Design Trends of 2018

Graphic design is constantly evolving and as each year comes and goes, so do trends. As the new year fast approaches, now seems a great time to look at the hotly anticipated design trends for 2018.

Modern Day Vintage and Popping Colours

Colour - Modern Day Vintage and Popping Colours
With brands like Instagram utilising strong and vibrant colour transitions to boost bold and simple designs, it comes as no surprise that other brands are taking on similar styles. 2018 is likely to see the continued resurrection of gradients and the era of flat design enhanced.

Duo-tones have also seen an exponential rise since Spotify created a colourful campaign for their playlist images. Combining contrasting colours with the texture of halftone creating a two-toned image full of energy.

Pairing bold colour transitions or duo-tone images with retro colour pallets from the 80s and 90s is on trend. It seems like a contradiction but modern day vintage is in! Combinations of punchy and pastel pinks with electric hues of blue and purple with pattern bursts continue to enhance flat designs.

Subtle Depth and Juxtaposing Elements

Layout - Subtle Depth and Juxtaposing Elements
As we move away from ultra-flat design we see the evolution of asymmetric and split page design. Using neutral space in a creative way and juxtaposing contrasting elements. Long, soft shadows lift ultra-flat towards the 2018 trend of semi-flat designs, adding a subtle depth. 

Retro and geometric pattern backgrounds are back in the mainstream as kids of the 80s and 90s gain more influence, not only in the world of design and marketing but as consumers. 

Authentic images add a personal touch, revealing real-life moments as they happen, exposing a human side to brands. A welcome and refreshing shift away from dry, staged and uninspired stock photography, which will always be prevalent. 

Integrated and Creative Typography

Typography - Integrated and Creative
Leading the way for the developing trends of 2018 is the use of creative typography. Imagination is forging the path of cropped, chaotic and intersecting typography. Removing elements of letterforms and intertwining type with imagery and graphic elements makes for a beautifully modern, but unconventional twist on design. Moving away from the norm, breaking up words and playing with unusual alignments. Bold fonts are at the forefront, adding impact and order to chaotic but eye-pleasing designs. 

This new style of interactive typography may not suit all design projects but creativity, form and function can still prevail. Composition is key. Typography combined with a strong colour palette and great layout is the perfect recipe for engaging design.

Mobile First Design

Web design - Mobile First
As static websites become a thing of the past, the way we design a responsive site is changing. Increasingly, smartphones and tablets are the primary choice for first stage browsing and for websites with a mobile majority we must rethink the key aspects of the user experience. Mobile first design is set to be a new way of thinking in 2018. Stripping back design, bringing in form and function and building up to desktop where creativity can come into play. 

As 2018 beckons, refreshing trends are revitalizing the world of graphic design and shifting focus to originality. Moving away from ultra-flat design and welcoming creative typography, eye popping colours, beautiful patterns and a new way of thinking in website design.

Get in touch and lets make 2018 the year of creativity.

7 Factors to Consider When Designing Websites

Web design is not only creative, but includes much more – from copywriting and typography to layout and graphics, coming together to create an interface that not only looks good but, one that communicates to its audience and delivers a good user experience.

A successful website project is a big task. Everyone wants their project to be successful, but this doesn’t happen magically and needs a strong plan.

1. What are your goals?

First port of call before starting work on your web design is to have a clear understanding of your business goals, or your client’s goals. What are you trying to achieve with the new website or redesign? What is the main reason or purpose of the website? Speak to your client, your manager or ask yourself what they are.

What is the function of your website? Are you selling products or services, creating entertainment or delivering information? Ask why you want the redesign: are you looking to grow the number of registrations, decrease the bounce rate or maybe increase user participation like downloads? The function will predetermine your website design and platform. Goals are equally important if you are considering redesign. 

