9 Big Design Trends of 2019 | by Mark Wilson for FastCompany
Design leaders at Microsoft, Google, Ideo, Pentagram, Gensler, and more weigh in.
Everyone is overworked and unhappy. Digital platforms have sucked the last of our attention and sanity. If you read the headlines in 2018, you’d have every reason to feel pessimistic about the future.
But the design experts we talked to–from companies such as Microsoft, Google, Ideo, and Forrester–offer a glimmer of hope. As they look forward to 2019, they agree on one thing: The cold, corporate thinking that has defined the business world over the past several years doesn’t jive with how people want to live. In 2019, people will be more than mere data points; it’s a designer’s job to make sure of it. Here are nine key design predictions for 2019.
But the design experts we talked to–from companies such as Microsoft, Google, Ideo, and Forrester–offer a glimmer of hope. As they look forward to 2019, they agree on one thing: The cold, corporate thinking that has defined the business world over the past several years doesn’t jive with how people want to live. In 2019, people will be more than mere data points; it’s a designer’s job to make sure of it. Here are nine key design predictions for 2019.
1. WE'LL FOCUS ON FOCUS
The biggest design trend will be a return to mindfulness and focus.” --Albert Shum, corporate VP of design, Microsoft
2. PEOPLE (AND PRODUCTS) WILL DO MORE WITH LESS
Consumers will be more aware of the negative effects of overconsumption and more people will aim to reduce their wardrobes to fewer items. Brands will design better products and invest in sustainability and circularity. --Nina Faulhaber and Meg He, cofounders, ADAY
3. IOT WILL LEAVE THE HOUSE
In 2019, Forrester believes that IoT is poised to make a much bigger impact in our lives at work and around town, with 85% of companies implementing or planning to implement IoT solutions. --Michele Pelino, analyst, Forrester
4. CITIES GET THE DATA
The next phase of architecture will shift from creating places that last, to designing user-centric, innovation-ready, and highly adaptive spaces that learn and change in real-time for continuous evolution, sustainability, and performance.” --Hans Neubert, global lead of digital experiences, Gensler
5. “COLD,” “EFFICIENT,” AND “MODERN” LOSE THEIR GRIP
Formulaic serene Sameness is no longer a valid risk-averse strategy as more and more companies understand that brand building requires a distinguished aesthetic with an emotional point of view. --Gadi Amit, founder, NewDealDesign
6. A RENAISSANCE OF BRAND EXPRESSION
We will see designers go through an awakening and go back to a rich history of expressions in the pre-mobile era, and brands will have to learn how to tap into that genius part of designers: the part that is a human being.” --Natasha Jen, partner, Pentagram
7. POT GETS PERSONALIZED
As consumers, we’ve come to expect more from the products we choose to bring into our lives, and that couldn’t be more true for cannabis. As the culture accepts it more broadly (and legislation legalizes it), cannabis will be elevated from High Times to high fashion. --Scott Wilson, founder + CEO, Minimal, chief experience officer, Cresco Labs
8. SOFTWARE NUDGES US THE RIGHT AWAY
Providing awareness-raising tools to support users will help promote an individual sense of wellbeing; empowering users to look up from their devices will have a positive impact on families, communities, and societies.” --Glen Murphy, director of UX, Google
9. DESIGN ACTS AS A HEALER
What’s exciting about our moment now is that science has surfaced the myriad of ways we can cultivate emotional and mental well-being—all of which are new channels for design. More and more designers will realize their superpowers. You don’t have to have a doctor or nurse to help people. Designers are healers, too. --Ann Kim, portfolio director, Ideo Cambridge
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