Next direction in graphic design?

torifile

I was at the mall today while I was getting my oil changed and I noticed that lots of ads and stores have finally adopted the 'new' look of print - sans serif fonts, lowercase letters, martha stewart-esque colors. Since these places are usually way behind the times, I figure we must be due for a change in design.



So, where are we going now? Any designers want to chime in with where they're headed? Some links about design trends would be cool too.

splinemodel

I've never liked the really flat print designs that seem to dominate today.



Perhaps the next move is to mix in some 3D elements. That's what I've been doing lately, along with the use of smooth texturing. Basically, if you look at the desktop pictures that come with OS X, I think you'll find what's next.

pscates

Good thread, torifile.



I don't really know, but it's something I'm aware of and think about often. I can't simply just walk through a store or flip through a catalog anymore; I'm forever playing "guess the font" or looking at the various displays/signage and digging (or not digging) the colors, layout, type, etc.







I don't know, though. There seemed to be a real "tech" heavy look to things in the past year or too. Lots of computer-esque type, bright colors, little computer/techy symbols and icons, rounded corners, etc. Maybe "tech" isn't the right word, but there's definitely been this "look" to advertisements, retail displays, catalogs, etc. of late.



I don't know what the future holds, but I'm sure I'll enjoy checking it all out and thinking about it.







You know who's got really nice-looking in-store displays, signage, POP set-ups, etc.? Target. Check one out someday, especially around springtime or autumn. Note the large format posters/section headers handing from the ceiling. Always really nice.



Old Navy too. It would probably be a blast working for their design/marketing division.

bradbower

I agree, pscates. Target, Old Navy, and even to some subdued extent, Sears. Lots of great design happening in retail.



But after the big retro boom, tech-looking phases, minimalism, I think the next big thing is going to be military-looking stuff. You already see it in fashion that's coming, the whole fatigues look. The Hummers, and so many cars coming soon that mimick Hummers. It goes hand-in-hand with what is happening in the world right now. Some firms/companies won't be daring enough to go there but I think dark greens, camouflage, sharp angles, and the "utilitarian" look is where we're headed.

drewprops

Tech-style

The latest issue of WIRED refers to Japanese graphic design being influenced by technology (well duh!). Take a breeze through the CD covers in the techno section to see some really bleeding edge futuristic graphic design from around the world. Some really good stuff mixed in there, good inspiration. I think a lot of the 'tech' look is a result of the web and traditional print rubbing together and giving off sparks. Videogames are more relevant than ever (think Sims). BUT, a lot of the excitement over technology has been swept out to sea with people's 401k's; traditional, hearty 'All American' design may be what leads American graphic desgin away from the train wreck of the stock market tech bubble. Surely the patriotic environment can afford this sentimental backtracking for a short while.



I expect that the clean "white background w/ isolated elements w/ dropshadows" look is granted "traditional" status by the design community, I'd hate to see it go away....but expect for that to fade a bit.



Historically conquering armies are conquered by the culture of those they've defeated, so look for the possibility that middle eastern influence will hijack graphic design in the next six months. The muslim faith eschews graphical illustration in favor of geometrical patterning, to which the secular design world occasionally turns toward.



Some more ideas later~

torifile

Some good posts in here. I've been seeing lots of anime-esque stuff lately too. I think that maybe the way it's going in Japan, at least. drewprops: very interesting points about the cultural influences that might be coming.



I'll have to keep my eyes open when I go to Old Navy next.



Keep 'em coming, guys...

buonrotto

I have a hard time imaginingthe next style, because styles usually are derivative works that copy a more innovative idea that takes popular hold, ala original iMac and to a lesser extent, Aqua. Here's the stereotype of "trendy" post-blobitecture design that's becoming a disease right now:







Here's the page that's from:



EYEBEAM



To give credit where it's due, Neil Denari on those pages is the guy who is basically responsible for the whole corrugated-building-extrusion thing. I have a lot of respect for him actually. I hope he gets some more substantial work soon. Right now, Liz Diller and others have just ripped him off (she happens to have his book on her desk at all times) and are getting a lot of mileage from his small work.



I think trying to predict this sort of fashion is not only capricious but truly aribtrary since the question basically circumvents the real process. First, a real innovative design is created, then it is emulated en masse. They do tend to be reactionary though (bright colors to muted colors, "blobby" to angular, etc.).

