The visual trends of 2020 see the influence of technology and implications of AI spilling into traditional forms of art and design. We will see a predominance of motion, line art, gradients, and liquid abstraction, and the minimalist design trend of previous years will continue to manifest itself through muted colors and simplistic illustrations. Static and geometric elements of the past will be traded for fluid and dynamic ones.

Here are the visual trends that are dominating the graphic design space in 2020.

Organic Motion Graphics and Animations

Stop-motions, GIFs, and illustrated animations will continue to dominate throughout 2020. Although it can be a steep investment, animation is one of the most powerful ways to bring a brand to life.

The convergence of technology, art, and design has naturally led to the emergence of more organic, customized animations. As a bold form of digital noise, animations that use captivating 3D design magic will hold consumers’ attention in our modern world’s overcrowded visual space.

Here are some common animation forms we’ve seen lately:

• Flying & floating elements that defy gravity

• Motion graphics videos for e-commerce

• Custom, seamless transitions 

• Explanatory motion graphics

• Continuous animation sequences

Continuous animation sequences in particular are gaining popularity in 2020 — they push the boundaries beyond what is commonplace in design. Using seamless transitions, designers can build each scene in real-time, using elements of the current frame. Brands can essentially take their viewers on a journey, guiding them through an ever-morphing world.

In 2020 and beyond, designers will create more interactive graphics that respond to movement and grab attention. Not to mention, interactivity is a UI trend that has continued to dominate over the past few years — and it is widely relied on due to its tendency to increase user time spent on a website. Using sophisticated animations on your website can help you emphasize the unique features of your brand as well.

Isometric Design

A trend for many years now, isometric illustrations have gone through several transformations. Advanced technology has allowed isometric design to become more lifelike — with greater depth, smoother shapes, and highly realistic lights and shadows. 

Put simply, isometric design involves portraying a three-dimensional object in two dimensions. Used predominantly in web design, it is perfect for portraying technical illustrations, city scenes, and retro-inspired designs. The design style is widely popular due to the flexibility it gives designers; it can be futuristic, monochromatic, or even incorporate line art. Not to mention, isometric design is the perfect visual metaphor, giving consumers more perspectives on a subject.

Due to high-end technology and software, isometric illustrations have evolved to incorporate motion elements — which some have referenced as “motion with intent.” Apple’s landing page for its AirPods Pro does exactly that by focusing on the differentiating elements of its newest AirPods model. They realistically showcase its defining features, including the different sizes of flexible silicone tips consumers can choose from.

In order to achieve a futuristic effect, designers love to combine isometric illustrations with mystic color combinations such as purple, turquoise, and blue. Because they convey precision, cleanliness, and warmth, they work across many industries — most notably IT, medical, finance, and creative industries. 

A tip for creatives and graphic designers: Experiment with perspective, color, shading, and shadows to create remarkable, branded isometric illustrations.

Line Art

One line at a time, the line art trend is resurfacing in the graphic design world. While many designs call for complexity, the simplicity of a line drawing can often deliver the intended message in a digestible way.

Line art rose to popularity in 2018 and 2019, but it has brilliantly evolved into fully illustrated and animated patterns and designs. The look is a schematic, simplified illustration style, appearing clean, elegant, and unobtrusive. Not to mention, it’s extremely appealing as consumers are drawn to fluid shapes and deconstructed forms in constant movement. 

The trend can be incorporated into everything from memorable logos to a simplistic website design. As web designers strive to guide their users through an interface at a myriad of sizes and screen definitions, line art can help create intuitive icons and graphics.

Visual Imitation of Liquids 

Think of shapes losing their borders and geometric structures melting like butter. The so-called liquid abstract design will be one of the most eye-catching graphic design trends of 2020. 

In contrast from geometric shapes with strictly fixed edges and curves, illustrations used in graphic design have become more abstract and seemingly unintentional. Flowing shapes, which are used to visually mimic liquids, suggest creativity, agility, and movement — and they often come off as friendlier due to their lack of harsh angles. 

According to Piktochart design expert Sunarto, irregular shapes and asymmetric designs will dominate the aesthetics in 2020. Organic shapes are based in nature — think of the curving forms of trees and hills. These natural shapes are not entirely new, but lately we’ve seen them take on new forms in short motion graphic videos and 3D graphics.

Minimalism

A minimalistic approach echoes throughout all of the 2020 trends, from neutral stock imagery to flat design to muted colors palettes. Why the sudden surge in minimalist designs? 

One of the principles of design is to attract attention in 8 seconds — which is exactly what minimalism aims to do. In line with marketing’s ongoing quest for transparency and honesty, we will begin to see extra embellishments and flair stripped away. 

