12 Graphic Design Trends for 2026

Today we’re digging into the creative trends that will be shaping our industry in 2026 across graphic design, illustration, packaging, and virtually every corner of visual communication. You’ll see patterns emerging that are grounded in shifts in culture, technology, and materials, both digital and physical.

There are thematic threads weaving through these trends. A push toward physicality and texture, and an interest in depth and layered meaning. You’ll also see reactions for and against the slickness we’ve been seeing in AI-generated content. Designers everywhere are rebuilding a sense of human presence in their work. That will be the dominant story of design in 2026.

1. Glass Block

The Glass Block trend is showing up everywhere. Vertical ribbing, refracted imagery, type distorted through translucent barriers. Think privacy glass brought into the digital space. It gives you something modern and tactile without committing to full 3D.

This trend signals a move toward digital materiality, where design isn’t flat anymore. It makes creative work feel more physical and more structural. It feels like architectural materials crossing over into layout design.

You will see this in posters, album covers, editorial work, and especially motion, where the distortion comes alive.

2. Billboarding

Billboarding is about design in multiples. The designs are variations of each other that relate visually through imagery, color, or illustration style — whatever holds them together as a group.

You see variations in colorway and intentional shape repetition. Designed to link up like puzzle pieces, creating a whole.

Billboarding is really about glanceability. In a crowded social feed or on crowded shelves, you have one second to grab attention, and designs in series do that extremely well. This trend shows up in packaging, poster design, event design, retail displays, and wearables merchandising.

3. Hero Characters

The Hero Characters trend is a celebration of the beauty of a single letter in a font style shown at large scale, dominating layouts so we experience type in a different way. Designers are pulling single letters out of the alphabet and treating them like heroes — letterforms that become dominating sculptural objects.

A hero character lets a layout be comparatively understated while still having something expressive and striking to anchor it visually. This trend puts personality back into typography through exploded scale and singular focus.

It’s great for identity systems, packaging, signage, editorial design, and motion graphics.

4. Tech Spec

Tech Spec is all about engineered precision. You’ll see wide tracking, strict grids, numeric codes, industrial icons, grayscale palettes, and sharp accent colors. It looks like something from a science lab, a consumer electronics product, or a piece of aerospace equipment.

This aesthetic speaks to how people feel about technology right now. There is excitement, but also anxiety. Tech Spec gives us a language to communicate systems, logic, and engineered austerity. It embraces sleek, high-tech, utilitarian design — a mash-up of new-wave tech brutalism and aerospace precision.

You’ll see this trend across editorial design, men’s fashion, wearables, consumer electronics product design, and promotional pieces.

5. Affinity

Driven by the identity aesthetic of the design software brand Affinity — often positioned as an “Adobe killer” — the Affinity trend is all about friendly, rhythmic, soft-edged letterforms. Liquid terminals and warm curves juxtaposed with sharper angles create a dichotomy of form that feels decidedly nontraditional. They also come across in a slightly psychedelic way.

This trend is happening because brands want humanity back. It pushes against the coldness of tech aesthetics and gives us something emotional and approachable without being childish.

You’ll see it in event design, editorial layouts, food and beverage branding, and the more trend-forward identity systems.

6. Acid Fade

Color is exploding again. Acid Fade takes high-saturation gradients and turns them into neon, prismatic, heat-map blends. Smooth transitions meet psychedelic liquidity.

AI tools have made it easier than ever to experiment with color. Freed from traditional color theory, designers are pushing vibrancy as far as possible. It’s youthful, optimistic, and rebellious. Color is back in a big way and it’s meant to be loud.

This trend shows up in music events, digital art, tech marketing, Gen-Z packaging, editorial layouts, and motion graphics where gradients feel dynamic and alive. Acid Fade is playful, optimistic, and trippy.

