Design trends to avoid in 2023

Every December the design world publishes 'trends to watch' roundups. Most of them are pointing you in exactly the wrong direction. Martin Sully looks back at 2022's predictions, reflects honestly on what actually happened, and shares six design trends to actively avoid in 2023 – starting with the one that has to stop immediately: off-the-shelf Canva logos.

LINKS

Episode page: https://www.snapper.studio/episodes/design-trends-2023-ep-11

Episode 5 – When the World Zigs Zag: https://www.snapper.studio/episodes/brand-differentiation-zig-zag-ep-5

Enjoyed this episode? The best next step is a free 15-minute Vision Call with Martin. No pitch, no pressure -- just a straight conversation about where your brand is and what it needs. Book at https://clients.snapper.studio/discovery

Transcript

This is the Hot Metal Brand Podcast. I'm your host, Martin Sully, founder of Snapper Studio. Welcome back to the podcast. It's been a while. My only excuses are that I've been incredibly busy with my branding work and doing some website designs and getting sort of digging clients out of holes.

I wanted to jump on today because precisely this day last year, I put together a blog post looking at 12 trends to avoid in 2022 and why you should avoid trends as a designer and for your brand. Now, this is a really interesting look back on the year. And the year in design, because actually some of the stuff I said to avoid last year, I think actually probably happened and people avoided doing them.

So I'm going to keep the old blog on there. So if you want to go and look at it, I'll drop a link below. And I'll put in the new one as well.

So last year, design trends to avoid were eco brands dropping the eco look. Now, the reason to avoid dropping the eco look is because people have become so used to seeing that kind of eco feel -- the greens, all the sort of organic kind of colours -- that to try and drop the eco look doesn't make a lot of sense when people are actively looking for that to be a thing.

Charming Line Drawings -- I think people actively were getting more in-depth, more complex illustrations. Rather than using line drawings, they've gone and done something more complex that has a bit more character and personality.

Mischievous mascots -- I don't think these have kind of dropped out. The ones with fruit with faces on and shoes that have been illustrated to have smiley faces. I think they stuck around.

Branded memes -- memes come and go. That was something to kind of avoid just from a brand and longevity perspective. But they can work really well on social media posts.

Responsive logos -- you shouldn't avoid them, and it wasn't a new trend. Logos should be responsive. Going back to around 2007 or 2008, when smartphones started to become available, websites all of a sudden needed to be for small devices. Lots of brands rebranded or created new versions of their logos.

Simplified fonts -- I think looking at more complex fonts and custom typefaces for brands has been a massive thing that's increased.

Now, why should you avoid design trends? Designers, when they put together work, typically in the early stages of their careers, they bring their personal opinions and creativity into a project. This is how we all learn, because we need to put together portfolio pieces.

But for longevity purposes, this is why you shouldn't be looking at design trends -- because trends fade quickly. An interesting example was a friend of mine in marketing told me about a project where a design agency gently guided them towards what they hoped the project would become -- leaning them towards characteristics the design agency would like to see, as opposed to listening to the customers. So they got a beautiful facelift but behind it, all the same problems still existed.

This is why you shouldn't necessarily design with trends in mind. Because there's a risk that if you're using trends, you can sit your brand exactly where everyone else is.

Moving on to this year's trends. I've read through a bunch of blogs to see what other people are thinking. I've put together six design trends that you're going to want to avoid.

The first one, I'm calling it Piggyback Branding. With the influx of co-branding opportunities -- so your brand gets involved in, say, Are You OK Day or another one of those mental health awareness days. I have no issues getting involved in those days, but there feels like there's an emphasis on sharing your involvement. Making it work for your brand when it's somebody else's brand can be really tricky. Consider if it fits your brand's vision and the perception you're trying to make.

Number two, new colour palettes. Colour palettes are reflective of things that happen in the year sometimes. 2022 was a pretty monumental year for the royal family. Queen Elizabeth II died and the next year's coronation was due to happen. I think you're going to see an on-trend set of colour palettes that feature rich purples, goldy yellows, and probably some blues as well.

Pantone's colour of the year -- they've gone for this deep, rich, reddy purple colour. And I'm like, it's the sovereign colour palettes that I'm saying are probably going to happen. Interesting.

Third, sans serif fonts. These are the ones without all the kicks and flicks. These are still out in my opinion. If you're trying to make a statement and stand out, then I reckon you reach for your sketchbook and your pens and create custom typefaces that fit your brand. Custom fonts for your brand are a great way to open up a world of expression and create something no one else can.

Fourth, metaverse inspired designs. I'm not convinced that people are comfortable with the whole Metaverse idea, so much so that we want to try and integrate it into designs. I would just hold back on that one for the moment.

Fifth, mascots -- let's just stop the mascots. I think we've all kind of seen a lot of vintage style illustrations of mascots on a surfboard or a skateboard. I think people are kind of ready to move on. I just want to see the people behind the business.

And this one has to stop. Number six: generic off-the-shelf logos and brands. Just stop. Small businesses popped up everywhere, trying to cut through the noise with cookie cutter brands that just fell off Canva. Investing in a brand that has been professionally designed, and backs you up with a set of brand guidelines, is an absolute must do.

I will see you guys in the new year. I am taking a couple of weeks break. And I will be back with an in-person interview -- I finally managed to snag my business coach, John Marsh, to come and record an episode with me.