Most of you have heard the phrase “new year, new me,” which indicates that a person wants to change as the new year approaches. The same can be said with trends. Each year, old trends vanish as new ones arise, and some might stay or even be refined. Now, as a new year in this pandemic-scarred world arrives, let us take a glimpse of what could be the hottest 2022 trend for graphic design.

Art Deco Revival

Early 1920s marked the birth of an iconic aesthetic. As a visual style, art deco (short for Arts Décorativs) spans multiple design disciplines like fine art, architecture, and design. However, it was more prevalent in architecture, and from there, it went on to be the signature aesthetic of that era. Art deco was defined by its heavy usage of geometric shapes with barely any accompanying aesthetical aspects except colors.

Today, a century later, that same aesthetic is knocking on our door in an attempt to make an epic comeback to the trend. Some graphic designers are trying to incorporate art deco-inspired themes into their projects. Meanwhile, people deliberately incorporated this classic aesthetic into their architecture and interior design properties for its simple yet intricate nature.

2D/3D Mashup

3D arts have been gaining more and more popularity during the last decade, as computer hardware is getting more powerful and affordable. The constant improvement in the software has contributed to kickstarting an era of hyperrealism in digital graphic design. On the other hand, 2D arts are still giving a sense of connection to viewers due to their long history within our society, yet still, have much room to grow.

Combine the two, and you can practically create anything you can imagine. The 2D sprite over the 3D background? Yes, you can. 3D characters over a 2D environment? Well, of course! The possibility is endless and versatile—you can apply it in web designs, illustration, short animation, or even photo editing.

Organic Feels

The rising tide of environmentalism is nigh unstoppable, as more and more people have advocated that we move to a more sustainable, eco-friendly solution to basically anything in our lives. As more campaigns are deployed each day, this movement creates a unique relationship with graphic design. To gain more attention to the movement, environmentalist groups require a design to convey and spread their agenda.

Typically, those groups want a design that can make the viewers feel connected to their environment through the use of earthy color palettes like brown, lush greens, and blue. Another design aspect conveying this connection is organic shapes like leaves, trees, and flowers. Hand-drawn styled icons can also do the trick.

NFT-Oriented Pieces

Whether we want to admit it or not, Non-Fungible Token or NFT is a breakthrough in the digital design realm. Sure, the idea of spending money (sometimes even on an insane amount) for something that seems easy to replicate is controversial. The fact that NFT communities rely heavily on cryptocurrency—another controversial digital entity—doesn’t really help. However, NFTs are gaining popularity over the last year and are ready to define design trend 2022.

Basically, any digital content can be tokenized and sold in the NFT market. The art style ranges from pixel arts to over-the-top CGI animations in graphic design alone. Moreover, a number of high-profile sales took place in 2021—and by high profiles, we mean millions of US Dollars. These sales triggered the surge of popularity for NFTs, and it’s safe to assume that it won’t fall anytime soon, at least not in a couple of years. 

Psychedelic

It has been a crazy and stressful couple of years since the pandemic hit in early 2020. As we move to 2022 without real proof that COVID-19 would be eradicated, we sometimes just want to get trippy. Meet psychedelic art, an art style created to describe the feelings of altered consciousness after ingesting a psychedelic substance like LSD. 

Due to its characteristics, simply looking at psychedelic art may induce vertigo in some people. Those characteristics are:

• Bright and/or highly contrasting colors,
• Extreme depth of detail, 
• Fantastic, metaphysical, and surrealistic subject matter,
• Kaleidoscopic, fractal, or paisley patterns,
• Warped patterns,
• Repetition of motifs.