2020 Design Trends to Avoid (or Use with Extreme Caution)
Every year, designers around the world find new and exciting design trends to beat to death. Some have been mercilessly abused for decades, whereas others have just entered the scene fresh faced and dewey eyed. There is a time and place for all trends to be used, if they are used well and sparingly. For some trends, though, it’s time for us to stand up and say, “Enough! No more shall good design languish in the shadow of inadequacy. No longer shall the lives of good men and women be tarnished by subpar design!”
Well unfortunately, we can’t end all creative tyranny. But we can be aware of some of the design trends to avoid, or at least be wary of.
1. It’s time to scrap collage design
Commentary by designer Drew Todd
Gritty? Real? Authentic? Maybe if you’re Sid Vicious in the 70s, but let’s get real with each other; collage design is about on the same level as scrap booking. I think we aspire for more. If you’re new to this, collage design is essentially taking typography, photography, textures, etc., ripping them up, and arranging them in an arbitrary or meaningful way. Kind of a vague definition, I know, but so is design so get used to it. Basically, collage design is something serial killers do in their spare time. Now this is certainly a biased opinion, obviously. But there are certain pieces that have used collage in a novel way to amplify the message it conveyed.
Straight up Sex Pistols
Like I said above, if you’re Sid Vicious in the 70s, you are allowed to use collage design. Case in point… The Sex Pistols were are all about chaos and tearing down the established order, or whatever. And “God Save the Queen” absolutely crushed it. I mean, an effigy of the queen with its eyes and mouth ripped out. How much more punk metal can you get?
Slap-dash poppycock tom-foolery
Collage design can be used in a real and impactful way, but often it’s visual noise taking up space on your page and away from your brand. So unless your requesting money from someone felony style (I’m talking about a ransom note, folks), then keep it out of your brand book.
2. Distorted “Glitch” Text
Commentary by designer Silas Nelson
Over the last few years, the popularity of distorted text, or “glitch” text, has increased quite a bit. The recent resurgence of this trend can probably be attributed to the rise of popular street clothing brands like Anti Social Social Club that utilized the effect to give a sort of punk, Dadaist attitude to their clothing lines.
I’m worried about this trend mostly because it’s really easy to achieve on a technical level and could pretty easily slip into the fallacy of becoming decorative with no design purpose. Using the Liquify filter and dragging through your text may seem like a quick and easy way to add some visual interest to a design, but I could see this level of distortion becoming tired and overused very quickly.
Good vibes. Not-so-good design.
The colors in the design above really do a lot to give it some first-glance likeability, but the impact ends there. The distortion feels quick and unresolved, and it shows in the gaps left between the “E” and “S” in “Vibes,” as well as the “L” and “Y” in “Only.” In addition, the glitch effect really doesn’t speak much to the message. What does glitching text have to do with the sunshiney message of “Good Vibes Only”?
Designed by Jaded Joker
Distortion done right
The level of distortion in Jaded Joker’s “Melancholy” design here makes it work really well. The feeling of melting and the allusion of smoke work great with the message, and the repetition of the text helps tell the story better than one distorted instance of the word would have been able to.
Long story, short
The glitch text effect can be done well with just a little thought and consideration. First, make sure it makes sense for your design. What function would the “glitch” effect serve in your design? Is it just there to decorate or does it have some deeper rationale that warrants it? Second, take some time to push the distortion beyond the easily attainable. That’s probably what’s going to become overused. A bit of elbow grease goes a long way to protect your design from feeling hacky.
3. Mixed Typefaces
Commentary by designer Trais Barhaug
Mixing typefaces has been a popular trend for a while now. You may have seen it used in label design, or even on the chalkboard at your local coffee shop.
This trend got its start long ago when typesetters and printers would print with metal and wooden letters in their press. Oftentimes, they would use whatever typefaces they had lying around, and you would end up with a diverse array of typefaces on most printed pieces.
Simplicity is key
When working with type, there are a few rules that will keep you out of trouble.
Keep it simple – don’t use more than three typefaces
Establish a visual hierarchy – H1s and H2s can be different typefaces
Use the different styles from the same typeface family to create variability – bold, condensed, etc.
These three rules will help you avoid a piece that feels too busy or unbalanced, like the examples below.
While these designs are visually striking at first, the visual inconsistency of the typefaces makes for too much visual confusion.
The following examples, however, are both visually striking and simple – making them much easier for your eyes to navigate.
Moral of the story
Simplicity is key when dealing with a lot of type. For all of our sakes, use less than three typefaces. And if your project in anyway starts to look like a coffee shop chalkboard menu, please sit down and think for a moment about what you have become.