The 24 graphic design trends that define 2024 are a mosaic of individuality with a heavy Gen Z influence, entirely new takes on maximalism (as cluttercore), 3D design (now in inflatable type), and glass effects (with reeded glass distortions), among many other creative peculiarities.
Expect to see reemerging trends like industrial grunge, doodles, and simple geometric shapes alongside this year’s oddballs: pixel display graphics, collage designs, and Barbie Pink.
This article will walk you through the specifics of the most notable graphic design trends of the year and give you plenty of inspiration to get started on your 2024 pursuit of design greatness.
Table of Contents:
- Motion Design (Layered With Interactive Elements)
- AI Graphics
- Gen Z Graphic Design
- Bento Grids and Visible Borders
- Cluttercore | The New “Flavor” of Maximalism
- Inflatable 3D Design
- Reeded Glass and Glass Distortion Effects
- Pixel Displays and Dot Graphics
- Industrial Grunge
- Bolder Minimalism
- Doodles and Line Art Illustrations
- Inclusive Design (Diverse and Accessible)
- Collage-Style Designs
- Geometric Shapes in Simple Clean Designs
- Glitch Effects and Digital Fusion Imagery
- Custom Brand Artwork (Logotypes and Illustrations)
- Vintage Typography
- Dynamic Type
- Serif Fonts
- Abstract Patterns
- Abstract Gradients
- Vibrant Fluorescent Colors
- Natural Colors and Textures
- Barbie Pink | Candy Colors
1. Motion Design (Layered With Interactive Elements)
Motion design layered with interactive elements is a graphic design trend that features the seamless integration of interactive motion design elements into web and mobile user interfaces. Digital content creators and marketers are finding new ways to take advantage of the inexhaustible, attention-grabbing nature of animated graphics. Making the graphics respond to user interactions is a definitive upgrade in terms of user experience, usability, engagement, and overall memorability of your digital creations.
Expect to see interactive motion design follow an upward trend in 2024, as there’s no longer a “skill wall” to stop anyone from creating stunning vector animation from scratch. We call out vector motion graphics in particular for a reason! They’re the most performance-friendly option, and the constraints of code writing or plugin-purgatory are non-existent when you’re using a no-code animation tool, like SVGator.
2. AI Graphics
AI graphics are a graphic design trend that features the use of artificial intelligence algorithms to generate, alter, or reimagine graphic elements. One of the reasons behind this increase in popularity has been the notable upswing in the number of AI tools that are meant to streamline the workflow of digital artists. However, AI graphics remain a divisive topic among the creative community. And with AI ethics still under debate, the promise of improved time efficiency is simply too tempting to ignore.
It’s important to note that the new realm of creativity that stems from the collaboration between human ingenuity and AI conceptualization is still in its infancy. The human experience, and the genuine realities of human existence, will forever be more impressive than anything that AI can create based on training data.
3. Gen Z Graphic Design
The Gen Z graphic design trending influence features vivid saturated colors, natural textures, collage-style typefaces, abstract gradients, and inclusive design. The visual language of Generation Z embraces the fusion of digital artwork and hand-drawn doodles, with a heavy preference for socially conscious content.
As digital natives, Gen Z are leaving a dominant footprint in the graphic design trends of 2024. The use of funny, relatable, and political messaging is how Gen Z designers are balancing the use of offbeat and gutsy design styles. We’ll be seeing a number of graphic design trends with an underlying Gen Z influence, like industrial grunge, cluttercore, and bolder minimalism.
4. Bento Grids and Visible Borders
Bento grids and visible borders are a graphic design trend that features clear and well-defined grids similar to the compartmentalized look of traditional Japanese bento boxes. When done right, this design style is not only a feast for the eyes, but it’s also a big win for easier navigation, coherent visual hierarchy, and ease of information delivery.
Popular use cases for visible borders and Bento-style grids include website designs with modular layouts that paint a clean and structured aesthetic at a glance. Designers are exploring ways of blending this foolproof structure with visually striking elements, like dynamic type. Think of this trend as a sort of contained chaos – which pretty much describes the overall creative outlook on 2024 as well.
