Relatively belong to the design scene, I have been collecting articles of a few creative personalities to share their take on what they predict to be the more prominent design trends for 2010. These designers/developers are all from different spectrums of the design pool and bring their own unique theories to the discussion.
Fabio Sasso | ABDUZEEDO
It is hard to predict what will be the biggest design trend of 2010. We’ve been seeing so many great images and very different styles, however I believe that the 80’s color scheme and style will still be very strong, combined with illustrations such as the work of Surround and the Rayban posters by Clubmaster. I’ve also been seeing a lot of amazing work mixing illustrations with textures like the web design work of Mike Kus and Megan Fisher. As those two designers were speakers at the Future of Web Design and also work for very cool and influential companies in the web design field I believe they will have a bit of an influence.
David Airey | LOGO DESIGN LOVE
I think there’ll be a widening range of design costs, with the higher end growing increasingly exorbitant, and the lower end attracting a ton more hobbyists submitting Photoshop ‘logos’ for free. The basis for my theory? It’s started already
Chris Spooner | SPOON GRAPHICS | LINE 25
In web design I think there will be a further shift towards bringing together inspiration from traditional print design into website designs. By this I think the use of grid layouts will continue to be popular, but move into designing the content of the site, as well as the overall site structure. Imagine the design of magazines and brochures, where the images and text content interact with each other to create great looking layouts. In web design the design of the content is usually overlooked after the initial styling of paragraphs and heading, but I think this will progress to give more unique content layouts than the traditional blocks of text, separated by headings
Lee Munroe
I think the biggest design trend for 2010 will be sites taking layout and design inspiration from print. Obviously print design has been around a lot longer than the web so print designers have had a lot longer to perfect it, where as web design is always slightly experimental, so I think web designers are gradually pushing towards what successful print designers have always done. This includes lots of whitespace, large type, use of a grid and clear hierarchy of elements. A recent post of mine on typography inspired websites reflects this growing trend
Veerle Pieters
Difficult question to answer to be honest since I’m not really a visionary designer. I’m not really following trends and just do my *own* thing. I don’t really believe that one shouldn’t do certain design styles anymore because they are no longer *hot*. In my humble opinion it all depends on how you apply it. To answer your question I believe that 2010 will mark the return of brighter colorful designs. In terms of style we will have to see if Snow Leopard has a new interface, if that will be the case it will influence design on the web
Selvin Ortiz
In the last year I have seen many of my colleagues (mostly web designers) expand their skill set by studying web development related technologies. Though the move hasn’t been easy, most of them are finding their new acquired skills a valuable asset to compete in the professional market. According to many job outlook websites, graphic design jobs are expected to increase by approximately (10% by 2016) and is one of the fastest growing careers in United States. Web development on the other hand is expected to increase by approximately (30% by 2016) mainly because of the widespread use of web applications on the internet, kiosks, mobile devices, etc. While researching this article I found very little information to support my theory but I would like to share my take on the subject anyway! As new companies come to life and established companies expand, the need for web developers will increase and I expect the move from designer to developer to become a trend.
Graphic designers need to have knowledge and be proficient in many areas of design including visual communication, typography, symbols, color, page layout, sketching, design software, etc. It goes without saying that a designer should have a good understanding of printing requirements as well as knowledge of importing and exporting capabilities and available file formats. Web developers should at least have a sound foundation in html, css, javascript and one or more server side scripting languages such as PHP and Ruby. However, for a web developer that’s just the beginning. We still have to get familiar with 3rd party libraries like prototype, mootools, jquery and many others. We also need to learn how to use 3rd party frameworks like zend, symfony and cakephp as well as learn how to take advantage of content management systems (cms) like wordpress and joomla! For both designers and developers, formal education is very important but a desire to continue learning and exploring is a must. Many graphic designers working in professional environments are niche designers, meaning… they focus in one or two areas such as UI design, logo design, etc. There’s also the freelance designer which often performs many tasks such as print design, web design, logo design, etc.
I think the number one reason for designers to try to make the move is demand, I have many designer friends who often refer some of their clients to me for web development work.
Another reason is plagiarism, designers are being ripped off by other less gifted designers or purely unethical individuals. There’s also a better chance to move up if you posses the right web development skills. While there are many obstacles for designers to overcome before becoming a proficient web developer, the decision to do so can be very rewarding! It is no secret that there are hundreds of so called web developers popping up on the web, they read a few tutorials, customize a wordpress theme and they called themselves developers. Please don’t be one of those! But really… this is not about convincing you to become a web developer, this is about trends, predictions and sharing once’s personal insight about the environments we’re exposed to! So, I think that by next year will see a lot of designers at least exploring the possibility of taking some web development courses or doing some heavy reading on the subject. Please remember a web developer’s most important job is to stay up to date with technology changes that happen almost over night and staying current with accepted standards and best practices
Grant Friedman | COLORBURNED
I would say that retro design will probably be around for a while and may even be bigger in 2010 than it is now.
Greg Grigoriou | VAN PAUL
2009 is year proving to be the year of the corporate rebrand as both consumers and businesses are faced with the challenge of offering more for less. As customers scale back on consumption, brands will have to position themselves with the ability to offer simple, high value services that deliver more bang for the buck. This means that for most brands, a less is more approach will be inevitable. We’ve already seen the "change" and "hope" campaign from Barack Obama have quite an influence in the design decisions made by behemoths like Pepsi and Starbucks, but i believe the trickle down of this rapid change in consumer priorities will be seen amongst more and more small to medium sized businesses through 2010. This will equate to simple, fresh color palettes, simplicity, and clear concise messages across all mediums. On the web, wordpress and CSS design is already echoing this trend.
Great examples of this kind of design can be seen in the Truvia design from Pentagram and in the latest Walmart logo from Lipincott.
On a more sobering negative note, I’m seeing troubling growth of crowd sourced design in 2010. While there is no doubt that crowd sourcing represents great value to the buyer, the overall quality and individuality being expressed by these kinds of designs is shockingly poor. It seems as though too many starup businesses are failing to see the importance of allocating nominal funds towards identity, and i see this trend continuing through 2010. This marks a good opportunity for designers who can provide highly unique textural and illustrative designs to set themselves apart from the masses. A powerful portfolio and excellent communication skills are now a must for any new designer who hopes to gain a footing in this kind of marketplace
Angie Bowen | ARBENTING
My main area of focus is web design and I think that for 2010 we’re going to see more personalization in design. I think this will include seeing more hand drawn and collage elements and copywriting from a 1st person perspective. All things that will make the reader feel more of a personal connection to the face of the site. I base this on the number sites tending toward this trend and the response they have been getting. Some visual examples to support my theory Dan Whittaker Creative and Creative Binge
Anthony Hortin | MADDISON DESIGNS
Recently I’ve seen an increase in the number of clean, uncluttered websites. I think this trend is going to continue into 2010 as people try to simplify their site designs. There’s a lot more emphasis now on site usability and creating sites that are minimalist in design and easy to navigate (perfect use of CSS and a grid based layout). More and more people are starting to realise now, how important it is for their ‘end user’ to be able to navigate around their site easily. The main focus of these types of design is to communicate with your target audience. Your audience is not interested in seeing how much imagery and flashy bells and whistles you can cram onto your web page. They’ve come to you for one reason, to find out what you can do for them. Having a site that is clean, uncluttered and usable allows you to put your content first and foremost, which in turn allows you to get your message across. Some visual examples of clean, uncluttered websites to support my theory are Digital Mash, Fresh View and Brad Colbow.
Source: Little Box of Ideas
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