2019 Graphic Design Trends You Need to Know
In our annual trend report we present our predictions for the biggest graphic design trends for the year ahead.
These are the styles which we think you’ll see everywhere across print and web design, so it pays to get ahead and tap into these trends while you can.
From the welcome return of serif fonts to rich blue palettes, these are the trends we’re tipping to be influential in 2019.
1. Circles
If you want an edgy, trend-forward look for your poster and flyer designs in 2019, the lesson for next year is to use circles as your starting point.
This simple shape looks fantastic paired with colored gradients, like in these poster designs for Trieste Estate Summer Festival by Studio Mut.
Be playful with splitting your circle designs and bringing in different colors and textures. In this cover design by Slanted Publishers, the designers team metallic foiling with inky black and photographic images to create a Seventies-inspired look.
2. Flexible Type Logos
2019 will see brands continue to demand more from their logo designs, mainly in response to digital platforms. Flexible type-based logos, in which letters can rotate and switch position, give brands more freedom with how a logo can be used.
Whether it’s creating an animated version or adapting to limited space on an app design, these flexible type logos are going to be big news next year because of the exciting options they present for brands.
2019 graphic design ‘flexible type’ trend examples: Look to the visual identities for Agora by Graphéine and 48North by Bloc Design for flexible logo inspiration.
3. 50 Shades of Blue
If there’s one colour that’s going to dominate graphic design in 2019 it’s blue. While any shade of blue, from pale sky to deep teal will hit the spot, it’s the very strong, rich shades of blue like cobalt and indigo which are going to look the most trend-forward.
Team with neons or metallics for beautiful contrast, or pair up with coral reds like in these brand designs for Tallinn Music Week by AKU, and poster designs for the 751 International Design Festival by Zhu Chao.
4. Pictogram Logos
Icon-based logos are nothing new, but in 2019 we’ll start to see more brands adopting pictogram-style logos which express a concept or theme more symbolically. These logos are designed to work in isolation from text, which means they have to be very strong visually.
Simple silhouettes are softened to create witty animal-based designs, like in these logo designs for Co. Means Coffee by Canape Agency and for NetEase Kaola by Plus X.
5. 1930s-Inspired Illustration
If you’re a fan of vintage design, you’ll love this 1930s-inspired trend for illustration. Inspired by Soviet-era and late Art Deco poster art, designers are starting to revisit the grainy gradients and strong, abstract shapes of this era of design.
Add extra noise to your illustrations to nail the look, and bring in richer, more modern color palettes to keep the designs feeling fresh.
These advertising illustrations by Mads Berg for Orangina and season identity for Le Cargö concert hall by Murmure show how gradients and noise textures combine to create beautiful graphics with a vintage edge.
2019 vintage design trend examples:
6. Curvy Serif Typefaces
Serifs are back, big time. After decades of sans serif dominance, serifs are starting to take back the limelight. The new incarnation of spot-on serif typefaces are curvier and more organic than traditional Didot and Garamond.
Look to Art Nouveau-inspired styles to tap into this 2019 trend. They work particularly beautifully for editorial design. This brand design for London-based photographer Agnes Lloyd-Platt by Seachange Studio and magazine design for Nido by Asís show how the new curvy serifs go hand-in-hand with gorgeous photography and pared-back color palettes.
7. Experimental Type
In line with the leaning towards all things maximalist, 2019 will be the year that designers continue to push the boundaries with typography. The lesson to take away is that anything goes. Good taste and/or legibility be damned.
Warp, stretch, distort and overlay your type, like in these poster designs for Nantes-based music campus Trempolino by Murmure, to tap into the trend.
8. Rainbow Gradients
Gradients have been a huge trend this year, and designers are still finding that multi-colored backgrounds and type looks fun and optimistic. in 2019 the trend takes on a retro spirit with a spectrum of rainbow colors. Be inspired by the rainbow iridescence of petrol to really nail this style.
For extra brownie points incorporate metallic print textures, like in this visual identity for Cadabra by byHAUS Studio.
9. Bauhaus Revisited
Germany is celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the founding of the world-famous Bauhaus school in 2019. While Berlin will be hosting a centenary event next year, graphic designers will also find fresh inspiration in the Bauhaus movement for their designs.
Look to primary color palettes, Brutalist-inspired styling and modernist fonts to give your layouts a Bauhaus-worthy look.
10. Margins Be Gone
Throw the grid rules you know out the window. Next year, experimental type (see Trend 7, above) goes hand-in-hand with a playful dismissal of margins.
Allow your type to overlap the trim edge, like in these business card designs for ArchitectsEAT by Hue Studio.
Or push your text to the very fringes of your poster layouts, like in these designs for Théâtre de Quat’Sous by Maxime David.