5. Cluttercore | The New “Flavor” of Maximalism
Cluttercore is a graphic design trend that features an overflow of visual elements, much like maximalism, but in an organized aesthetic of excess. The messaging of this design style exudes personality, a culture of abundance, and a visually rich language that’s both crowded and highly curated for its audience.
There is a certain degree of juxtaposition of trending themes within Cluttercore, but its distinctive motifs are clashing textures, noisy color combinations, and excessive layering. This graphic design trend is only a few risky moves away from being synonymous with brutalism, but the truth is that it does what trending graphics do best: it seizes attention!
6. Inflatable 3D Design
Inflatable 3D design is a graphic design trend that features the simulation of inflatable objects in digital artwork. From inflatable 3D kinetic typography to bubble-like buttons and iconography, this whimsical design style is making an appearance in ads, app UIs, website layouts, and even in branding materials.
This exploration of the 3rd dimension has a general quirkiness and playfulness that’s allowing 3D design to make its comeback in a new and exciting shape. The broader direction of this trend is simply about having fun and not taking ourselves, or our designs, too seriously. The projects we’ve seen so far are (literal) head-spinners!
7. Reeded Glass and Glass Distortion Effects
Reeded glass and glass distortion effects are a graphic design trend that features a captivating play of textures, lights, and shadows on distorted glass-like elements. Expect to see the sophisticated and mysterious nostalgic touch of reeded glass effects in website backgrounds or as a way to redirect interest toward specific elements on a web page.
A part of the creative community views this trend as an “aftershock” of the Glassmorphism and Aurora UI graphic design styles that flooded artist portfolios over the last two years. The subtle waves and distortions of reeded glass effects (especially when paired with the use of animated gradients) tell a much more intriguing visual story than other glass-like design styles have told so far. The glass is only half full, so there’s much more to explore!
8. Pixel Displays and Dot Graphics
Pixel displays and dot graphics are a graphic design trend that features intentionally pixelated graphics, dot patterns, and visual compositions that give a nostalgia-filled nod to our digital past. We’re seeing pixel displays in retro-chic website designs that are reminiscent of old-school video games and mid 90’s computer graphics.
Thankfully, you can create a similar “blast from the past” design without all the performance downsides of classic bitmap images. Pixel art, especially abstract dot graphics, are easy to create using a vector graphic design tool. You can also get those “pixels” moving with SVG animation without losing any of the retro charm, and best of all, without increasing your final file’s size.
9. Industrial Grunge
Industrial grunge is a graphic design trend that features distressed textures and surfaces, metallic accents, glitch effects, unconventional kinetic typography, and other gritty aesthetic choices. While the aim is to create an unconventional online experience, industrial grunge is actually an homage to the imperfections and raw ruggedness of life outside of the digital world.
To craft a visual experience using the industrial grunge vibe, draw inspiration from decaying urban and industrial architecture and imagery. The rebellious and counter-cultural movements of the past, especially from the music industry (think album covers and concert posters) are fantastic examples of the edgy vision behind this trend.
10. Bolder Minimalism
Bolder minimalism is a graphic design trend that features the simple and clean lines of traditional minimalism, paired with bold, striking elements that are guaranteed to have a massive visual impact. The bold design attribute of this trend can come in a variety of forms, like bold color accents atop ample white space or captivating animation transitions balanced out by crisp and clean typography (like Helvetica).
This design style works beautifully with a limited color palette as the contrast between the minimalist layout and your chosen attention-grabbing element will do the heavy lifting of creating a sense of depth and movement. A peculiar brand of minimalism that’s been steadily winning designers over!
11. Doodles and Line Art Illustrations
Doodles and line art illustrations are a graphic design trend that features hand-drawn sketches and detailed line art that add a playful and bespoke touch to any type of visual media. This trend is playing a big part in humanizing brands and making digital interfaces feel a lot more friendly and approachable.