Brand powerhouses like Apple and Google have thrived off of minimalist approaches to design for decades. Think of Google, who presents just their logo and a search box front and center to make search queries as easy as possible. Or consider Apple, who has long preached the gospel of minimalist design with monochromatic color schemes and an abundance of white space. Both of these minimalist design approaches reject excess and ornamentation in favor of honoring clarity and legibility. 

Minimalistic logo designs have also become more prevalent — they can be incorporated into brand identity materials without being a distraction. Simple, two-dimensional illustrations and easy-to-read type are common design elements, and black textures and backgrounds will prevail this year as well. According to Shutterstock’s 2020 Creative Trends, designers will lean into black’s depth and contrast to create powerful experiences.

Muted Color Palettes

For years, we’ve seen bold, neon, and bright colors dominating the graphic design space. But this year, brands and designers are trading vivid colors for muted colors, which can be both subtle and attention-grabbing. 

This is not to say graphics are going to be less colorful — it just means dominant shades will be subdued. Think pastels or subdued earth-tone hues. Muted colors are often viewed as very authentic, which is why many large brands have started using them more for marketing purposes. Not to mention, soft color palettes can be extremely communicative. 

Take Apple, for instance, who previously used vivid colors in its marketing. They’ve transitioned to using more monochromatic color schemes, and even the new iPhone XR colors have been replaced by more muted tones. 

These subdued color choices also go back to the roots of minimalism, as we covered before. Graphic and UX designers should be especially conscious of muted colors — they are not only easier to look at than harsh colors, but they are conceptually fashionable as well.

Color Gradients

Are gradients out of style? Some of the world’s biggest brands don’t think so.

Take Spotify, who fused duotone gradients with the emotions of their playlists and over photos on their microsites. Not to mention Apple, who integrated gradients of various tones into landing pages and ads spotlighting the Phone X.

While they are often relegated to the backgrounds of images, gradients have been taking on unique, new forms. In 2020, you will likely see gradients incorporated into complex illustrations, used as a color filter, and included in simple graphics to add depth and texture. Whereas flat colors are limited, gradients let designers create something that feels new by blending colors.

The use of gradients is especially prominent in app and icon design, which could be sparked from Instagram’s logo change from a Polaroid-inspired camera to a flat icon with a sunset-colored gradient. Other brands, such as Apple Music and Tinder, have used gradients in their app icons as well.

Gradients function well to create bold statements and channel user emotions. The best way to create a pleasant gradient is to use similar hues and to stray away from conflicting colors. Adobe Color CC can help you find analogous, monochromatic, triad, complementary, compound and shade colors on a color wheel.

Heavy, Simple Fonts

From Uber to Google to Airbnb, many corporations have simplified their brand identities over the years to encompass geometric fonts rather than stylized ones. In 2020, big sans serif fonts will continue to dominate across logo, web, and print design.

Maxi typography, the art of maximizing text and making it the focal point of a design, was a dominating trend in 2019 and will continue to prevail this year. Producing maxi typography involves thickening fonts, bleeding words off the page, and splitting letters into multiple lines. A defining trait of maxi typography is that it’s always flat — meaning no gradients or 3D elements. This simplified approach helps modernize a design.

So what’s the reason for this intense simplification and surge of heavy sand serif fonts? As more and more advertising is being shifted to the web, minimalistic fonts are easier to scale and render across different formats.

Abstract and Dreamy Illustrations

Illustrations aren’t anything new, but they are crossing new boundaries in terms of their uniqueness and custom-made nature. 

While they often take a while to design, cost a lot more than stock photographs, and are difficult to scale for integration with different content types, illustrations prove to be a good investment that allow brands to stand out.

In keeping with the minimalist trend of 2020, we will see simplified illustrations prevailing across all mediums of design. The lack of detail in simple illustrations allows designers to focus more on the message they convey, rather than the design itself. They are visual interpretations that can used to portray complex processes in a straightforward way.

Companies like Mailchimp, Slack, Airbnb, and Dropbox have made flat illustrations a trend that continually gains popularity. Each brand applies their unique brand to their illustrations — while Airbnb’s illustrations are airy, bright, and lined, Slack’s illustrations are more geometric, muted, and textured.

Conclusion

As creativity and technology increasingly merge together, brands will be able to create more personalized, dynamic designs. Overall, 2020 will be a much more refined year for design — graphics will be much more fluid, soft, and clean, and motion will be used in intentional ways. The design trends of 2020 will break rules, push boundaries, and reinvent styles that were previously deemed outdated.