2. Identify your audience

Knowing your audience is fundamental in how your website will look, feel and function. There are several demographics to consider that will have some effect in the design of your website, e.g. age, gender and occupation. A gaming website for a younger audience requires a different design than that of an entrepreneur. Usability is extremely important for senior and less technical audiences where small detail factors like font size and navigation should be considered.

3. What is your brand image?

Many website designers get excited about using the latest trends without considering the image they should be conveying. Glossy buttons, gradients and reflective floors may work for some websites, but they may not be right for your brand.

A few basic things to consider are colour and how you want visitors to feel when they land on the website and what emotions you want to evoke. Your design should bring to life the personality and character of your brand. Your website will have a feel that makes an impression on your visitors. Think about what that impression should be.

4. Do you have the right team in place?

If your strategy and direction is clear and you have the right team on board for the project, then trust that they will deliver. Communication throughout the website design is important so check in regularly and give feedback, ask questions, but at the same time micromanaging them isn’t necessary if you have the trust. The team will take ownership in pride of the website too and will want it to be a success.

5. Don’t expect a lot for a little

Website budgets are like a seesaw with factors like function, technicalities and design needing careful balance along with the work effort to build a successful website. The application of a budget should be common sense, but all too commonly not. Best practice is to base the budget for the website design on the value you expect to create and budget accordingly.

6. Quality takes time

Give your team sufficient time in regards to budget and timeline of your website project so they are able to complete the job the way you want it. Rushing generally means important and small steps are skipped and the website may not be the best it can be. Rushing means things will be overlooked.

7. Measure

Once your website has been designed, created and deployed, it’s time to measure your success. This is very important because until you test how well your design performs, you won’t know how effective it is in fulfilling your goals e.g. if your aim is to increase the registration numbers to your service, keep tally and measure it and see if your changes are making the impact you wanted. If your goal is to increase subscribers to your blog, check your RSS stats. If it is better user participation take note of comments or forum posts, etc.

Another way to measure the success of your new website is to ask people for their feedback. They will delight in telling you what they think and it's a great way to check you are on the right path, however, be mindful of every suggestion made – they may not be practical or relevant. Look out for regular patterns and common issues – deal with those.

Measuring website analytics is a science unto itself and beyond the scope of this article, but the important thing is you have some method of measuring in place keeping you on track of your key objectives.

Successful website projects aren’t an accident and are a result of a strong process, clear direction, a great team and much grafting and hard work.

Make the most of our latest offer and save £100 on e-shot design. Click here to view our website portfolio or e-shot portfolio.

My Useful Guide: Corporate Guidelines

When you are unsure how to use something, you normally refer to the user manual to help get better clarity. It’s no different with your branding and corporate identity. Corporate guidelines are your user manual to help set consistent communication across your business and to your customers.

Creating your corporate image is not enough. For any identity to be successful, it needs to be well managed too. Brand guidelines are designed to initiate and show employees the correct way to set and apply the brand communication across a variety of platforms and applications in a way that best supports and protects the brand.

A strong protected brand continues to build and grow value for your business. Corporate guidelines help achieve this by ensuring all employees, partners and external marketing agencies use the brand elements in the correct way at the right times. The guidelines provide the information and tools, setting the tone and standards for using brand names, logos, typefaces and other design elements in advertising (online and offline), brochures and flyers, POS, reports, newsletters, promotional items like exhibition stands, gifts, packaging and online communications.

A 2005 study by consultants Booz Allen Hamilton and Wolff Olin’s found that brand-guided companies outperform their competitors, with results that improve profitability. ⁽¹⁾

Consistency

A key factor for maintaining a good and successful corporate image is consistency - especially important for any business with multiple locations. Consistency breeds recall and recognition, supporting your brand. Guidelines give your company control over the way other people use your brand so that its visual appearance to customers and clients is always the same.

Can you imagine the confusion for your customers if the signage on the outside of your building in one city was different compared to another? Is your stationery in the one office different to an office the other side of the country? Are you consistent or lax? Hopefully, your brand and corporate communication are the same at all your branches and offices. If not, you need to consider designing and creating a set of guidelines and apply and manage them so your brand is expressed and exposed consistently.

