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20 top graphic design trends for 2020


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By Tom May 3 days ago Graphic Design  

Pro designers share their predictions for


I A Cthe coming year in graphic design.
CEPT

    
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The start of a new decade is often the signal for fresh thinking and novel approaches to come to the
fore, not least in the ever-evolving world of graphic design. So as we move from the 2010s to the
2020s, what are the emerging trends we should be keeping an eye on? 

To take the temperature of creative opinion, we’ve spoken to design professionals at all levels of the
industry to discover the trends they’ve been spotting, and the predictions they’re making. Read on
as we reveal 20 graphic design trends, covering everything from logo design to illustration, that look
set to be big in 2020.

01. Intensifying minimalism


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The Cats & Dogs weather app shows a typical example of the rising trend for at minimalism
(Image credit: Cats and Dogs Weather App)

In the latter half of the 2010s, we’ve seen minimalist, at design dominate the world of digital. And
the designers at Grady Britton believe the trend is only going to intensify as we enter the 2020s. “In
line with marketing’s ongoing quest for transparency and honesty, design will continue to strip away
extra air and embellishment and move toward a much simpler, straightforward presentation,” says
group creative director Brian Dixon. “It may even veer into intentionally un nished at times, as
believability is the priority.”

Designer Paul Levy concurs. “The ubiquity of at design, involving primary colours, simple, intuitive
two-dimensional illustrations and easy-to-read type, will continue to grow,” he predicts. And this isn't
just about aesthetics, but function too. “The main bene t of at design is in allowing users to quickly
interact with interfaces, and nd the content they're looking for.” 

But while at design owes its origins to digital, its principles have started to in uence the printed
medium as well, he adds. “Increasingly, we're seeing analogue content being broken down into a
more user-friendly hierarchy, making content relevant to the reader easier to nd," he says. "In fact
whatever the medium, at design, along with the evolving discipline of UX design, is giving graphic
designers a powerful tool to help people easily navigate content."

And while at design has a reputation for being cold and unfeeling, it needn't be so. Indeed, senior
art director Adam Murdoch believes that in 2020, “Design minimalism will shift toward the warm and
cosy, with interactive design’s white-and-light, luxury brand colour palette going warm and friendlier;
and beige, sage and pale yellow showing up more frequently.” 

02. Abstract 3D and vibrant colours


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Poster for The Tide by Droga5 (Image credit: Visuals for The Tide by Droga5)

Perhaps as a backlash against the popularity of at minimalism, we’ve seen abstract 3D forms
coming into their own over the last year. “Software updates that have democratised 3D render
technology are helping drive this trend,” notes Tamryn Kerr, associate creative director at VMLY&R.
“The stunning work produced for the Greenwich Peninsula Festival by Droga5 is a great example,
both on the posters and animated for digital. Like watching a well-designed lava lamp, a mesmerising
bubble shape moves elegantly across the screen, instantly catching your attention and drawing you
into the information piece.”

Consuela Onighi, UX designer at Illustrate Digital, is seeing similar things. “I’ve noticed that over the
past few months, most designs have created a 3D feel by combining layers of typography, images
and abstract shapes, often re ective of the company branding, to create depth,” she says. “This is
often paired with bright, vibrant colours and gradients, which I believe will become a strong trend in
the next year too.”

Alex Halfpenny, design director at Elmwood, paints a similar picture. “Neons, uorescents and bright
vibrant colours continue to be the go-to for designers to help design stand out,” he stresses.
“Favouring digital application, or special print colours, the addition of subtle gradients help colours
feel alive, and give design a youthful and future-facing, optimistic aesthetic.”

03. Type-only approaches


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Will 2020 be the year that variable fonts break through to the mainstream? (Image credit: VMLY&R)

Have you noticed how the number of designs taking a type-only approach appears to be growing? Us
too. “Finally brands are braving typographic design over photography and I expect we’ll see even
more businesses adopt this attitude in 2020,” says Emily Benwell, digital design and marketing
specialist at Liberty Marketing. 

