Top 5 Design Trends of 2014
This was a year full of great design, clean lines, retro inspiration and quality imagery. Check the following trends that we think dominated the visual scenario of brands in 2014, and learn what will probably stand out for 2015.
1. Flat Design
Simple and straight to the point – flat and semi-flat design were huge this year. Apple, Android and Microsoft carried it to their mobile interface design, which helped push the trend to everything else. Different from skeumorphism (realistic 3D design) this direction was everywhere, from traditional to digital media.
2. Retro Graphics
Retro design brought the best from vintage advertising and mixed modernist touches, creating a hipster vibe widely appreciated by the “Millenial” customer base (one of the largest in the United States). With this trend came vector ribbons, “grunge”-looking pieces and soft pastel colors.
3. Infographics
Because this year was so visual and mobile oriented, infographics rose strong as a way to say a lot without many words. Supported in every industry, infographics are a tool of this generation’s communication.
4. Full Screen Photography
Particularly strong in web design, the use of full screen photography provides a great shock value that many brands were interested in using. It’s a simple and straightforward way to showcase a brand in just one picture, and also makes the website much more flowy and interesting.
5. Parallax Scrolling
A very visually attractive element that involves the background moving at a slower rate than the foreground. This, in turn, creates a 3D effect as you scroll down the page. Although this effect is pretty cool, it can become overwhelming so use it sparingly and use it to emphasis accents on the page.
All of these trends focus on clean design work, straightforward communication and appeals to consumers’ need to see aesthetically pleasing visuals. So, as much as we loved 2014, we have to keep moving in this digital world. Some of the trends that we predict to be big next year are the following:
- Background movement: Along with Parallax Scrolling, one of the trends that we believe will be strong next year is the usage of video (.gif) images for backgrounds.
- Forever responsive: This was also a huge trend in for the past few years with the rise of mobile devices, but for 2015 we believe that we’ll continue on using responsive design for webpages and graphic design, since the tendency is to move towards mobile.
- Visual impact: Less word usage has been a trend for a couple of years now, it has been proved that users don’t like to read, for 2015 this trend will be even more important. Visual lifestyle, visual generation, visual design.
What do you think about our picks? Do you have another design trend that you would like to share with us?
Comment below!