In this blog, we will talk about the visual design trends that have been showing the most promising future for this year. The 2023 visual design trends set to make a stir in the year ahead include flared fonts, the metaverse, and photographic branding. A generally futuristic mood is setting the tone for 2023, with dark mode websites, liquid gradients, and sci-fi logos tapping into the forward-thinking theme.
It is true that as we move further away from the pandemic, designers are seeking to look ahead with innovative approaches to branding, print, and digital design. The design trends for 2023 are set to show creativity at its most uncontrolled in years, with a particular digital and futurist feel to logos, apps, and brand essences. Font trends in 2023 will also play a starring role as the keystone to brand identities, with distorted type and condensed fonts bringing a remarkable personality to projects.
A year is a long time in the visual design world. Some styles come and go while others evolve. Tried and true methods make way for new technologies, and what was popular a decade ago will probably look dated today.
The Most Promising Trends for Visual Design in 2023
In this section, we will proceed to show you all the trends for visual design for this year, so read them along if you are looking for inspiration for your next projects.
1. Rich Jewel Colours
We are starting to move away from the brash neons of the late 2010s as well as the putty colours of the early 2020s, and enter a much more interesting and stylish era for colour in visual design. This 2023 design trend encourages designers to explore the paintbox with more creativity and honesty.
While neons served an attention-grabbing purpose on early apps and neutrals delivered a calming palette in the wake of the pandemic, the new rich jewel colours of 2023 are infinitely more elegant, tonal and desirable. They are inspired by 1930s palettes, rich crimson, burnt orange, forest green or powdery lavender allowing the colour to do the talking for advertising, websites and packaging. These are colours you want to envelop yourself in, with a cosseting and indulgent quality that makes them the ideal match for high-end branding or luxury packaging design.
2. Distorted Type
It is not just ligatured that tie together traditional font styles; ligatures that knot, melt or fade into oblivion make this trend one of 2023's quirkiest font trends. This 2023 design trend prompts viewers to take a second look, and taps into the Metaverse trend, giving your designs a fractured reality. There is a growing field of existing distorted fonts available for ready-made twisted type, such as Cobya or experiment with distorting conventional fonts by stretching letterforms or melting sentences into disappearing opacities.
3. Liquid Gradients
Molten and passive, liquid gradients are the latest form to give a spin on the long-running gradient colour trend. Whether shiny and oily or given an artsy edge with painterly texture, liquid gradients feel more independent than their perfectly blended predecessors and translate effortlessly from static to animated. These artful colour effects give instant interest to packaging and backgrounds, or why not lend logos and websites a sci-fi spin by dipping typography into a liquid gradient effect?
4. Metaverse
With leading tech companies backing the metaverse to be the next incarnation of the internet, it would seem we are not far away from being able to interact with others in this VR-created online world. In 2023, the metaverse buzz is only set to move forward, and with NFTs, VR games and even AI fashion models filtering into the popular cultural psyche, visual design is likely to take cues from this futuristic cultural trend.
A creative interpretation of the metaverse will be conjured up with futuristic styling, including sci-fi typography, 3D avatar illustrations and Matrix-style black and neon colour palettes. Give photography a glitch-style effect to mimic a mysterious deep fake mood or use dark mode designs for print and websites to make them feel more virtually immersive.
5. Sci-Fi Logos
Given that more brands are looking towards a post-pandemic future marked by climate change and ever-evolving technology, it is no surprise that we are going to see brand identities with a distinctly futuristic flavour arising in 2023. For businesses, there is an advantage in embracing a futuristic approach to branding. With consumers now actively seeking out sustainable, all-electric or tech-innovative products, brands that appear to be lightyears ahead of opponents will have a strong foothold in the eco- and tech-conscious markets of the near future.
6. Expressive Typography
Typography is one of the most important elements of visual design. While the text is mainly used to convey a message, designers are pushing the limits on how far they can go to put some extra character into those letterforms. In 2023, accessible font creation software like Glyphs means anyone can create their font with ease. This has resulted in an influx of rule-breaking fonts to select from. Whether you are looking for a font to add some personality to your designs or want to make a statement, there is certain to be a quirky font that fits the bill.
7. 3D Design
3D artwork software has come a long way in the last few years. Tools like Cinema 4D and even the latest updates from Adobe are making it viable to dip your toes into the 3D world and start making your three-dimensional artwork. And while it was all about realistic proportions last year, artists pushing the boundaries of what is possible with 3D design. You should keep in mind, though, that 3D design does not have to be limited to digital artwork. You can also use it for product design, architecture and even illustrations.
Bottom Line
Here are all the most popular trends for visual design this year, so if you are looking forward to a great year in your design career, then you will not pass on these trends.