7. Brute Force

We have seen brutalism before, but Brute Force is its more mature sibling. Heavy stacked typography. Spreadsheet-style grids. Deadpan compositions that thumb their nose at trying to be visually appealing or beautiful. It’s mainly executed with black and white palettes with sparse color hits. It feels haphazard but also very intentional.

The appeal here is honesty. When so much design is polished and dependent on color and imagery, Brute Force feels grounded, offering the viewer a blunt version of the truth. It has structure, but it has zero pretense.

You’ll see Brute Force in editorial design, art institutions, fashion, website design, health and beauty products, and high-end packaging.

8. Translucence

The Translucence trend builds a multi-dimensional world through overlapping transparent layers. This is the graphic design version of vellum or frosted plastic. Designers want to create visual depth without resorting to fully 3D representation. It uses transparency to provide dimension, mood, and compositional complexity all in one.

The trend aims to manipulate visual space in a modular way. It signals visual storytelling through layers and asks the viewer to participate by mentally completing the image.

Designers are using it in silkscreen poster design, book covers, activewear branding, and dynamic website layouts.

9. Bronze Age

Bronze Age is all about metallic warmth. Bronze tones and mineral textures create a look that is ancient and futuristic at the same time. Bronze feels less flashy than gold — more grounded and sophisticated.

This trend is rising because, in a time when technology surrounds us at every turn, consumers crave craftsmanship. Bronze feels artisanal and connected to real materials. It will be used in spirits, coffee, fragrances, premium packaging, and architecture — as seen in the new JP Morgan building in New York City.

10. Analog Anarchy

Analog Anarchy brings punk back into contemporary design. It relies heavily on gritty black-and-white photocopy textures and hand-cut collage aesthetics. Think ransom-note type, acid yellows and neon pinks, chaotic layouts, and defiant political energy. It’s messy and naïve in a deliberately controlled way.

In a world dominated by high-tech tools and AI-driven image creation, younger designers are looking back to DIY subcultures for inspiration.

Analog Anarchy appears in music, fashion, and editorial design that taps into a rebellious zeitgeist.

11. Obsidian

Obsidian is deep, glossy black power dressing for brands. It uses precise typography, minimal color, and dramatic contrast between matte and gloss to create an aura of mystery and luxury.

This trend is an intentional rejection of the electric color and whimsical imagery dominating other areas of design. When everyone goes bright, luxury goes dark. It gives premium brands a sense of drama in a design culture fueled by more-is-more photography and AI-composited visuals.

Obsidian appears in perfume, tech hardware, boutique fashion, luxury packaging, and high-end retail environments.

12. Scissorworks

In direct response to AI’s polished imagery, Scissorworks brings hand-done collage back into the spotlight. It’s a renaissance of analog expression that leans into imperfection and narrative depth. This trend uses found artwork, imperfect cut edges, and archaic imagery to create juxtapositions that invite viewer interpretation.

Scissorworks embraces play, experimentation, and human irregularity. It shows up in album art, editorial illustration, boutique packaging, fashion lookbooks, and museum display design.

Bonus: Pantone’s 2026 Color of the Year: Cloud Dancer

Pantone’s 2026 Color of the Year, Cloud Dancer, is a soft, bone-white neutral meant to signal clarity, simplicity, and a creative reset. Pantone positions it as a warm, balanced white that brings breathing room to design and works across interiors, fashion, branding, and digital experiences.

To be honest, it’s a safe and somewhat non-committal choice. But Cloud Dancer does function well as a neutral backdrop, especially when paired with the bolder, more expressive trends emerging in 2026. It plays a supporting role when used as a base layer for texture, contrast, or high-impact color.

Final Thoughts

Across all of these trends, a clear tension emerges. Some designers are leaning into texture, physicality, and human craft. Others are embracing engineered precision and technical aesthetics. The push and pull between the digital and the physical — between control and chaos, between machine and hand — will define the creative landscape of 2026.

