The Scoop on Trends: 2022 Design Trends You’ll See on Squarespace and Social
I know y’all remember watercolor logos or the great blobbening of 2019. We all got really into it there for a minute.
Trends are a part of design. You’ll see arches, textures, watercolor, retro items, collages, different fonts, all go in and out of trend dozens of times.
Read through to find out how to tell what’s trending now, a couple of common trends, and what to look out for when using trends in your designs, brands, and marketing!
First of all:
Trends are neither good nor bad
Just because something is trending, doesn’t make that automatically good or bad. Ultimately, your brand should embrace three main pillars: audience, goals, and you. So if something feels like you, then use it.
You may remember a little drama last year where Gen Z kind of, came for millennials for their signature style elements: a side part and skinny jeans. Lots of millennials on TikTok strongly defended what has become a way of life, eschewing the Gen Z preferences of baggy pants and a middle part. Who’s right? Neither! Both! Especially with fashion, we are constantly making choices of wearing things that are comfortable and stylish but also feel like us--that’s the key! So just because I am not giving up my skinny jeans doesn’t mean another thirty-something isn’t absolutely elated to start parting her hair in the middle. (Honestly, it’s kind of cute?) While trends are often based in time and can be generational, they are, at the root, neutral and flexible--and constantly changing!
What’s trending right now:
Gradients
Yes, the same thing you used in a PowerPoint presentation in 2002, but upgraded to modern, sophisticated design. Gradients can add incredible depth and texture to your overall brand, and can be a total workhorse in your brand’s design toolbox. Best of all, gradients are easier than ever to implement due to their availability and tools like Canva.
Bold retro fonts
These give an instant shop of nostalgia for some of the most iconic looks and moods of the 20th century - think 1970s rounded and groovy, to 1960s mod furniture and The Jetsons. They seem to be capturing our mood right now, but let’s face it: going back to the past continues to be where we find inspiration for the next design trend.
Old school shapes
The ‘90s are back, even if for some of us it feels like yesterday and we’re still uncomfortable with the return of Mom Jeans. But design-wise, this means old school shapes: think 1990s, pixleated, internet browser shapes. Think the Save, Print, and Trash icons in vintage Microsoft Word. Icons so iconic they remain in beloved use despite long becoming obsolete (the Save icon is and shall always remain a floppy disk).
Dreamy textures
You might best understand these as inspired by the cosmos, starry skies, the exploding colors in a kaleidoscope. Given the rise in spiritual, new age, and astrology-aligned products and services of the past half-decade, textures like these have become a super important part of not only those businesses, but in larger trends in design.
Geometric lines
You may think, lines, really? Are lines every not in trend? How is a line trendy? Well, those of you who have been on the internet a long time may recall early Instagram days (waaaay back in 2010!) when your photo posted automatically with a big white border. This was perhaps the ultimate in geometric intervention, but the use of lines in your brand and/or website design--both to organize and emphasize--can immediately draw and keep your audience’s attention. They also look great with the super trendy ‘90s shapes I mentioned above.
Serif, luxury fonts
Serif fonts have long given a specific panache to brand names with their use in logos. But they are enjoying a specific moment right now given their ability to blend sophisticated with understated--producing something that feels outside of trends altogether. More and more font makers are making beautiful fonts like this, and these have been majorly popular with many of clients in the last year or so.
Motion & video
This is another one that may seem obvious in a TikTok world, but it’s actually harder to do well than you might think. Current trends in using motion and video in design include moving/flowing gradients, movement and slow-motion blur in photo-like elements, and of course, experimenting with use of motion, video, and sound in things like TikTok and Instagram Reels.
Did I say gradients?
They really keep sticking, and prove very effective for building cohesion and functional design across so many brands in so many industries!
Collage elements
This design trend is near and dear to me, for its roots in physical book-print design but also for the space for creativity and randomness that collage invites. You can let your creativity run wild, while staying within your brand’s character, using Canva elements, Creative Market assets, and your own brand features. How many of the trends on this list can you find in this collage?
Chunky borders
Some design trends manifest across multiple forms and just like I noted geometric lines, chunky borders are a related and familiar design trend. Just like we can’t underestimate the effective use of lines in a brand’s overall look and feel, a well-placed chunky border takes a post or page from regular to ~pizzaz~ without too much design overthink.
How do I know what’s trending?
There are countless ways to see what’s trending (hello, internet) but it can be overwhelming or even a waste of time to just start googling things. However, there are a few easy spots you can bookmark to return to for the latest moods and influences. To keep up with design trends, be sure to bookmark these key sources:
Canva
We love Canva, and you’re probably already using it and engaging with what’s trending without even realizing it. Instead of jumping straight to your saved templates and sticking with the same-old, same-old, maybe sometimes you find yourself browsing the template categories? If you can design everything from infographics to t-shirts to Instagram stories using Canva, surely they must be highlighting design templates, fonts, and elements using what’s trending? They sure are, and as you may already know and love, they’ll do so much of the heavy-lifting design work for you. Canva is an excellent place to browse to see what’s trending.
This is not just a website to pin recipes you’ll never make. Since it’s earliest days, Pinterest has been a unique space for visual collecting on the internet. Even though some social media platforms, notably Instagram, are also centered in visual media, Pinterest’s key function as collection of themed, named, organized visual idea boards remains its strongest asset. Sure, you can follow and have followers there, but its value to you as a business owner is in seeing what people are doing, making, wearing, writing, planning--all saved via images, fonts, colors. Browsing what’s being posted to Pinterest--visually as well as the content itself--remains a fantastic source to observe trends. I hereby give you permission to browse Pinterest for an hour a week--it’s not procrastination it’s education!
