If you follow the recent graphic design trend, you will notice the return of the anti-design concept. The trend is going against the decade of restrained, “purposeful” design trend, which leaned toward minimalism. The explosive colors, rebellious style, and imaginative elements make anti-design a hot trend in 2022.

What is Anti-Design Trend?

Anti-design is a concept that goes against the common graphic design rules. Often depicted as “bad-good design,” anti-design does not deliberately alter graphic design rules for the sake of looking ugly. Instead, this movement seeks to break the constraint of common rules that stifle creativity, offering an alternative point of view.

Anti-design appears in various media, but in the modern era, this concept was obvious during the early days of the internet. You can see it in garish colors, layouts, fonts, and text compositions of old websites. Graphic design trend 2022 brings back this style to rebel against strict, ubiquitous design conventions.

The term anti-design is often confused with brutalism. However, they have differences in major styles and philosophy. Brutalism is an art and design movement that strips down flourish in favor of showing raw textures and bare materials. It roots in the utilitarian design that emerged after World War Two. Meanwhile, anti-design utilizes various colors, textures, and fonts and works as a form of unbound self-expression.

Characteristics of Anti-Design Trend

Anti-design has several key characteristics that each designer can play with. Some examples are:

• Asymmetry

Anti-design arts play a lot with asymmetry. You can see them in layouts, shapes, forms, and compositions.

• Striking and Clashing Colors

There are not many “neutral” or “muted” colors in anti-design arts. Designers often combine colors in clashing and contrasting ways. The results are striking visuals that snatch attention and make statements.

• Mismatched Design Elements

In the previous decade, design trends used to follow rigid conventions in combining elements. There are strict rules in combining lines, colors, forms, and shapes to create balanced, clean looks. Anti-design eschews the rules and blends various design elements in bold, clashing ways.

• Crowded Layouts

Anti-design often fills negative spaces. Designers use images, shapes, and texts to fill up spaces without following specific orders. Texts and images are often overlayed to fill up spaces and create even more expressive visuals.

• Mixed Period Elements

Anti-design does not have an exact time period since it is a form of mindset and self-expression. However, modern anti-design looks in graphic design trends tend to lean on the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. These were the periods where clashing colors, mixed media, asymmetrical looks, and bold self-expressions were obvious in various designs.

Despite the seemingly anti-conformity look, the anti-design trend is not about looking ugly on purpose. Achieving desired looks while following anti-design concepts often requires designers to understand deeply about design rules before messing up with them. The best anti-design concept applications create memorability and attention.

One good example is Timesheets Magazine, a digital magazine that features creative people from around the world. Their webpage design is deliberately over-the-top, using various anti-design elements like clashing colors, overlaying images and text, and asymmetrical layout. It reflects the magazine’s spirit in featuring creative liberties and artistic expressions.

Why Should You Use Anti-Design Concept?

The anti-design concept is eye-catching, even provocative. You can use it to communicate brand messages effectively, especially if your product or service has a lot of competition. Anti-design concepts in graphic design can be applied in a lot of materials, from social media posts and online ads to labels and packaging designs.

The anti-design concept is also great for making your products, designs, or artworks memorable. Since anti-design is about skewing standard design rules into something unexpected, your works will stand above the others. Memorable magazine covers or special edition packaging, for example, will grab the attention faster compared to their more conforming competitions.

Finally, if you are a web designer, the anti-design concept can help you with engagement. Websites with anti-design concepts tend to be more memorable, especially now when most people spend their time online. UX and UI designers can also use the anti-design concept to ease visitors into an unconventional web navigation system.

In conclusion, the anti-design trend in graphic design is not about being ugly. The goal is to create new perspectives from skewing standard graphic design rules. Express your imagination and feelings by using anti-design graphic design trend, and see how your point of view on design change drastically.