New trends, tools, and styles emerge in design every year and 2023 has already seen some exciting experiments in creativity, as well as the revival of some popular forms. We caught up with our design experts—Jackie, Gaia, and Nathan—to hear about their favorite trends so far and what they think we can expect to see a lot more of in the coming year.
Rounded grids
There has been a steep emergence of rounded shape grids being used across mediums in different styles and functions. They give graphics a clean but uniquely interesting look which can be hard to achieve. We have already begun to implement these on our TerraYou platform, most recently in our Emotional Intelligence Test, as the style lends itself particularly well to the focus of the topic.
“The oval shapes remind me of windows—in this case the window into someone’s inner thoughts and feelings, which fits the concept of EQ perfectly.” – Gaia
Regular followers may also recognize the implementation of this style in TerraYou’s ‘Learning To Thrive’ booklet—an exciting new e-book that equips readers with the information and tools they need to harness their inner potential.
If you want to take your personal development into your own hands or are interested in learning more about how you can utilize the handbook, then check out our dedicated affiliate programme page.
Expressive and custom typography
The rising trend in combining expressive and custom typeface is giving typography a personality of its own and elevating it to a level where it stands out as the main agent in design.
Fonts are customized according to the message that you want to convey and are often created from scratch to convey something unique and exclusive. You can already see how our design team has curated custom typography for the TerraYou platform logo that perfectly captures the essence of the product—the flowing style of the letters representing the continuous exploration of self, and the branch-like ‘Y’ symbolizing how, by first understanding your foundation, you can grow out and flourish.
Typography can stand alone in a design and convey a lot of information beyond what is written. With these trends designers can think outside of the box in order to say a lot while writing a little:
“I believe that the medium is part of the message, and typography is fundamental in conveying that message clearly.” – Jackie
Rise of the free aesthetic
If you look closely at the trends in music—particularly album covers—you can see how designers have been influenced by particular creative waves of the time. In the late 2010s, design was structured and minimalistic, but by the beginning of the 2020s you’ll notice a shift in style, with album covers losing that coherence in structure to opt for a free (and sometimes distorted) aesthetic.
“Designers are bringing new elements, new typography, and playing with different forms of photography in their art. We’re seeing a lot more 90s nostalgia, nods to vintage designs, and 3D aspects in graphics.” – Nathan
As with music, our designers are thinking outside of the box and delivering fresh styles and personality in their work. Recently they applied the nostalgic style of 90s arcade games to perfectly complement the concept of a new ‘Game Characters’ trivia product, while tapping into an aesthetic that its target audience would recognize and respond to.