Originally published on Aurora Digital, contribution by Aimee Tuck. Full article here.
07. Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality
2020 is the future. All the movies say so. By then all the world’s ills will be solved; cities will be breathing, living structures covered in trees, and of course, we’ll have flying cars. Sadly, it’s 2019 and I don’t see all of that happening by 2020. What I do see for 2020 are some fun design trends coming down the pipe.
We’ve heard about “experience” for a while now, but in 2020, I think this will play a stronger role in marketing and design efforts than before. With the rise of Pokemon Go and now Minecraft Earth, more and more people are accepting augmented reality (AR) interaction. This opens so many doors for designers to create experiences not limited to VR or the real world. I can’t wait to see how more and more brands work AR into their strategy.
08. Make use of data
Speaking of strategy, as more and more brands learn to use available data to make informed decisions, designers will have to keep up. Over 90% of the data in the world has been generated in the past few years. 90%! [Forbes, 2018] Understanding and using that data not to drive design, but inform design is key. Using that data to help craft the story in every design is going to be more essential than ever for designers, regardless of where they are in their career path.
09. Brand values through visual design
And even more to my point on strategy, we can talk about what colors will be popular, image styling, etc., but more important than all of that is that the brand is truly represented by their visual design. It’s not just about a product or a service, but about brand values. How does a brand interact with the world? If you strip away all the bells and whistles, what does the brand hold dear? What is their “Why” for Simon Sinek fans? And how do you represent that in a visual way? Yes, the word “authentic” gets bandied around quite a bit, but for good reason. Like will attract like and brands that are “authentic” will attract an audience they can serve with minimal friction.
10. The two visual trends
Visually, what’s coming down the pipe? I’ll discuss two trends I see emerging from 2019 design in 2020.
First, while the bright, oversaturated pinks, greens, and purples aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, I do see them being paired with more natural elements. Less tech and electronics and more plants and wilderness – driven by the growing climate action movement.
Secondly, in the United States, the 2020 election will have an impact on design trends we’re already seeing. Large, bold type dominating imagery plays well with both posters and online assets. Using variations of red, white, and blue will be common, but they will be used in unexpected ways. Perhaps an almost indigo, purple-hued blue instead of the traditional dark blue as an example.
2020 is going to be an amazing year.