With motion design added into the mix, doodles become a human touch that can react to user interaction in real-time (i.e., self-drawing/self-erasing interactive line animation that responds to a screen tap). Vector doodles are adding a touch of magic to real-life footage, line art is simplifying complex concepts on e-learning platforms, and impressive visual storytelling is going viral on social media with the help of expressive animated doodles.
12. Inclusive Design (Diverse and Accessible)
Inclusive design that is both diverse and accessible is a trending take on graphic design that features high-contrast graphics, clear typography, alt text for images, and diverse and inclusive brand messaging, among other elements. This type of visual content is representative of all communities and designed to be accessible to all users.
We all recognize that an accessible and inclusive digital world should be the status quo. If a trend driven by socially conscious designers and developers is the impulse we need to move in the right direction, then so be it! The growing awareness around equal representation in graphic design and the commitment to make the web objectively accessible to all are trends we can all get behind.
13. Collage-Style Designs
Collage-style designs are a graphic design trend that features the creative juxtaposition of visual elements, such as raster images, clashing patterns, typography and other mismatched imagery. The resulting collage graphics exude spontaneity and playfulness and are amazing tools for digital storytelling.
Collage aesthetics are a Gen Z favorite as their online identities are just as visually rich and expressive as this design style is. With freedom to experiment with heavy compositions, striking color palettes, and unlikely overlapping themes, this graphic design trend is sure to give us heaps of memorable and eccentric artwork to enjoy in 2024.
14. Geometric Shapes in Simple Clean Designs
Geometric shapes in simple clean designs are a graphic design trend that features the use of clean lines, basic shapes, and minimalist aesthetics to create uncluttered UIs and web pages. Tech brands in particular are taking advantage of the simplicity and messaging clarity that this design style brings to the table.
You could say that this graphic design trend is the equivalent of neatly stacked building blocks: easy to work with and perfect for laying down a solid structure. To top it off, basic geometric shapes are super easy to animate and even easier to integrate into any modern website layout. This liberally simplistic style has a distinct vibe, as the graphics end up looking both open-ended and concise.
15. Glitch Effects and Digital Fusion Imagery
Glitch effects and digital fusion imagery are a graphic design trend that features glitch transitions, intentional imperfections, and overly digitized elements that are meant to create an edgy and unpredictable aesthetic. This captivating futuristic look is gaining traction in the music and entertainment industry, as well as for brand promo materials that will stop you in your tracks.
The main attention-magnet of this trend is the utter unpredictability of it all! We often associate glitches with video game Easter-egg glitches (glitches intentionally put in a video game), which are exciting to find. That’s why distorted imagery and glitch effects are likely to spark interest with ease (music to every marketer’s ears🎶).
16. Custom Brand Artwork (Logotypes and Illustrations)
Custom brand artwork is a graphic design trend that features custom logotypes, branded illustrations, and other digital artwork that’s tailored to a brand’s distinct identity and aesthetics. Going a step above the standard practice of following branding guidelines for all of their assets, this graphic design trend is all about establishing unmistakable brand recognition.
Competitive markets and an uptick in AI-generated graphics for branding purposes are the main contributing factors behind this trend. There’s a greater desire than ever to stand out from competing brands while also maintaining a cohesive brand image. The epitome of efficient branding in 2024 are custom motion graphics that integrate all your trademark assets into striking animations – on social media, in your ads, in your newsletters, in your mobile app, and more!
17. Vintage Typography
Vintage typography is a graphic design trend that features the use of vintage fonts like Lovadelic, Volkschaft, or Knight Brush, along with elaborate decorative elements and embellishments. Retro fonts tend to evoke a sense of nostalgia and are a great way for designers to give their work a timeless, sophisticated appearance.
Typography that’s reminiscent of 70’s rock concert poster designs is not the easiest 2024 design trend to pull off, but drawing inspiration from the groovy retro flat style can help. Pair vintage typography with simple lines, geometric shapes and patterns, and surrealist colors (think avocado green, sunshine yellow, and duller background colors).
