Design trends 2021

Have you noticed the new trends in graphic design for this new year ? It is very difficult to say without turning around that a trend starts exactly where a new year begins. And because it's important to capture the subtlety of creating a graphic trend, Alidor & Associés points out for you the artistic orientations that continue as well as the new evolutions of graphic design in this year.

Design Diary

A trend that is confirmed for the new year is that of Design diary. Indeed, thanks to social media such as Instagram, a considerable number of artists and designers in the digital field rely on a daily publication of their thoughts in images, often accompanied by quotations and/or personal reflections. This is probably the ultimate guarantee of a privileged link with their audience.

Pandemic representation

As well, our new lifestyle linked to the Covid-19 pandemic has led to the emergence of a new government infographics that is working to update and educate the population on new public health measures. The creative agency in marketing and communication - Cossette has just won the Quebec government's call for tenders in 2020, valued at 45 million dollars. We then discovered a strong government communication with a minimalist computer graphics, quickly identifiable thanks to the colors of Quebec.

Representation of colored people

You are probably wondering what may have changed since the recent events of the Black Lives Matter movement in terms of the visibility given to this community through the media sphere. Well, it seems that there is indeed a significant change in mentality as reflected in this new advertisement from the German car manufacturer Audi. Marked by tolerance, the brand is emphasizing its new SUV - the Audi Q3 and its automotive research department by subtly leading us to see beyond the appearances of these super mastodons, which are, after all, super polluting...

In another style, the luxury brand Kenzo guides us to its phantasmagorical world by picking its iconic poppy, symbol par excellence of its famous Water of Light - Flower.

Disruptive graphic design

Although this is a trend that has been evident for just under five years overall. It appears that disruptive graphics, whose DNA is a priori based on the concept of Glitch to name but a few, is tending towards a significant evolution which seems to be reaching its paroxysm.

Techniques that mix the use of DTP software are now setting new standards for the disruptive design present in advertising, the film industry or even in video games.

Thunderous arrival of the Ps5 and Xbox Series X confirms this and democratizes by the same token the accessibility of 4K (Ultra HD) resolution on video game consoles. The long-awaited game Cyber Punk 2077 is the perfect symbol of the complexity of disruptive graphics and visuals combining fusion modes, bright lights, abstract shapes, speed effects, and of course the multi-layered aspect of places and costumes leading to a series of immeasurable bugs on the PS4 and on personal computers too low-powered for this kind of visually futuristic animations.

Animation on social networks

In the same way, the animation of visuals on social networks tends to expand exponentially. Creators bring their ideas to life through gifs by using software such as After effect, Cinema 4D, or Photoshop based on speed smoothing for the most part. Reminding us of films that inspired a whole generation like Matrix by the Wachowski brothers or the multidimensional world of Inception with Leonardo Di Caprio.

Post-modernism x Classic

Finally, a trend that does not go out of fashion, and that constantly pushes the limits, it is the case to say it ! It is the clever mix between a classical style (renaissance, baroque, classicism) and a more Urban-street style that continues to make emulators in the fashion world. Artistic directors willingly combine the conventional knowledge of their studies with more eclectic modern trends.

Likewise, Michelangelo's statues remain as popular as ever with the young generation of designers who love to confront them with concepts Pop-art with a view to restoring its letters of nobility to this highly technical artistic activity.