The arrival of winter and the holiday seasons means that many web and graphic designers will be working on projects that are aimed at these specific occasions. Keeping up with trends in the industry, however, is important in creating a sense of modernity and freshness. Let’s take a look at a handful of seasonal design trends that you’ll be likely to see this year.
Minimalism
As part of a broad trend over the 2010s, minimalism has been a fairly common choice in the design fields for a while. Not surprisingly, the 2017 holiday season will also be marked by minimalist choices by designers. This means more vector graphics and fewer raster effects. It also means simpler representations and less use of photos.
This may extend to a lot of common seasonal design elements. For example, Christmas trees displayed on sites or in graphics are likely to be simple green items with several points rather than detailed representations of actual trees. Colored dots will stand in place of Christmas ornaments. White points will pose as snowflakes.
Representation
Along with the minimalist trend, designs are also expected be more representative of themes rather than overtly demonstrative. This means favoring representative colors, such as green and red for Christmas, over placing clear depiction of characters such as Santa. Minimalist deer representations will be favored over specifically identifiable members of Santa’s team of reindeers.
A lack of overtness can be especially beneficial in situations where a company may not want to be overly specific about the holiday in question. A firm that wants to celebrate the holidays in general, rather than Christmas specifically, might benefit from sticking to representative artwork. Designers should keep this idea in mind.
Localization
If a particular project is commissioned on behalf of a highly localized entity, such as a museum or a store, the depictions in their designs are likely to be highly localized, too. An organization may want to show their city’s skyline lit up with holiday lights, for example, as part of the website banner. If there’s a strong example of architecture at a physical site, a depiction of it may be integrated as a focal point for a holiday design.
Nostalgia
One of the biggest trends across all media in the last five years or so has been nostalgia. Any scene depicting a simpler time or a bygone era is likely to be very popular. Winter displays of ice skaters are evocative of childhood. Images of kids waiting to unwrap present may also be popular.
You’ll also likely witness a lot of use of color choices and effects that indicate previous times. Some designers are even favoring depictions that seem to predate the advent of widespread use of color in media. Something that gives a sense of being from an old newspaper or a magazine like the Saturday Evening Post may be in order. This can be powerfully deployed by mixing nostalgia and minimalism, too.
Limited Colors
Most images, especially in the age of minimalism, will use one or two strong colors that can create a strong focus. This sort of limited palette also allows viewers to quickly assess intended associations. A website that switches to blue and white theming can quickly evoke a sense of winter seasonality without going into a major redesign.
Conclusion
Overall, the trend for winter and holiday season design will be toward simple. Minimalist is in. Nostalgia is big. With these ideas in mind, you can see that the graphics and websites you create will keep up the times.