Davide Baratta, design director at Impero, agrees. “I’ve been seeing greater use of typography and
bespoke typefaces as de ning elements in branding,” he says. As does Nazar Begen, head of project
at Crello, who notes that “designers are playing with typography more than ever, to create more
innovative and modern compositions. Artistic typography, maxi typography spilt into multiple lines,
and semi-transparent fonts forming various shapes are all on the rise.”

Simple, bold typography has been a big 2019 trend, and that's set to continue in 2020, believes Steve
Sharp, director of Fat Cow Media. “We’re nding this technique to be extremely e ective, helping
brands to deliver messages via simple, strong, singular statements,” he says. "It's a good technique
for brands that are straight-talking and to-the-point.”

Meanwhile Chris Willis, head of design at VMLY&R, feels 2020 could nally be the year of variable
fonts. “There are several high pro le designers already working in this space, so it’s poised to go
mainstream,” he says. “This technology is especially exciting in the digital space, where the
possibilities are endless.”

And Grady Britton designer Katie Larosa believes that type is only going to get more creative in this
next decade. “There’s recently been a trend to break the rules that, as designers, we never thought
you could break,” she says. “In 2020, I predict we’ll see more bold, decorative typography that pushes
conventional boundaries, and some ‘bad’ design done on purpose.”

04. Super-maximalist and ultra-minimalist


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FrameWork, the identity system Gretel created for WeWork, takes an ultra-minimal, editorial approach to type
(Image credit: WeWork)

Justin Au, designer at Gretel, has seen two divergent typographic trends grow over the last year. “On
the one hand you have a super-maximalist approach, lled with exuberant letterforms, 3D
distortion, and alternate methods of image-making such as acid graphics or collage,” he says. “An
example is the work we did for Nike By You. 

“On the other hand, there’s a return to an ultra-minimal editorial approach, driven by tiny
typographic nuances and a dedication to presentation by stripping all excess. You can see an
example of that in our design system for WeWork. I think both are successful in cutting through the
blandness of clean, geometric sans-serifs that have dominated subway walls and Instagram feeds
alike."

05. Taking GIFs to the next level


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“Something we’ve seen
consentmore and
choices at more
any time from to
by returning brands
this site. in 2019 are clever, branded animations that
bring to life messages in a fun and innovative way,” says Steve Sharp. “As GIFs grow in popularity
across social media platforms, animations have also grown in quick succession and are more
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popular in email marketing and web page design than ever before."

Mark Chatelier, executive creative director at Show


StormBrands,
purposes agrees. “We’re seeing more brands use
GIFs to o er quick and quirky responses to notable events throughout the year: look at Google’s
mini Twitter animation for Movember for example.” And he believes an alternative approach to GIFs
will begin to reshape the digital landscape in the coming year.

“Think storytelling, dynamic use of identity and content, animated mascots and brand assets that
move and interact with each other across websites and social media,” says Chatelier. “Designers can
no longer a ord to sit still. It’s time for brands to follow and explore how the popularity of the
updated GIF format can work for them. Otherwise, it’s an opportunity wasted.”

06. Multisensoral moving content


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Multiple artists collaborated on the BBC2 idents led by Superunion (Image credit: BBC2)

Still not got around to learning those motion design skills? Then 2020 would be a good time to do so,
as the discipline is increasingly in demand. “Motion design and moving images are becoming more
popular than stills,” says Davide Baratta. “There has been a rise of processing and expressions in
motion design over classic keyframe animation."

And that’s for good reason. "Brands are becoming more aware of how important good motion
design is,” says Iain Acton, head of motion design at DixonBaxi. “Not only as a tool to unify every
aspect of their design but also in further communicating their key messages. A well thought out
motion vocabulary lets you speak with a unique voice, helping you stand out in an ever-noisier
world.” 

And he stresses that motion design is no longer just about ‘animating the logo’. “Here at DixonBaxi,
motion design is a vital part of every project from day one,” says Acton. “Next year I expect to see
more projects that invite multiple artists to collaborate, as we saw earlier this year with both BBC2
and ITV. I also expect the use of code to continue to grow as people build new tools to solve creative
problems, resulting in new and exciting ideas that push design boundaries.”

