“Good Design is good business” is a popular phrase, but what is good design?

There are multiple answers to this question. But most of the answers might fall under the criteria of:

Minimal

One that actually works for you

Easily recognizable

Interacts well with users

In line with current trends

Well, all the above factors are a big yes or a partial ‘not necessary’, a good design is perceived as good only when it is trendy.

So here are some Graphic design ideas, we feel will dominate in 2018. Some were already a part of 2017 trends list while others are really ‘futuristic’ types.

Graphic Design Ideas

The beauty of graphic design is, it evolves in a faster and drastic way that anything that was a peak trend in the previous year, might become less popular in the next year and almost unfamous in the following years to come. But that is not the end, the same trend might become popular again after 3-5 years.

The Louder, Brighter Look

2018 will see a considerable increase in use of bright and even bolder colors.

Even in 2017 we saw, some bold color palettes, but they were in a lesser number or we can say that they were in experimental phase for most of the designers. In 2018 these graphic design ideas of putting together odd colors which was considered unfair, will occupy a dominant place.

When use of bold colors were considered naive before, it will be trendy in 2018!

So go for it! Try different palettes and enjoy designing!

Tips for designers: Choose different palettes and do your own math before taking an inspiration.You might end up with a vibrant color combo. Websites like Choose different palettes and do your own math before taking an inspiration.You might end up with a vibrant color combo. Websites like colorhunt can help you in this process

Tips for website owners: A whooping A whooping 1.8 Billion images are uploaded to social media every day. Ensure your image stands out from the whole lot by adapting to new trends.You can do a testing with these new trends starting from your social media images. Or choose a graphic design agency that will help you get trendy quickly.

Here are some graphic design ideas for bold and louder look.

Yellow and Pink

A Surprising Rare Combination Of Pale Pink & Deep Purple

Teal Contrasted With Bright Violet To Create Stunning Visuals. A Neutral Hit Always!

Fortune Favours The Bold

Being Bold, is considered adventurous in graphic design too!

It’s not only the visual graphics that engage the user, but the correct use of typography that enables the user to visually connect to the graphic design. Isn’t that important as well?

In 2018, we predict that use of bold typography will continue to dominate the graphic design industry.

Typography blended with the appropriate graphics is a perfect visual treat for the user.

Choosing the right typography for any graphic design is a critical part, which every graphic designer should practice and master.(Yes! Experience counts here!)

Tips for designers : Some ideas we suggest are: Try multiple font combinations and different type faces.

Contrast between the fonts leads to a winning combo. But look out for qualities like Size, weight, kerning and font style.

Do not use more than 3 typefaces. Your design might look messy.

Tips for website owners: If a graphic design is visually appealing but has a bad typography, it will ruin its purpose. Be it a website, If a graphic design is visually appealing but has a bad typography, it will ruin its purpose. Be it a website, social media design or print design, encourage your designers to explore more bold typography to create a long lasting impact.

Here are some ideas and inspirations for typographies.

Geometry Keeps You In Shape

Geometric design is an interesting graphic design trend which has been there for quite some time but will gain its full momentum by the end of 2018.

Geometry designs can be used in websites and any type of graphic designs to visually convey a pattern or sequence of events.

Interestingly, geometry designs need not be the usual squares or polygons. It can also be multiple designs nested to form a cluster or smooth wavy designs that blends well with the concept.

Tips for designers: There is no hard and fast rule to use geometric shapes in your designs. Be it natural/organic shapes, square, rectangle, circle, triangle or man made (like heart, diamond etc..) choosing the right one will convey a proper message to your audience. You can mix multiple shapes like the recent memphis design concept or use concentric shapes to create a design. Then, if required, you can match the colors with the concept and pair it up with the right typography.

Tips for website owners: Shapes have meanings. When you choose shapes to build your graphic, it is equally important that you understand what the shape communicates to your audience. If you are a fan of these geometric shapes, encourage your graphic designer to do more research to find a strategy that works for you!

Get Double Exposure

This is a traditional way that photographers followed where multiple photos get exposed to one film to create a surreal effect.

This is a trend in the graphic design market for some time now and the same will continue to influence the market in a more intense way.

Tips for designers: Tutsplus gives step by step process to create your own double exposure in photoshop. You can experiment and master this effect in photoshop too. Plus, blending images with strong colors will become trendy in 2018.

Tips for website owners: These kind of images are ‘hot’ in the industry and usage of the same can make you look trendy in the market! Just give a try! You can always change if it doesn’t work for you!

Hand-Drawn Illustrations

Hand drawn illustrations will never be outdated because it is original and unique. These are everlasting graphic design trends and will continue to be for the coming years.

It’s not only the photos that are getting replaced by hand-drawn illustrations but icons and even the fonts appear better and cool once they are hand-drawn.

There are some other cool trends that we expect to entertain the graphic designers in 2018. We don’t think they will dominate, but you can see them frequently in 2018, as they are grabbing good attention.

Cinemagraphs – Moving Graphics

Instead of posting images that is static, images that have subtle animations in the background can be used to attract users.

Caution: Overdoing this will create irritation and your graphic might not perform well.

Hongkiat features some cool graphic design ideas for subtle image animations.

No Harm in Cropping

Cropping certain parts of text to make it blend with the background is also a trendy idea. This way the text looks more prominent and is highly noticeable. Here are some good graphic design ideas where you can use cropped text.

Use A Digital Paintbrush

New inventions have brought in lot of innovations to the graphic design industry. Devices like wacom, Ipad, Surface pro have aggressively invaded the digital market which enables the designers to draw hands-free on digital devices that gives stunning effects.

Softwares like Photoshop Sketch, Procreate, Penultimate, Paper… (The list is long!) have been developed for the ease of graphic designers (also aspiring graphic designers!) to create cleaner, smoother, versatile effects that we used to create with a photoshop brush.

We have sourced some digital paintbrush effects from behance, and here are some graphics from which we can take inspirations.

Summing Up Our Graphic Design Ideas & Trends for 2018

You don’t design for brands. You design for users who interact with your brand.

With all the above highlighted trends, here are some more additional tips.

Take bold decisions when it comes to color

Be flexible in Typography but don’t compromise on quality.

Try new methods like double exposure, digital paintbrush and duotones so that your graphics stay healthy in the market.

Following trends just for the sake of being trendy is wrong. If you decide to try a trend, make sure it will be appropriate for your project and audience. If you really want to try them, experiment it with your personal projects.

All the best!!

What do you think about these trends? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Also Read – Logo Design Trends 2018