Treat these trends as inspiration, not instruction. Explore them, reinterpret them, or ignore them entirely. They exist to spark ideas and help you make more informed creative decisions as you navigate the year ahead.

~Thanks!
Philip VanDusen

Watch the Video on YouTube

15 TRENDS IN GRAPHIC DESIGN FOR 2025

Design trends—love them or hate them, they shape the creative industry. Some trends evolve from past aesthetics, while others emerge as bold new directions. Whether you choose to embrace them, adapt them, or push against them, staying aware of these shifts helps you stay ahead of the curve.

In 2025, we’re seeing a mix of digital innovation, nostalgic revivals, and fresh takes on minimalism, color, and typography. These trends are showing up across branding, packaging, web design, social media, print, and motion graphics.

Here’s a look at 15 graphic design trends that are making waves this year

1. Neon Nostalgia

Neon Nostalgia is all about vibrant electric color palettes, soft airbrushed gradients, and glowing retro-futuristic elements that pull straight from the "Synthwave" aesthetic. Picture those neon-drenched Miami sunsets, chrome typography, and VHS distortion effects, but with a modern digital polish.

We’re seeing this trend make waves in music branding, fashion, social media, and UI design, where it taps into nostalgia but also brings a dreamlike, cyberpunk-inspired vibrance to contemporary design. 

Expect to see this look in poster and website design, advertising, and motion graphics, where motion blur, streaked lights, and electric hues amplify the visual experience. Whether it’s in digital or print, Neon Nostalgia is about making an emotional statement with color and light.

2. Fluid Forms

Forget sharp edges! —Design in 2025 is melting. 

Fluid Forms embraces organic, flowing shapes that feel like liquid, morphing across layouts in a dynamic, unpredictable way. These undulating curves, soft reflections, and translucent overlays create a sense of movement and weightlessness that’s both futuristic and soothing.

I'm seeing this trend in motion design, posters and packaging, where more rigid grid layouts can benefit from an injection of natural, free-flowing elements. 

These fluid visuals draw inspiration from water, smoke, and molten materials. The look pairs well with soft gradients, glass-like transparency, and light distortions, creating a hyper-modern - BUT also organic - aesthetic.

3. Portfolio Animation

This is not actually a 'design trend' per se, but more a trend in how creatives are displaying their designs. In 2025, Portfolio Animations are increasing and taking center stage. Designers are bringing static works to life with subtle, seamless motion effects. (*Note: Follow the YouTube video link at the end of this article to see these portfolio animations in motion)

This trend is all about using animation to enhance the storytelling of your project case studies. It's intended to guide the viewer’s experience, and create and entertaining and interactive experience—but without overwhelming the design itself.

I'm seeing things like micro-animations, hover effects, kinetic typography, and scrolling transitions to make portfolios feel more dynamic and engaging. When it's done right, these animations add depth, personality, and interactivity, helping you stand out in our crowded industry.

4. Point of Focus

Minimalist but intentional, Point of Focus is a trend that uses bold circular elements, dots, and targeted focal points to guide the viewer’s eye with precision. Whether it’s a central dot, irregular oval, or an image mask, this technique creates an extremely simple, but still powerful composition.

Circles have always been symbolic, timeless, and visually anchoring, which is why this trend is so striking. It draws inspiration from modernist poster design, Bauhaus minimalism, and editorial layouts, where strategic use of white space and carefully placed focal points are used to create high-impact communications.

5. Collage Couture

Collage is nothing new, but in 2025, it’s getting a high-fashion makeover. 

Collage Couture blends photography, illustration, and typography into a layered, sophisticated, and curated aesthetic that feels avant-garde, and bold.

This trend takes inspiration from fashion "lookbooks", vintage magazine spreads, and Dadaist collage techniques, reworking them into a modern, visually dynamic approach. 

This trend is thriving in branding, editorial, social media campaigns, and print design, where mixed-media compositions create complex layouts that are open to multiple interpretations.

