Graphic Design Trends Your Business Shouldn’t Invest In
Does your business seem modern and up-to-date on current trends? Which ones are important to implement and what should you ignore as a fad? Spending money on graphic design is a vital part of growing your brand image. However, knowing when to invest in something and when not to can make a difference in how fast your company grows.
Also read: Best Graphic Design Blogs
IBISWorld reports the size of the graphic design market is $12.7 billion, with a growth rate of about 2.5% annually. As with any large industry, people try their best to innovate and introduce new styles and ideas. Some of those new elements advance business marketing and some fall flat.
How do you know which trends to invest hard-earned dollars in and which ones to ignore? Part of the equation is trial and error. Thankfully, there are some rules of thumb that can help you decide.
Avoid These Trends
First, let’s look at some trends you should ignore. Avoiding these trends keeps you from throwing away marketing dollars you could spend more wisely. Put your money behind other things first and consider these as add-ons if you truly must utilize them.
Gradients.
Visually, we all love the way a beautiful gradient appears. It adds interest to the page and can even draw the user’s eye toward specific elements. However, the best-designed sites are simple and don’t invest in a ton of extras.
Save the gradients for the occasional ad or banner. There’s no need to implement it into your permanent designs. It’s also likely they’ll lose favor once people get tired of seeing gradient after gradient in web designs.
Stock Images.
There’s nothing worse than spending hours seeking out the perfect royalty-free image only to find your competitor uses the same photo. Whenever possible, use unique photographs rather than stock ones. Of course, there are times when you can’t afford to hire a professional to snap your shots.
When you must use stock images, have your graphic designer adapt them in some way. Swap out the background, make a collage, and overlay some text and filters. Make it as unique as possible to your brand style.
Muted Colors.
For several years, muted colors made a sweep throughout the digital design world. However, they are starting to take a backseat to bolder, brighter options.
Younger generations spend an average of between six and nine hours online each day. If you want to cut through the noise, you have to grab their attention. Drab, dull colors aren’t going to get the results you want.
However, don’t overwhelm the user either. There should be a balance between pops of bold color and neutral choices.
Helvetica Font.
Helvetica is a nice, simple font that looks beautiful online. Unfortunately, it is also a font that new designers and even pros return to time and time again. Being the most popular font makes it a bit overused.
Rather than turning to Helvetica for all your needs, try out a variety of serif and sans-serif fonts. Be aware that Google fonts are made to work with popular browsers such as Chrome and may be an excellent choice for your site.
Invest in These Graphic Designs Instead
Now that you know a few things to avoid with design trends, what are some things you should invest in this year?
Windows Graphics.
Don’t put all your eggs into the digital world. Invest in real-world graphic design trends too, such as window vinyl decals. You can add window graphics to your storefront, on the windows of your vehicles, and even inside your store on plexiglass and other dividers.
Window graphics are an excellent graphic design investment because they are inexpensive and easy to change with the seasons.
Logo.
Your logo is the face of your brand. It appears in everything you do. Your logo is on your storefront, your product packaging, your website, and your social media pages. A lackluster logo doesn’t represent your company well.
Spend money on a logo redesign. Make sure the image reflects what you stand for. Consumers should know by glancing at it what type of industry you’re in. Pay attention to elements such as the color of the logo and whether it reflects the personality of your brand.
Read more about: Creating Business Logo
Your color palette is vital to the success of your marketing. Different colors elicit various emotions from users. Know what emotions your main color evokes and use it to garner a response from leads.
Animation.
With the availability of 5G and faster internet speeds, many brands have started to add animations to their websites and online ads. You can use tools such as Canva to design an animated ad that pans in on a product.
You can also use animation to grab visitors’ attention when they land on your page, show movement from one area to another, or point the way through the buyer’s journey. Think about the end goal you want to accomplish. How does the animation achieve your objective?
A professional designer can work with you to ensure any investment in animations keeps your goals in mind and moves users toward an action.
Know Who You Are
Pay attention to the latest design trends. Some things align with changes in technology, such as including voice search features or animating elements on your page. Knowing who you are as a brand and what your purpose is allows you to embrace the trends your users will respond to and ignore the ones that don’t make a difference.
Final Words:
So, What are your strategies now on investment in graphic design trends?
Were you already aware of these strategies? Or, Are you happy with the excellent new tips you got from this awesome post? I am sure you have gained a lot of knowledge from this aricle. And you will come up with some excellent plans for your company’s’ approach towards its branding and designing and managing expenses.
If not, don’t hesitate to share your feedback and suggestions in the comments below.
Cheers!