Emma Newnes of B&B Studio adds that, “As our attention spans get shorter and our desire for
immediate grati cation increases, we'll see many more brands invest in moving content. As we move
into the future, brands will attempt to gain recognition for their style of motion graphic or brand
sound. Visual brand equities will transcend into kinetic equities as multi-sensorial branding takes on
a whole new literal meaning.”

07. Motion with intent


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The clever e ect on the Apple Airpods site shows there's life in scrolling transitions yet (click on the image to try them yourself)
(Image credit: Apple)

It's not just that we'll be using motion design more in 2020, but we may also be using it in di erent
ways. Kelli Miller, creative director and partner at And/Or, cites some speci c trends in motion
design right now, including “hyperreal geometric/sculptural 3D forms in plastic-y, colourful
materials, generative computational work in both 2D and 3D, illustrative character-driven narratives,
and unconventional typography animations." 

In general, she feels there’s an honest sense of playfulness and interest in how far we can push our
digital tools at the moment. "And it seems the narrative character driven animation work is a direct
response to that: it’s more crafted, human-centred work butting up against digital/computational
work.”

More broadly, Dan Healy, image and motion director at Bulletproof, feels we're seeing a shift
towards “more meaningful motion; motion with intent. This can be seen in the use of seamless
transitions, for example. And with Instagram being more and more relevant, we need to be much
more e cient with our motion."

Healy predicts that in 2020 motion design will appear in more and more digital formats, with a
consistent feel. “There will be a continuation of using mixed media, a combination of 2D and 3D
motion and cinematography. The value of sound design will play a pivotal role in brand recognition
and awareness, and with meaningful motion we can really add value. And within web design, I think
we’ll see never-ending scroll take on a new life, with clever scroll transitions like the new AirPods
website from Apple.”

08. Ingrigue overtakes legibility


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“Adaptive typography has continued to grow in popularity in 2019, as designers have found more
practical and productive uses for kinetic fonts,” says Alex Halfpenny, design director for Elmwood.
“Interest can be found in deformed letters, bespoke glyphs and disruptive typesetting, where
intrigue overtakes legibility in the design hierarchy.” 

Emily Benwell, digital design and marketing specialist for Liberty Marketing, points to the example of
Uber Move. “They developed a sans-serif typeface that has been a major player in their rebrand,
delivering their brand messaging via moving posters hyper-e ectively,” she says. And Dave Gee, co-
founder of Jam_, predicts this trend will continue in 2020. “We’re seeing much more from big brands
using moving typography as the main graphic element in creative across the web and social,” he
says. 

09. Graphical disruption


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Like it or loathe it, you can't ignore this Go Compare advert (Image credit: Go Compare)

If many areas of design in 2019 have seemed anodyne, bland and coldly functional, then hold onto
your hats; things might be about to change. “We're noticing a push towards 'graphical disruption':
grabbing attention and quite intentionally stopping you in your tracks,” reports Sarah Sanders, head
of strategic insight at Precipice Design. “In certain categories, there is a lessening of the calm,
considered and controlled colour palettes, re ned fonts and negative space that have dominated.
Instead, these are replaced with intense almost rebellious hues and juxtapositions, protest-like
repetition of messages and bold and dense use of black.”

In short, there’s a graphical sense of urgency and intensity at a level not seen for quite some time.
“It's no coincidence that this shift is happening in a time of such political, social and ecological
unrest,” argues Sanders. “Look from the bright, bold, intense clashes of the latest GoCompare print
campaign to the material of Extinction Rebellion and you will nd clear parallels. This approach won’t
be right for all products, of course, and in fact needs order and control to push against. The
question will be which brands and designers are brave enough to embrace the discord and create
something that risks being deemed o ensive or ugly.”

