Illuminating Illustration: Graphic Design Trends

Welcome to the inaugural issue of our new blog series, Design Trends. For our first issue, we have decided to focus on something near and dear to our design hearts—illustration.

Illustration has been around since cavemen first drew on walls, but it really became popular in the early 20th century as a medium for advertisements.

The invention of digital graphics programs, such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, have made using illustrations in projects even more time and cost effective. This brings us to our first trend—vector graphics.

1. Vector Graphics

Vector graphics do not pixelate like raster or bitmap graphics (jpg, gif, etc.), and they can be resized without losing image quality. They tend to have a clean, sharp-edged look to them. Vectors are ideal for logos and other graphics that need to be resized often, but they can be used for any design. We used vector graphics to create the infographic on our About page.

2. Geometric Shapes

This trend goes hand-in-hand with vector graphics. Illustrators are using geometric shapes to make simplified depictions of ideas, people, buildings, and more. This movement has also seen the reemergence of nature drawings by modernist artist Charley Harper.

3. Simple is Better

As is the trend across the board with anything “modern,” simple is better—uncluttered, a tight color palette, and as few graphics as needed.

4. Printing-inspired Graphics

Many illustrators are emulating the look of the offset or letterpress printing process. They are attempting to recreate the look of the posters from the 50s and 60s by using halftone screens and simulating transparent ink color mixing. They may even use a grunge filter and brushes to add texture and imperfections in order to make the design look aged.

5. Organic Textures

Similar to the last trend, this idea adds interest and realness to digital work. By adding the texture of old paper, wood, or even stone, you can bring depth to an otherwise flat design.