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2018 Design Trends.

While others might be wondering what clothing styles will be hot this year, our creative team has its sights on design trends. As always, we’re keeping on top of color, typography, patterns, photography and illustration styles – and figuring out that fine line between short-term fads and impactful trends. Here’s what we’ve seen stand out so far for the year ahead.

SYSTEM

In 2018, we see the return of a trend called Memphis Design, which celebrates loud colors and patterns reminiscent of those in the 1980s and ’90s, dynamic type and breaking the grid. Co-existing with this trend, we see the continuation of confident and, at times, clashing color palettes as well as the use of duotones and gradients. Sturdy serif and extra-bold extended sans fonts have returned in both web and print design. Keep your eyes on brands like eBay, Spotify and Dropbox, and you’ll see these trends in action.

Potential uses (color):

• Daring color palettes to garner attention and stand out from competitors
• Gradient overlays or duotone photography treatments for hero images
• Vibrant background color floods to keep viewers visually engaged

Potential uses (type):

• Oversized headlines or key words to grab viewers’ attention
• Multi-layered type hierarchy with special attention given to supporting text
• Intermixing serif and sans serif typefaces for dynamic structure

Potential uses (grid):

• Integration of uneven and asymmetric column widths
• Unbalanced placement of visuals for visual push and pull
• Increased white space to emphasize unbalanced grid

VISUALS

Authentic photography is here to stay as cheesy stock photos continue to be shunned by society. We’ve seen a surge in the use of custom illustrations often interacting with photos or type to create dynamic and unique layouts. We’ve also seen designers continue to embrace and push the “destroyed” look and the art of creating through chaos. 2018 is the year of “more is more” as layered, split and glitch-y looks continue to reign.

Potential uses:

• Reflect changing environments with diverse and captivating visuals
• Add a hint of playfulness with illustration
• Utilize original photography to capture key demographics

UNEXPECTED DELIGHT

Storytelling will continue to be a strong trend in 2018. The evolution of the GIF, micro-interactions and animations continues to delight audiences while enriching a brand’s story. Custom hero videos on websites draw attention, and responsive sites and images carve out the trailblazers.

Potential uses:

• Enrich simple content with energetic, interactive visuals
• Craft an experience that fosters engagement by charming the viewer with surprising design elements
• Embrace whimsy through playful interactive sequences

Let’s keep the conversation going.

Connect with Fusion Hill to explore how the latest design trends could freshen up your brand. And in the meantime, visit our Insights Library.