6. Sketchbook

Designers are embracing imperfection with Sketchbook, a trend that celebrates raw, hand-drawn elements and the creative process itself. This aesthetic focuses on the textured, pencil-sketched, ink-brushed, and marker-lined feel that can make digital work look organic and personal.

The beauty of this trend is its spontaneity—loose line work, messy scribbles, and layered doodles create a sense of energy and authenticity. It’s a concerted reaction against overly polished, vector-perfect design.

We’re seeing this style in editorial design, apparel graphics, brand illustration styles, and motion graphics. Whether it’s paired with clean layouts for contrast or fully embraced in its rawest form, Sketchbook brings back hands-on creativity in an increasingly digital world.

7. Eco Minimalism

Eco Minimalism strips away excess, using simple typography, and organic shapes to create a natural, calming visual style. It merges the clarity of minimalism but with the less austere use of curvilinear shapes, balancing simplicity with authenticity.

This trend's thriving in packaging, print, website design, and environmental graphics, where brands want to emphasize eco-conscious values but in a non-cliche way. 

The color palettes are not the usually expected muted greens and neutrals - but instead are bright and cheery, featured in clean, sparse layouts.

With consumers being more mindful of their choices these days, brands using Eco Minimalism can communicate transparency and sustainability, all wrapped up in a contemporary design aesthetic.

8. Geo Puzzle

Geometric design and grids have always been a cornerstone of modern aesthetics, but in 2025, it’s being deconstructed into modular, puzzle-like compositions. 

Geo Puzzle takes familiar geometric shapes and assembles them into dynamic, almost checkerboard layouts.

This trend is particularly strong in event design, editorial layout, web design, UX and posters, where the interplay of bold color-blocking, and asymmetry creates a visually engaging, "structured-but-still-playful" feel.

The Bauhaus movement and Swiss design principles are heavy influences, but now designers are using bright, unexpected color pairings and fragmented layouts to give it a fresh, contemporary edge. Geo Puzzle is a great way for brands to feel modern, innovative, and adaptable while still maintaining a sense of structure and order.

9. Linear Threads

The Linear Threads trend embraces continuous, flowing linework that's used to create intricate compositions that connect typography and design elements and lead the viewers eye through the work.

Inspired by technical contour drawing and playful linear vector sketches, Linear Threads works well in corporate communications, advertising, packaging, and interactive graphics. The linear elements often are monochrome or duo-tone, allowing the intricacy of the line work to stand out without overpowering the design.

What makes this trend so versatile is its ability to feel both organic and structured—it can be soft and expressive - or precise and engineered - but still always offering a sense of interconnectedness.

10. Photo Obscura

Photo Obscura—is a trend that plays with fragmentation, transparency, and selective reveals. Images are being masked, blurred, distorted, and cut into geometric or abstract shapes to create layered, intriguing compositions.

This trend shows up in editorial layouts, album covers, interactive web design, and advertising, where obscured imagery draws the viewer in and adds a sense of mystery and abstraction. 

It can help designers create unexpected visual narratives. By selectively hiding and revealing parts of an image, Photo Obscura plays with perception and storytelling. 

This technique has been used in fine art and avant-garde photography for decades, but in 2025, it’s taking center stage in commercial design—where the visual mystery is key to capturing audiences attention for just long enough to stop the thumb scrolling.

11. Chromatic Simplicity

Color is one of the most powerful design tools, and Chromatic Simplicity proves that less can be more. This trend embraces monochromatic and duotone palettes, reducing designs to one or two bold hues for maximum visual impact. The result is clean, modern, and undeniably striking.

Historically, this trend traces back to early printmaking and poster design, where limited ink colors led to high-contrast, statement-making visuals. Often used in isolated photographs in the past, this style is now found in entire compositions.

By stripping away color complexity, it makes layouts feel bold and intentional. 

This trend is showing up in social media, editorial layouts, print communications and packaging - among others. Whether soft and understated or loud and high-energy, Chromatic Simplicity allows color to do all the heavy lifting.