Social media is one factor driving this trend, believes Kelli Miller, creative director and partner at
And/Or. “We’re living in a time period where experimentation and playful mistakes have an easy and
temporal place to live on our social media feeds,” she notes. “The work is not as permanent or
labour-intensive as it once was, which makes it easier and less risky to quickly try new things. I love
that playful, punk rock spirit, it’s really fun and exciting to see what people are making.”

The positive feature of this trend is that people are not being precious with their work, but there is a
potential ipside, she adds. “ I think it’s just as important to be aware of what feels overly trendy, and
keep the parts that feel authentic and genuinely connected to an idea, let the rest of it get lost in the
feed.”

10. Backlash against Insta-perfection


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The "Beauty in Real Life" campaign for CVS features portraits of women that haven't been Photoshopped (Image credit: CVS)

Is the Instagram-inspired notion of showing idealised versions of our selves on its way out?  “Lately,
we’ve seen a huge shift in how brands are portraying people so that audiences feel a truer
connection,” says Jennie Potts, design director at B&B Studio. “In a backlash against the image-
obsessed, overly ltered sel e culture, we have seen the rise of un-retouched imagery, using real
people over models and representing truer diversity. 

“Brands are realising the power in celebrating their consumers instead of promoting just one,
outdated aesthetic," she continues. "This has been happening mostly within beauty and fashion
sectors, but I think we’ll see it expand across di erent sectors as we move into 2020.”

11. Focus on Gen Alpha


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Brands need to start thinking about Gen Alpha as a new target market (Image credit: Zhang Kaiyv/Pexels )

In case you’re not keeping up, Millennials are now approaching their forties, Generation Z are
entering their twenties, and the focus of branding experts is now starting to fall on Gen Alpha: those
born during the 2010s. “Generation Alpha are now up to nine years old,” explains Lee Hoddy,
creative partner at Conran Design Group. “But what they lack in age, they more than make up for in
in uence in the family dynamic and spending behaviour; so brands ignore them at their peril in
2020.” 

Gen Alpha interact with tech more naturally and instinctively than any previous generation, and this
will in uence brand touchpoints and micro behaviours profoundly. “Branded moments are softer,
more empathic, more ambient.  It’s subtle, it’s clever, and it’s meaningful in their day to day
activities.” 

As a result, Hoddy predicts, more brands in 2020 will move away from just using visuals to
communicate to customers. “Instead they’ll craft interface-less, designed moments that surprise and
delight to create long term brand loyalty, and if you’re lucky, adoration. The opportunity for
designers and brand guardians is massive.”

12. Organic look and feel


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Good Things Brewing Company uses simple graphics that are rich in meaning (Image credit: Good Things)

Throughout the 2010s, we’ve seen more and more brand and packaging design focus on the organic,
the calming and the natural. And right now, that trend is only heightening. “This is in response to the
precarious relationship with our ever-depleting planet coupled with increasingly digitally connected
and dissected, data-rich but time-poor lives,” says Andy Capper, creative director at Echo Brand
Design. “We all crave more openness and transparency, and we’re seeing type, colour, illustration,
packaging and product design in uenced by this.” 

He o ers some examples of what this looks like in practice. “From digital lifestyle brands like Uber
we’re seeing a softening and a simplicity, through their use of more approachable typography with
fewer capitals, more circular letterforms and clean, naturalistic icons. In recent campaigns from Nike
and Adidas, we’re seeing greater honesty to styling and photography, focusing on real individuals in
less staged environments, re ecting a desire for more one-on-one conversations.

