A closer look at the design trends experts say will drive engagement in 2023
If you work in graphic design, print or digital communications, do you make it a point to evolve your work with design trends? I don't think there's a right or wrong answer because eventually all trends come back around. You'll notice in these trends and examples — all from JukeboxPrint.com's list of 2023 Graphic Design Trends — that you've seen some of them before (peep Serif fonts, again). But do you love them or hate them? Will you choose to adopt some of the trends and incorporate them into your designs this year? Or will you stay with what's working for your brand? Perhaps you're a trendsetter and you've been following these all along. I like to look to examples like these for inspiration, especially if I have materials that haven't been freshened up in a few years.
Whether you're reading this as a designer by trade or a consumer aware of what causes you to engage with a brand, I invite you to vote in the polls under each trend, and let's define our own trends for 2023.
Expressive Typography
Unique typography elements have been trending up for the last few years, with many brands going away from imagery to instead focus on applying artistic touches to text. To do this well, you either need to have working knowledge of Adobe Illustrator, a subscription to a service like Canva or, if you're already paying for an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, Adobe Express is the tool for you! These resources make it easy to build your brand's color palette and fonts as well as create a graphic directly from an existing template.
Expressive Typography
- 0%Love it!
- 0%Hate it!
Minimal Vintage
This is one of my favorites. It combines minimalism with vintage touches as to not overpower with throwbacks and sepia color schemes. Minimal vintage pairs perfectly with companies that have a rich history, like electric cooperatives! These designs would be well-placed in publications, ads, anniversary or collector's edition items, and even social media posts.
Minimal Vintage
- Love it!
- Hate it!
Prominent Photography
Whether you are a skilled photographer or a proud stock photo user, incorporating photos into your design is one of the easiest ways to engage your audience. If you pay for an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, you already have access to thousands of stock photos. If not, you can use websites like Pixabay, where you can download royalty-free images. For those who work at larger companies, it's always best practice to incorporate photos of your own people in your advertisements, publications, social graphics, etc. Just be sure they haven't signed a do-not-publish agreement.
Prominent Photography
- Love it!
- Hate it!
Motion
Videos and animated graphics have been enjoying increased engagement on social media for a few years now, but how can we incorporate some new design elements into them? Tools like Adobe Express and Canva make it easy to pair the typography trend with motion to create graphics that are more likely to be seen in newsfeeds than static graphics. While algorithms are ever-changing, this seems to be a trend that isn’t.
Motion
- Love it!
- Hate it!
Serif Fonts
Brands like Mailchimp, Vogue and T-Mobile have stayed the course with their logos when trends began shifting toward sans serif. While it may not be wise to completely redesign your logo based on a font trend, rather, look for ways to incorporate it into your brand’s materials. Perhaps the text styling on your website can be updated, or printed publications can reflect a slight update to a new serif headline font. However you incorporate it, be sure it doesn’t stray too far from your brand’s style and that its use is consistent across platforms. If your brand doesn't currently have a style, check out my blog post, Three Steps for Unifying Your Brand.
Serif Fonts
- Love it!
- Hate it!
Bold Minimalism
I’m drawn mostly to this trend of bold minimalism, partly because brands that include a mostly pastel color palette don’t seem to stand out as much. True, they all have their place — this is just a personal observance. For my Creative Cues brand, I played around with a lighter color palette and ended up with black, white and yellow. While bolder colors fit my personality, I do love the softness of light pinks and blues. Whatever your brand’s colors, using them in bold, minimalist ways is the way to go in 2023. Think solid backgrounds with high contrasting type or graphics, like the examples above, with a simple message or call-to-action.
Bold Minimalism
- Love it!
- Hate it!
Be sure to check out Jukebox Print's extensive list of design trends for 2023, as well as credits for the examples used here. Let me know in the comments what your favorite trend is and how you plan to incorporate it into your brand's materials.
Not sure where to start? I like to start by defining my brand's style, or creating a Brand Guide. This foundation helps guide your designs and ensures consistency across a plethora of digital and print platforms. Check out my free downloadable Sample Brand Guide or purchase my Brand Guide Template! If you're still unsure, I'm happy to create one for you — see the Custom Designed Brand Kit solution, which comes with a fully-customized Brand Guide and a few pieces of collateral to kick off your official brand.
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Happy designing!