18. Dynamic Type
Dynamic Type (also known as kinetic typography) is a graphic design trend that features bold, animated, and playful lettering. Moving pixelated type, collage-style typefaces, 3D inflatable logotypes, letter case mashups, and animated handwriting effects are all making an appearance in 2024’s digital artwork horizon.
Kinetic typography is becoming one area of graphic design that feels more and more like a lawless playground for adventurous designers. It is unconstrained by rules and can sometimes display as less functional, but definitely more expressive. The guidelines for shape, height, and spacing of letterforms are less etched in stone and more of a subjective choice.
19. Serif Fonts
Serif fonts are a graphic design trend that features classic and timeless font choices like Times New Roman, Didot, and Garamond, along with other typefaces that have a polished look and excellent readability. Although the Serif font trend seems to situate itself at the opposite end of the spectrum from the dynamic type trend, it’s simply a case of “different strokes for different folks.”
The small decorative strokes adorning the end of the letters are said to help guide the reader's eye along a line of text, which is a win in terms of clear communication and accessibility. Serif fonts have always been a safe option for brands that want their messaging to communicate trust and reliability.
20. Abstract Patterns
Abstract patterns are a graphic design trend that features the use of shapes, colors, and movement in artistic non-representational patterns. With no desire to reflect real-life motifs, abstract patterns are fantastic touches of uniqueness in any design context.
The latest rise in popularity of abstract patterns seems to stem from their liberal use in lifestyle and fashion media. The subgenres of this graphic design trend (abstract cubism, abstract minimalism, etc.) are seeing growths in marketability as well.
21. Abstract Gradients
Abstract gradients are a graphic design trend that features the use of abstract color transitions for website backgrounds, poster designs, and other types of digital artwork. The gradient trend wave has seen a lot of spikes in popularity during these last few years, but in 2024 it’s all about experiencing colors, textures, and patterns in an abstract and unconstrained style.
Animated gradient color transitions fit exceptionally well in this design trend. Expect to see abstract gradient animations used by tech and lifestyle brands, in product presentation pages, in page header designs, and even in typography.
22. Vibrant Fluorescent Colors
Vibrant fluorescent colors are a graphic design trend that features bright neon colors (pink, green, yellow, blue neons) and other fluorescent hues. In 2024, bold neon color palettes are demanding attention in the design sphere of the fashion industry, in entertainment media, and even overlapping with other Gen Z-inspired trends (like collage graphics).
The trend’s not limited to fluorescent light fonts, or neon stickers (which were a hit last year). Ads, social media content, and branding assets are all getting a fluorescent kick of effervescence in 2024.
23. Natural Colors and Textures
Natural colors and textures are a graphic design trend that features soft, muted hues, whimsical graphics, geometric shapes and a limited color palette, topped up with simple modern typography. The colors and textures used in this design style are reminiscent of natural elements, like linen or recyclable materials.
Think of this 2024 graphic design trend as the mildest push-back to the ultra-sleek look of rigid material design or neubrutalism. The most popular designs that have this aesthetic are uncluttered, clean, and use minimal shapes, all while still being cheerful and expressive.
24. Barbie Pink | Candy Colors
Barbie Pink and candy colors are a graphic design trend that features dopamine-boosting color choices like magenta pink (the OG Barbie Pink) and other extremely saturated hues. On the total opposite of soft aesthetics, the use of striking and arresting colors makes for some pretty avant-garde artwork.
The candy color trend is predicted to take up just as much space in the virtual realm as the “Barbie'' movie has since its release. These color palettes are perfect for when you want to come across as edgy and confident while making a strong statement.
Final Thoughts
The graphic design trends of 2024 are continuing a pattern of polar opposites (like natural colors and candy colors) coexisting in the same digital realm. The same goes for ultra-conventional Serif fonts sharing the spotlight with the much more exciting allure of dynamic typography.
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