Creative Market
This one is near and dear to my heart. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I have a weekly segment where I look at Creative Market’s freebies (yes, they offer freebies every week!) and ruthlessly judge them. Really, CM, another PowerPoint template? Are you really offering your good customers a resume template in Adobe Photoshop? Sometimes, the weekly freebies include weird stuff that was trending a year or two ago, but other times they are really on-point with fresh and fantastic freebies. But beyond the free stuff, they are a powerhouse source for fonts, graphics, templates, and overlays--all hints for what’s trending now. And because their whole business is providing us the source material we need, you can not only browse to see what’s trending, you can purchase the assets too--a veritable one stop shop for knowing what’s trending and grabbing some graphics to fresh your brand.
Dribbble
It’s not a typo, there’s three b’s here: Dribbble is a social media platform dedicated to digital designers and creatives. Yes, you can apply for or recruit for jobs, get feedback, and connect with other creatives, but it’s also an excellent place to look for trends. After all, it’s also got a digital storefront for those of us in design to sell our website designs, fonts, graphics and other elements. Even a quick browse of the front page for graphics, fonts, website themes, templates, and 3D elements gives you an immediate sense of what’s trending. Many of the trends I’ve described above are present as soon as you start scrolling. As those front pages update, you’ll notice things coming and going: a front page seat to design trends as they shift.
How do I know if I like it because it’s trending of like it because I *actually* like it?
Check past vision boards: see the trend there?
This is a pretty reliable tool for seeing what you actually like year-over-year, and is especially helpful in figuring out if you like the idea of something versus what that looks like in design. There’s a reason the first thing I assign to a new client is to put together a Pinterest board with colors, fonts, and images they like. The number of times your description of what you want for your brand differs drastically from what that looks like when you start pulling together ideas on a vision board--well let’s just say, it happens a lot.
[graphic of a client’s described desires v vision board]
Ask a friend if it feels like “you”
You know when someone asks you to list your best qualities, or to describe yourself in three words? And it can be really hard to answer this question yourself? This is where a close friend, business colleague, or family member can come to the rescue with a bit of perspective. If you’re wondering whether to use that watercolor garden floral for your spring marketing campaign, but aren’t sure if it fits with your brand’s core aesthetic (or, with your target audience’s taste), asking someone who’s a little bit removed the process if it feels like “you” can be the difference between a hit or a miss.
Is your niche using this trend a lot?
As I alluded to above, using trends wisely is about more than just what you like--it’s about appealing to the people you’re providing products or services to. What’s trending in your industry or subset? Are you hoping to align with the trends you’re seeing there, or maintain a distinct brand that looks a bit unique? Depending on your larger business goals, knowing which camp you’re aiming for--or perhaps using elements of what’s trending in your mirco-niche while keeping your own fabulous thing going--will keep you in a healthy relationship with trends as they change and as your business evolves.
Hire a professional designer :)
Still overwhelmed? Frozen in panic and thinking, “But Olivia, I really don’t have a sense of what’s cool,” or even, “I’m not trying to be trendy, I’m trying to be timeless!” It may be time to bring in design professionals. You are the expert in your core services and products, so if keeping up with what’s trending to best attract new customers and clients is not bringing you joy, and you want to get back to focusing on the things you went into business to do, leave the heavy lifting to designers. Did you know Let’s Go Studio offers full service site and brand design? Find a professional designer whose talents and business values match your needs, so that you’re not stuck doing this alone!
Examples
If you find take nothing else from this deep-dive on trends, here’s the key:
*If it feels like you, use it*
Past influential trends
Welcome to the gallery of Recent Totally Cool (Until They Weren’t) Design Trends. I know you remember these:
Watercolor boho
While watercolor already lends itself to dreamy, floral designs, watercolor boho took this to another level. Freeform lines, shapes, a bit of color outside the lines, these were a mainstay for a lot of lifestyle brands.
Blobalicious
I fully embraced the blob moment in my own brand design! You have probably seen blobs in so many backgrounds you tuned them out after awhile. Blobs have this way of adding color and texture to a social post, web theme, or presentation without needing to add other elements to make it more interesting.
Sans serif fonts
Literally fonts without the serifs at the edges of letters, sans serifs immediately give a clean, modern, no-fuss character to a brand. Used in a lot of tech companies, sans serif have remained trendy basically since facebook’s iconic lowercase, friendly logo arrived on the scene in the mid-oughts.
Low Poly geometric
In an every-evolving use of geometry in design, the low poly geometric was a clean, visually-dramatic way to make a branded element more interesting and memorable. It was also highly effective as a background element, the way gradients are now, and blobs were before that.
Parting thoughts
A key part of my design philosophy is considering those three pillars I noted earlier: audience, goals, and you. Keeping your personality central to the design of your brand is just as important and appealing to the intended audience and achieving your business goals. After all, for many of you, your identity and values are a key part of the services you provide to clients everyday, and can be a key part of why they decide to work with you. So regardless of what’s trending, keeping what feels like you in the overall look and feel of your brand is essential!
Put your preconceived notions of trends in the trash and do you!