“Natwest and Monzo, banking old and new, are embracing softer, more naturalistic colour palettes
and stripped-down illustration, a big step away from the authoritative and autocratic banking of old.
And we’re seeing technology product companies adopting aesthetics and materials that are inspired
by nature and in tune with our homes. Rather than the shiny black tech monoliths of old, soft forms
and interesting textiles are being combined. Out is the hipster world of complex ligree and
industrial masculinity for consumer brands. In are stripped back brand identities and pack graphics.
Good Things Brewing Co.'s identity by Horse Studio is a great example of a simpler presentation
that’s still rich in meaning.”
13. Action on sustainability

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The Tokyo 2020 designs are all made from discarded electronics (Image credit: Tokyo 2020)

The focus on sustainability right now isn’t just a ecting what designs look like, but the design
process itself. “More brands are trying to make a positive contribution by transitioning towards
innovative approaches to packaging, such as using recyclable or ethically sourced materials,” says
Charlie Smith, creative director at Charlie Smith Design. “The types of inks we use, the di erent
nishes we see, and the materials we specify are all contributing to a more pared-back design trend,
and this is set to gain momentum in 2020."

“The global issue of sustainability and impact on climate change is one overriding theme that runs
through all our design and production teams’ creative minds,” says Steve Austen-Brown, creative
director at Avantgarde London. “This topic resonates with all the brands we work with, and across all
design approaches. Our approach to sustainability has been key in the way we tackle 3D spatial
design. The materials, and the reuse and recycling life span of structures and environments, are also
spilling into the way we think about other design disciplines." 

Alex Halfpenny, design director at Elmwood, takes a similar view. “As designers take more
responsibility for the collateral they help create, the desire to nd sustainable materials, techniques
and nishes are at the front of mind when every new brief comes in," he says. "These include more
environmentally alternatives to things like foil blocking, dialling up premiumness while reducing
material cost, embracing natural paper stocks and simpli ed techniques.”

14. New perspectives on gender and sexuality


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This September, Barbie manufacturer Mattel released a new range of gender neutral dolls (Image credit: Mattel)

Changing attitudes to gender and sexuality are certain to have a big impact on how the industry
evolves in the year to come. “Design in 2020 will be more human focused, celebrating the bene t and
the individual compelling product attributes, rather than just who it’s for,” says Lee Hoddy. “We’ll see
even more brands moving away from the traditional ‘This is designed for a woman therefore it needs
to be pink' approach, and instead celebrate personalisation and the real person behind the product.

“Our job as designers will be more of the critical friend, challenging what’s been designed, what this
says, and why," he continues. "How brands behave and position themselves in this environment will
raise questions with consumers that could have a lasting impact on sales and pro tability.”

Take character design, for example. “We’re seeing the rise of gender-neutral characters in
advertising,” notes Davide Baratta, “which is a re ection of what is also going on in the real world,
where more and more younger people are identifying as gender-neutral.”

15. A spirit of rebellion


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The design of Dexter Navy's homepage is anything but conventional  (Image credit: Dexter Navy)

We live in chaotic times, and this is having a clear in uence on the creative industries, believes Maisie
Benson, designer at B&B Studio. “People are turning to individual activism to try and deal with the
growing sense of societal uncertainty, and we're seeing this assertive rebelliousness lter into
design,” she explains. "Verbal identity and tone of voice has never been so important, and 2019 has
seen a rise in the bold repetition of words and sentences in typography. We've also seen more
outlined type, another visual protest to the traditional rules on legibility and messaging. And brands
that attempt to replicate this aesthetic in an inauthentic way certainly feel the backlash.”

Designers are being energised by change-makers at the grassroots, and are also aware of their own
ability to shape change, she adds. “So we’re seeing fonts inspired by handwritten protest messaging
from the Berlin Wall, as well as Greta Thunburg’s handwriting.”

Curro de la Villa, creative director at 72andSunny Amsterdam, o ers a similar take. “Overall I have
the feeling that 2020 will be the year where imperfection and rawness become a more mainstream
vibe, embraced by big brands on their visual identity like never before,” he says. “While invisible
design is getting slicker and more present in functional design in the UIs of our phones, global
companies want to go the other way and look more human, adopting an unpolished and almost
punk tone of voice: it’s no longer a visual language that belongs just to small rebellious start-ups or
fashion labels."