What should you include in your corporate guidelines:

• Brand values and ethos

• Logo

• Positioning, size and clear space

• Do’s and Don’ts

• Colour palette

• Typography

If applicable:

• Images

• Copywriting and tone

• Layouts

• Templates for stationery

• Web specifications

• Co-branding

• Advertising

• Signage

To Summarise

Corporate guidelines function at two levels: firstly, they explain why your employees and distributors and agencies should use the brand to achieve business objectives and goals. Secondly, they provide practical instructions on how to use communication fundamentals consistently across the business.

TOP TIP: Don’t assume that everyone has adhered to your corporate guidelines - it is important that you have an in-house process where final artwork is checked and approved.

References:

(1) http://www.strategyand.pwc.com/media/uploads/Managing_Brands_for_Value_Creation.pdf

My Useful Guide: Professional Typography

Whether it’s serif, sans serif, script or display. Modern, traditional or somewhere in between, typography is key for great design and impact. 

With thousands of fonts to pick from, what do you need to consider to get the most out of the typography you choose?

The basics
What is typography? Essentially it is the arrangement, style and appearance of letters and numbers known as type. Typography can set the theme or tone of a particular message and can help to enhance the overall layout and design. Using the correct size, colour, leading, tracking and hierarchy can make the difference between good design and bad. 

All fonts communicate
Each font has a visual personality. Strong, dramatic, edgy, traditional, playful. Whatever it might be, choosing the right font is crucial. Pretty script fonts generally come across as soft and flowery, great for wedding invites. For a sheet metal fabricator, using a script font might not be achieving the highest impact. Big, bold fonts are maybe better suited. Decide on your main message and find a font that emphasizes it.

Create a hierarchy
Hierarchy helps guide the viewers’ eye to the most important elements. It adds interest and creates focus. If the text is all the same, not only is it boring and uninspiring but also it’s easily ignored. Break up chunks of text into main titles, subtitles and body copy. 

Size isn’t the only way of creating prominence. Find two fonts that pair up nicely and use one for titles and use the other for the bulk of the text. Pull out quotes and create features or add a splash of colour.

Legibility 
Leading, kerning and tracking are great tools and separate the good from the bad in the typography world. For those who don’t know: Leading is the space between lines of text. Kerning is the space between individual characters and tracking deals with the spacing between whole groups of characters. If text is too close together it becomes difficult to read and unsightly. Good leading provides enough white space between lines without becoming disjointed. The same can be said for tracking. Too tight or spaced out and it’s impossible to read. 

Kerning can be the difference between reading the right words and the wrong words. Although funny there have been some unfortunate mistakes when it comes to kerning. Google ‘bad kerning examples’ and you will see what we mean! Letters can begin to merge and words change meaning. A good example would be the ‘r’ and the ‘n’ of kerning, too close and it looks like ‘keming’.

Implementing all three correctly can create balance and enhance the viewers reading experience.

Size is often overlooked, but should be carefully considered. Too small and it becomes too hard to read. Too big and it’s overbearing and unnecessary. 10pt is a great starting point for brochure and flyer body copy. Don’t be afraid to go big and bold and make a statement with titles or key words. Using text as a design element can get some interesting results and make for eye-catching marketing material.

If using colour make sure there is good contrast. For example, yellow on white is not a great choice and can make text very hard to read. At the other end of the scale is too much contrast; a tint of dark grey can often sit better than pure black on white. 

Implementing clean and clear text is vital if you are to get your message across. Think about your target audience and how easy it will be for them to read. Less is always more.

Web fonts
Something else to consider are the fonts you use on your website. Ensure all of your visitors get the same experience by using a web safe font. If the font you use isn’t installed on the visitors’ computer then it will be substituted with a common one. This can effect the style and layout of your site.