12. Typography Alchemy

This trend celebrates typography as an art form by breaking all the rules. This trend mixes regular and italic, extra bold and thin, serif and sans-serif, stretched and compressed—creating a dynamic, expressive typographic style.

This design technique is bold, irreverent, and unpredictable, pulling inspiration from Dadaist collage, Deconstructivism, and experimental 'zine culture. It’s showing up in poster design, album covers, fashion branding, and social media graphics.

We’ve seen typography mash-ups before, but in 2025, these combinations feel even more kinetic. Typography Alchemy makes type more than just a tool for communication—it turns it into the main visual element, demanding attention and helping you push creative boundaries.

13. Media Matters

As digital aesthetics continue to dominate, designers are rediscovering the tactile beauty of physical-media-inspired design. Media Matters uses paints and inks to add a handcrafted, imperfect quality to digital work.

This trend is emerging in illustration, editorial, posters and book covers, where designers are using analog textures to create warmth and authenticity. It’s a direct reaction to overly polished, hyper-clean design, bringing a human, crafted touch back into the mix.

Even in digital spaces, I'm seeing designers use hand-drawn elements and distressed textures to mimic the richness of real-world media. In a time where everything feels so mass-produced, Media Matters reminds us of how much power there still is in texture, depth, and physicality in design.

14. Hyper Bubble

Typography is getting bigger, softer, and bolder with the Hyper Bubble trend. 

Inspired by inflated, air-filled, and balloon-like letters, this aesthetic makes type feel playful, exaggerated, and tactile.

This look first surfaced in the Y2K era, but in 2025, it’s evolved with 3D rendering, glossy highlights, and hand-drawn puffy typefaces that add an extra dose of nostalgia. Brands are using Hyper Bubble in fashion, packaging, and social media design to stand out in a fun, energetic way.

We’re also seeing designers push the boundaries with animated type, interactive typography, and ultra-exaggerated proportions. Whether glossy and volumetric or flat, matte and cartoonish, Hyper Bubble brings a sense of fun to typography again.

15. Mocha Mousse

Pantone's color of the year is called Mocha Mousse. 

This color theme embraces creamy browns, velvety taupes, light caramel hues, moving away from cold neutrals and grays in favor of earthy, inviting tones.

This color is intended to evoke a sense of calm in a turbulent world, offering stability, nostalgia, and sophistication. This makes it ideal for luxury branding, coffee packaging, accessories, editorial design, and home decor. 

Mocha Mousse pairs well with pastels, warm golds, and muted oranges, to create a refined palette that feels natural and timeless.

The combination of minimalism and warmth makes Mocha Mousse a go-to choice for brands that want to feel premium, sustainable, and fashionable.

Conclusion

Whether you embrace these trends or push against them, staying aware of where design is headed keeps you sharp and ahead of the curve.

Which of these trends excites you the most? Let me know in the comments.

Watch the full "15 Trends in Graphic Design for 2025" YouTube video HERE.

Going Small

There is this thing called the Ringelmann Effect. Stay with me on this. Maximilien Ringelmann, a French agricultural engineer did an experiment where he asked people to perform a simple task: Pull on a rope. What he learned was that when there is only one person pulling, they give 100% of their effort. The more people you add to the rope the more the effort goes down.

Jeff Bezo’s has a saying, “Any team that can’t be fed by two pizza’s is too large.”. The bigger the team, the more complexity, miscommunication and bureaucracy. The less effort.

There is a trend happening in the branding and design world. Large client companies are divesting themselves of their big agency relationships and hiring much smaller agencies. Like 2-10 people small. I know because I did it myself at Pepsico. And the big agencies are freaking out.

The reason is that the big clients have finally figured out that when you have a tiny agency team pulling on your project rope, they pull really, really hard. They deliver above and beyond.

So as you think about how to handle your next project, consider going small.