709

Quote:

Originally posted by drewprops

I think a lot of the 'tech' look is a result of the web and traditional print rubbing together and giving off sparks.

Exactly my thinking. I think this latest wave of 'flat-design' was brought on by the Flash-Frenzy that happened a couple of years ago. Clients would say they wanted 'Flash' because it was the web-buzz-du-jour and most not really knowing what it meant exactly. But it was cool and techie and 'now'. So we all pushed it to the limit of Flash and....a bunch of shapes and type and loads of little thin lines whizzing about was the collective end result.



Now the little whizzing lines and big shapey blocks of color are everywhere...except frozen. I personally liked the look when it first started happening, now I'm getting tired of it. The newer iteration of the 2D look with silhouettes and such are nice, some very nice, but I'm seeing that fade out pretty quickly as well. I think the next wave of design will have some element of 'motion' to it. I've been incorporating AfterEffects more and more into my print workflow lately, and I'm liking it.

splinemodel

I do a lot of surface renders in FormZ. They mix the vectorized flat look with the 3D look and the techie look. . . . So yeah, perhaps there is a bit of "anime" in it.





Most of the stuff I do is for sci/tech magazines, so I guess I don't immediately pass it off as techie. (since it has to be techie). This was for an article about alternate forms of propulsion in space. It's an "artist's impression" of some cool engine. It was faded out into part of the background. . . anyway 3D rocks because it's resizeable. Just render it again. . .

kraig911

The whole anime thing is out already too I think, that was say 98-2000' every one seems to be using myriad and the like all the time lately including me. Personally I think the look of color is going to come into play, such as bright contrasting colors, as well as saavy copy, everyone is going the extra effort to push the content and not the look of the ad lately, I guess thats a good thing.

pscates

You know what I've noticed lately on commercials? An animated "vector drawing" kind of look. There was that Frappocino (whatever the hell that Starbucks drink is called...) one where the globe was spinning around and people were on it.



I've seen that look/style on a credit card commercial and in a couple of car ads too (Volkswagon was one of them, I believe).



Just simple, flat and bold drawings of people and things, simply animated. You'd know it if you see it.



Also, another one I've noticed both in print and in broadcast is the "un-centering" of elements, like logos, taglines, etc.



You see lots of commercials now (American Express comes to mind) where, after the commercial is over, the logo is displayed much smaller than you'd expect and off to one side. See that a lot in print ads too. Everything used to be "straight-up, centered...and make the logo huge!".



Now, it's not necessarily so. These aren't necessarily huge directions in design, just little things I've noticed in my magazine-flipping/TV-viewing moments.

frawgz

Quote:

Originally posted by pscates

You know what I've noticed lately on commercials? An animated "vector drawing" kind of look. There was that Frappocino (whatever the hell that Starbucks drink is called...) one where the globe was spinning around and people were on it.

Yep.. I was going to chime in with this too. The new pseudo-3D 2D look.



See http://www.tokyoplastic.com for some similar stuff.

buonrotto

Quote:

Originally posted by frawgz

Yep.. I was going to chime in with this too. The new pseudo-3D 2D look.



See http://www.tokyoplastic.com for some similar stuff.

Are you tellin' me that the super-graphic anime look is the up-and-coming fashion? Damn, I'm about 15 years ahead of the times!

drewprops

I'd be careful about using the generic "anime" tag; take a look at the WIRED article. They're showing graphics that are colder than what we all probably consider to be anime (Akira to My Neighbor Tototro to Macross). They have an exploded diagram of an Aibo and a cross-stitch looking design, likely created for use with DoCoMo phones.



I think that I know the "flat" three-dimensional look is like cel-animation without the traditional "cartoon" lines around objects. Colors are flat, but different surfaces are detectable with movement or proper lighting. Splinemodel's spacecraft-ish image would fit that look even more if it were missing some of the lines that pick out the separation between elements, allowing the shapes and colors alone show the design.



Regardless of what style anime this fits, the look is cool. I think that it will graduate beyond the pixelated look currently being employed to hearken to the Sims (a powerful societal paradigm that should catch the attention of ALL graphic designers btw). That "graduation" may simply be better-rendered, less jagged models....but still near that iconic, blocky look. Anything else is photoreal.



Oh yeah, iconography is more important than EVER now. With millions of people using computers they need to digest logos in a blink....so they can physically "click" to that link; ie, drive to that store, use that product, etc.



Anyway, good thread~