Looking at Design Trends for 2019

This evening I came across an interesting Youtube video about some of the notable trends that have started to emerge into 2019. I thought this was worth looking at as their recognition suggests they are becoming prominent within the design industry and so may be beneficial to my own work.

I want to talk through some of the trends that captured my attention, as I see a variety of these when I'm looking for inspiration on Pinterest or other platforms, so it was interesting to see them presented as upcoming trends - in the sense that I genuinely really like them.

The blackness: black on black and more black, some of the examples present are really quite beautiful, and I tend to use a lot of black in my work, often unintentionally, but nevertheless it's nice to see its becoming recognised as a more elegant approach to design rather than being 'grungey' or 'emo'.

The metallics: With my newfound love of foiling I appreciate this trend entirely. The examples given look so elegant and its clear to see how much impact adding an element of 'shiny' into an outcome can have. Will definitely look at incorporating more metallic elements into my work.

The 'inked' trend is also really fascinating as I have become more familiar with my brush pen and the impressive typography it can produce, starting to use this more and more in my sketchbooks. Perhaps it could be cool to start integrating it into my actual work also? Although it has started to emerge onto my presentation boards, explore this further, where else might it be effective?

Warp speed: This trend reminds me of my typographic editorial, and the manipulation of text within it. The idea that this manipulation causes the viewer to have to engage with it for longer is really interesting and potentially a really clever tactic that could be incorporated into many aspects of design. "Movement in a static image", relates back to the emergence of moto logos, and the importance of motion within designs nowadays to remain competitive.

Although not something I see much of in my own work, the notion of 'product patterns' has a really interesting concept behind it that I'd never really considered before. Allowing an element of personal choice within the design that encourages the viewer to engage with the product. Will definitely consider this approach when looking at how different products of the same range might be expressed, and keeping an eye out when I'm out and about.

Apothecary trend: This is reminiscent of some designs I've done in the past, and also of these I have been interested in before. It is interesting to see an association drawn between this style and that of old medicine labels, as I would never have made that connection. The abundance of white space in correlation to simplistic type is really beautiful yet striking and not boring - will definitely be trying to include more of this within my own work, especially if a project is regarding packaging or editorial.

Numbers: The examples shown were used really effectively, though I am particularly interested in their use within editorial design, notably to make the layout more striking. Perhaps this is something I ought to be playing with more?

I'd like to explore these trends further in a follow up post.