Graphic Design Trends of 2023 for Brands

AI-generated design by Roy Burmeister

2023 is a year shaped by crises: ecological, financial, and war.  The financial crisis means people spend less so brands need to make smarter choices. The ecological crisis includes rising temperatures, pollution, and deforestation... This puts pressure on companies to take a stand for a causes and to stand by their values.  Thirdly the war in Ukraine has changed our perspective on safety. In the light of this, products and designs that provide a sense of security and nostalgia for the past are more appealing to the people. 

Design by Peter Tarka

Design trends are being shaped by the rapid development of technologies such as AI, VR sculpting and the Metaverse. This diverse variety is leading to multiple directions simultaneously. These tools are being developed at a staggering speed, lets see how they may shape the future of design.

AI design and its visual impact

2023 will continue significant advancement in AI design. Love it or hate it, use it or not, if you don't know about it, you will be left behind. AI design's evolution is one of the fastest ever seen in the design industry. What was considered new a couple of months ago, has now been improved. As a result, new AI artists will emerge and traditional artists may struggle to keep up. So if you haven't, look into the available AI tools and how they might work for you. You can use ChatGPT for text, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion for graphics.

AI-generated design by Paul Crumrine

Aesthetically expect a lot of the "uncanny valley" in design, designs that are almost, but not quite realistic. We see this in designs directly created by AI or in brutalist designs that mimic AI errors. Exposure to AI randomness and collages makes people get use to seeing bizarre and unusual designs. Additionally, maximalism, which combines visual elements and colors in bold ways, is also likely to become more popular with the help of AI.

Maximalist design by Angga Tantama

In photography, AI facilitates the creation of animated photos. It also allows the use of in-painting, where areas of a photo are filled in by AI. This can be used to fix a photo or add new elements to it. With the advancements in software such as the new version of Photoshop, editing is easier and faster than ever before, which inspires new artists to explore the medium and try its limits.

Handmade art

The need to differentiate AI creations from handmade art is a real challenge. This could be achieved through methods such as hand-signed proof, NFTs, or other forms of authentication. On the other hand, as an opposing reaction the traditional mediums such as film photography may rise in popularity. There might also be a resurgence of techniques like painting, as a way to connect with the physical world. As the world becomes increasingly busy and chaotic, nostalgia for traditional art provides a sense of calm and familiarity. "Making of" videos are already trending on social media platforms such as TikTok, showcasing the process of creating art by hand.

Handmade design by Diego Della Posta

Short form content and fictional influencers

TikTok posts and reels on Instagram and Facebook and are the dominant visual medium. The short form quick-paced video content is standard and a lot of the trends will service that. This goes both for entertainment as well as commercial ads. The length of the videos is shortening and you need to get your message out in an engaging way, if you lose the audience's attention for a second you lose them.

Design by Leo Natsume

An interesting addition is that we will see more of fictional characters creating social media and telling curated stories. The synthetic fictional influencers will gain more momentum and might cross over to the Metaverse to become local celebrities. Also people will be using Faceapp to pose as someone else online. 

Dzamira Dzafri

As Lensa opened the door to AI powered retouching of images, this will branch out and spread in 2023 and soon we might be hard pressed to find undoctored images of our friends. This will further blur the border between "real people" and online personas. Double checking whether someone is a real person or a machine will become a necessity.

Brands take Responsibility

People expect the brands to take a stance on important subjects and stand by their values. If this is not the case you might lose customers. The products are expected to be ecologically responsible and the packaging recyclable. People will hold brands responsible and may boycott unethical brands. That's why it's more important than ever to be a brand that stands for a cause.

Terracycle

A part of this responsibility will be inclusive visuals that have been a trend for the last two years, showing people of different ethnicities, ages and having different gender or sexual orientations. This is expected to spread wider and gain popularity. We might also see some gender-blender visuals of hardcore mixing up of the gender roles. 

Inclusive design by Hannah Payett

3D Metaverse fashion crosses to IRL

3D design will continue to evolve and to play around with new and impossible materials. We've seen gold and crystal in the past two years and now it's time to throw in everything else. As an outlet for this trend there will be impossible clothing collections seen in the Metaverse. Interestingly this pushes IRL clothing to incorporate crazier materials and elements like blow up plastics, mesh, see-through plastics, embossed elements and everything else you can think of. All of these materials are already out there or about to be.

Metaverse fashion by Adidas

The physical and virtual materials melt together wherever possible. We see it through 3D textures used in virtual designs. We also see it through the popularity of foil and holographic materials being used in physical objects and print design. Digitally made illustrations will include artefacts from print like, cut lines or risography mesh.

Digital design with risographic texture by Jonathan Laval

Another part of this trend is the phygital which combines the best of physical and digital features. Bringing the user something tangible with the convenience and accessibility of digital to create a better customer experience. The successful phygital strategy should be instant, connected, and engaging. Instant means immediate service that satisfies customers' needs. Connected means a two-way conversation between the customer and the company and a seamless connection between online and physical presence. Engaging means making phygital moments convenient and fun.

A good example of phygital is how RTFKT Studios and Nike, launched Cryptokicks iRL, a combination of digital and physical sneakers. The physical sneakers are limited to 19,000 pairs in 4 colors and is linked to their NFT counterparts. The physical sneakers feature advanced technology like auto-lacing, haptic feedback and AI algorithms.

Typography moves on

The primary trend in typography for 2023 is motion. With a scarcity of text, it's becoming more acceptable for type to be animated, especially for titles. In recent years, there has been a rise in unconventional fonts such as the millennium resurgence, hand-drawn squiggly letters and wide fonts. Adding motion to these fonts will prepare them for the expanding digital world.

Design by Mat Voyce

The taboo comes into conversations

A few years ago, discussing the use of ketamine, LSD, and mushrooms was taboo. Today, however, these substances are increasingly being explored as potential treatments for treating depression. This can be seen in the Netflix series "How To Change Your Mind". Mental health is a widely discussed topic on social media, with numerous videos about diagnosing and coping with mental health issues. This openness is reflected in design, with raw sketches, psychedelic visuals, and dark themes portraying the full range of human imperfections.

Design by Klarens Malluta

2023 is a transitional year, as people are still recovering from the pandemic and other events. It's challenging to summarize and there is no dominant trend as the world is clustered. We see a lot of microtrends linked to web3 and NFT aesthetics.  The metaverse is developing its infrastructure and not yet accessible to all, so the full impact has yet to be seen. Despite this, you may still get an eerie feeling that you are moving into a cartoon world.

That's what I expect from 2023, feel free to reach out to me for any questions or design and branding work.

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