And that's a good thing, he feels. "It gives designers a chance to experiment, almost vandalise
typefaces, use bold contrasty and unexpected layouts, absurd kerning, neon colours… all combined
in crazy ways, embracing imperfection. This is happening in almost every discipline, and I'm loving
the experimental side of it. We see it in photography: I love the messiness of Dexter Navy’s website
and its photography. We see it in editorial content: the layouts of the online articles of The New York
Times Magazine are always a beauty. And we see it in typography and 3D, such as Thom Yorke’s
latest 3D animated music video.”

16. Device dependent design 


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In a world of second-screening, people are demanding both device speci c apps and responsive websites
(Image credit: Pixabay/Pexels)

Do you develop a website that works across all devices, or make a device speci c app that only works
on one of them, such as the iPhone? Harry East, co-founder and creative director at Equals
Collective, believes that in the coming year, you’ll increasingly need to do both.

“In 2020, we’ll continue to see the chasm widen in responsive design,” he says. “Although styled
similarly, the designed experience will become fully tailored for the platform consuming it. Expect to
see websites and web apps designed with unique experiences for each format. Our experiences are
now consumed di erently depending on the way they are viewed and used. The best web
experiences will be de ned by their ability to meet this new design challenge and captivate an
audience with speci c designs matched to experiences across di erent platforms.”

17. Cause-based branding


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Absolut's 'Kiss with Pride' campaign is backed up by action: the brand has donated more than $40 million to gay and lesbian
centres such as OUTserve, OUTFEST, and God's Love We Deliver (Image credit: Absolut)

The time when brands would avoid taking a stance on social and political issues is long gone. And
that trend is only going to become more marked in 2020, believes Adam Murdoch, senior art
director at Grady Britton. “Equity-focused marketing will continue, as brands continue to show they
‘believe everyone is of equal and important value’,” he predicts. “But what will change in 2020 is
putting real funds toward actual causes behind their message.”

18. Immersive experiences


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Will tools like Spark AR raise augmented reality from gimmick to serious design tool? (Image credit: Spark AR)

We’ve been hearing this for a while, but Dave Gee is convinced that 2020 will be the year of
augmented reality. “We predict that AR and the use of immersive experiences is going to dominate
the design industry next year,” he says. Why now? “With tools like Spark AR, and the development of
phone and camera technology, it’s much easier to create professional content,” he argues. “As a
result, brands are turning to AR to increase engagements and sales.”

Mark Davis, creative director at me&dave, is singing from the same hymn sheet. “Something that’s
already made waves in design is a focus on experience, and I think 2020 will see a renaissance in this
approach," he says. "It’s about empowering the consumer to become part of the brand experience,
rather than remain a passive receiver that’s endlessly dictated to. The way to do this is by marrying
the digital with the physical. 

“Digital can’t exist in isolation,” he argues. “It needs to be integrated with a ‘real-world’ experience
seamlessly and intelligently, and brands like Burberry are masters when it comes to this kind of
experiential engagement. They recently used their WeChat site to create a parallel social event to a
signi cant launch, including live streams, forums and even virtual 360 degree tours of the physical
exhibition, which directly connected with people using personalised content.

“Obviously, few have pockets quite as deep as Burberry’s, but crack the formula and you’ve got a
blueprint for an authentic, engaging brand experience that invites people to become part of your
storymaking. The best way to sell experience is with experiences: this ethos must be at the forefront
of strategic design thinking in 2020.”

19. Making brand stories more believable


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Airbnb has raised brand storytelling to a ne art in 2020 (Image credit: Airbnb)

Storytelling has been the mainstay of branding for some years now. Yet Andy Askren, partner and
creative director at Grady Britton, believes that brands in 2020 will be under greater pressure than
ever to make those stories seem authentic and believable. 

“More brands, both old and new, will work to introduce 'roots' to their stories, any way they can,” he
predicts. “This has been coming for a while, but it's going to explode this year.” And what visual tricks
can designers use to aid this e ort? “There will be a continual looking-to-the-past for inspiration,"
Askren believes. "Heavier, rounder fonts mixed with larger, more pronounced serif fonts, saturated
colourways and design cues from the vaults will be what’s hot.” 

20. Uncertainty

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