply the positive aspects of this article and discard the negative parts.