Always keeping his finger on the pulse of what is hot with design, Easil’s Art Director Kris has put together his predictions for what you’ll be seeing in graphic designs trends for 2022.
Not only does he hand over his hot tips though – he also brings the goods with his exclusive templates that can help you get started with trying any of these trends on your own graphics and keep them looking fresh, relevant, and on-trend on social media.
Over to Kris to introduce you to the emerging design trends for 2022!
#1 Design Trend for 2022 – The Art of the Collage
The ‘Collage’ [or montage] trend is definitely going to be king in 2022. It’s a fun, artistic layering of graphics, cut-out images, masked textures, and even typography that contradicts the current trends for everything minimal, and brings back energy and movement to design again….exciting!!!
Creative collages paired with bright clean backgrounds and simple bold typography always make for unique designs and can be adapted in various ways for almost any type of brand.
Get the Look
How do you make all those Images and elements work together? My trick is to begin by choosing images with similar color tones. If your images are slightly different though, it’s an easy fix! Utilize image filters and adjust the hue slider to find your color match, and make everything look cohesive.
Also, try some of these simple bold font pairings that work perfectly with this trend, as well as on-trend colors:
Learn more about creating creative collages in this video.
#2 Design Trend for 2022 – Retro Returns
We’ve seen the revival of mid-century design everywhere over the last few years and will be sure to continue as an influential design trend in 2022. With inspiration taken from the clean lines of Palm Springs architecture to the iconic photography of Slim Aarons, we can’t seem to get enough of this era.
As more vintage images become accessible we’ll see them used together with more punchy retro color palettes and typefaces that nod to the nostalgic.
Being playful and approachable, yet leaning towards sophistication, this trend really covers all the bases and cuts through the standard cookie-cutter designs we see everywhere.
Get the Look
- Use a strong retro color palette and ensure your images are greyscaled. Achieve this by applying a ‘Willow’ or ‘Inkwell’ filter to your images in Easil.
- Use the same typefaces throughout your designs and you’ll have a graphic style that you can easily build on for consistency.
- Experiment with removing the background from your images, and creating a shadow effect on them.
#3 Design Trend for 2022 – Oracle
During another crazy year of uncertainty, we may have looked to the stars for reassurance and gained a new design trend on the way.
Taking inspiration from the geometric lines and shape in anything astrological, we’re seeing this trend flourish in current online ads, social designs, and branding projects, and feel its future is very safe.
Using simple shapes and richer pastel tones this style is all tied together with distinctly structured thin overlapping lines and the use of retro graphics like Stars and suns as accents. Typography is paired back with creative serifs and signature scripts in minimal, smart layouts.
Get the look
- Experiment with using fine line graphic elements such as arches, diamonds, or even just a circle outline.
- For best results make sure the graphic is a contrasting color to the background.
- Make a duplicate layer of the graphic, and reposition the graphic copy so the lines create an overlap, or try layering rounded shapes with square edges, and filling the corners with matching fine-lined elements like stars.
Hot Tip: Structure and symmetry are key for oracle designs, so use the ‘Rulers & Guides’ tool to align your graphics and keep everything neat.
#4 Design Trend for 2022 – Gradient Textures in Type
We are seeing gradients and textures in type everywhere from print and online ads, to websites and even TV campaigns. While still loving foil textures and always very partial to a rainbow gradient we will see more subtle 3D renders being applied to key messages in typographic designs. Using clean bold fonts will be key to letting the textures shine through and bring life to any hero massaging in typographic designs.
Hot tip: Once the texture is masked into your type boost the colors by adjusting the hue, brightness, or saturation using the filters tool to make your texture pop even more!
Get the look
- Learn how to apply images to your text with this tutorial.
- Search for ‘Gradient’ images when adding to your text, but experiment with more to see what works best for your graphic style, and of course, for your brand.
- Try out the recommended textures and font combinations noted below:
#5 Design Trend for 2022 – 90’s Takeover
Not satisfied with being influenced by the other eras predicted for the year ahead?
Put on your purple overalls, gel up your flat-top, and pump up your Reeboks …..! In 2022 we will definitely see more designs influenced by the look of the ’90s. From neon glow, geometric shapes, and simple frames and patterns. The fun in all that’s pre-Y2K will be more refined this time around.
We’ll see the characteristic bright color palettes appearing in more unique combinations, and the use of icons, sticker-style graphics, and badges will be prominent. Typography will be punchy, using fonts that are less polished and more ‘human’ than the previous trends we’ve covered here.
Get the look
- Layer on the graphic elements and enhancements, and don’t be shy with color if your brand can accommodate it! If you prefer to keep things softer, pastels of the brights combined with 90’s graphic elements can work equally as well (as per our Giveaway example above).
- Try the brights suggested below and keep your fonts large and loud.
OVER TO YOU
That’s a wrap for the expected design trends for 2022, and we’ll be sure to be creating templates and graphic elements in this direction to help you along the way! Be sure to keep a lookout for our emails and in-app updates to follow what’s hot and the latest releases, or join us in our Easil All Stars Facebook group for more discussions.
