I must admit, I
dislike articles dealing with design trends. Most of the time, design trend
roundups cover similar topics and lack originality. But you know what? I will
try to give this old idea another spin, and I will try to keep it original.
This is why you
might learn some things that you wouldn’t expect from such an article, so let’s
get started.
Illustrators will be in Big Demand
Small and big
businesses alike are finally starting to understand that the best way to tell
stories and get their message across is via images and good stories.
That’s why
illustration is going to reach new heights this year, and it might even peak in
terms of demand and popularity.
In other words,
illustrators can look forward to a lot of job offers. This isn’t solely a design
trend, it’s a business trend.
Full stack designer? What the hell is that?
I am hearing this
expression way too often, so it’s probably going to become a design trend too.
But what on earth
does it mean? What is a “full stack designer,” and why should we care? It is a
designer capable of tackling all your design needs, from branding, mobile
applications, websites, to making coffee.
What the hell is a full stack
designer? It’s a designer capable of handling all design needs.
The potential
benefits of using a single designer for various tasks are obvious. In theory,
it could eliminate a lot of communication and back-and-forths in your team. On
the other hand, you need to make sure that you don’t end up with a designer who
appears to be a jack of all trades, but is master of none.
Automatization at its finest
In the past year we
witnessed rapid growth of services like Readymag and Semplice, but that is just
the start.
We are going to see
a lot more tools for codeless development. Designers are going to be allowed to
produce fully working designs.
We are starting to see more tools for
codeless development and design automation. How will this affect your work?
The approach has a
lot of potential advantages and could streamline execution, but please don’t
get carried away. Automated services can do a lot, but they can’t do
everything.
Designer tools: Final Battle
We saw a huge amount
of new design tools gain popularity last year, but new tools appear all the
time; and they come and go.
However, this time
it should be more interesting. I would single out the struggle between Adobe Comet and Sketch, because these seem to
be the tools of the future.
We will see how a
little software studio can take on a big corporation that’s been setting
industry trends and standards for years.
Prototyping and specs tools
In the past year we
witnessed the appearance or popularization of several prototyping/specs tools.
This year won’t be different, with one exception: Some will shine and some will
die.
Here are some of
these exciting tools fighting for users and market share:
●
Pixate
●
Zeplin (specs tool)
●
Avocode (specs tool)
I am especially
curious about the outcome on the design and prototyping tool front. Having
design and prototyping functionality in two separate apps might become a thing
of the past. Their functionality can be covered by a single tool, keeping
everything in one place.
Being a designer is going to become more complex
Over the past few
years, a designer’s job has been progressively more complicated and demanding.
To be a top notch designer, it is no longer enough to have good visual skills.
In spite of new tools and a higher
degree of automation, designers can expect their daily workload to become more
diverse and complex.
Designers are
expected to be proficient in several new fields, such as animation,
prototyping, user testing, speccing, and more.
Designers must
master new skills and broaden their knowledge. Future design positions will
require an expanded skillset and more experience.
The dark rise of diffuse shadows
In recent years,
designers relied on clean, long shadows, but it seems someone decided that
these minimal shadows are way too decadent.
So, let’s hear a
warm welcome for diffuse shadows, which are a combination of shadow with a bit
of color inside it. You can visualise it as a unicorn painting, and you should
get ready to see more of these. So long, long shadows!
Diffuse shadows help
illustrate depth more realistically and naturally than long shadows. Their soft
edges, coupled with a splash of colour to mimic diffused lighting, help
designers create good looking environments and smoother, interactive
transitions between various design elements.
Natural language gaining traction
After Typeform introduced a new and innovative way to communicate
with customers, people started caring more about their form/login/registration
pages. They wanted these pages to talk to customers, and so far, the approach
has been a huge success.
Forms with natural
languages have a tendency to offer superior conversion than regular input
forms. Therefore, we expect to see significantly higher adoption of natural
design language.
Forms with natural languages have a
tendency to offer superior conversion than regular input forms.
It is important to
note that these forms usually aren’t skeuomorphic, because a lot of casual
observers mistake skeuomorphism for natural language. Although both try to
humanize design, skeuomorphism is more elaborate and unsuitable for these
designs.
As far as
skeuomorphism as a design trend is concerned, it’s been passe for years and it
won’t make a comeback anytime soon.
Material design to role them all
Shortly after Google
introduced its material design language, every designer I know started taking
Google seriously again, and they were right to do so. Google invested a lot of
effort into its new design language, which was acclaimed by users and design
professionals alike.
The popularity of
material design had an unexpected side effect; although it was originally
conceived as a mobile design language, material design
ended up affecting web design way more than design on mobile platforms. The clean
and sleek look were welcomed by users, and I expect us to see more web pages
and web application designs based on material design moving forward.
Google is not
changing its direction, and material design is an integral part of Android 6.0.
This means this particular design trend is bound to stick around for years.
More animated interfaces
We all love those
richly animated Walt Disney classics, right?
However, when making
design interactions and animations, we should not watch those movies. Otherwise
we will see even more animated interfaces this year, and the average web
designer is not a Walt Disney animator.
On a more serious
note, if designers decide to adopt animated interfaces, they need to strike the
right balance by not making the animations distracting, and not compromising
the user experience with unnatural and unnecessary pauses.
Bold colors for everyone
We are slowly
getting to a stage where we simply have too many websites and apps. In order to
differentiate their products, designers are pushing the envelope and
experimenting with new colours.
One way to make a
design stand out is to employ bold and rich colours. People are more likely to
remember and associate them with that brand.
Rich, bold colours are in this season.
Crank up the saturation and experiment with striking, colourful designs.
A radical colour
choice resonates with users; the Asana or Spotify rebrands illustrate how it’s
done. Both companies transitioned to memorable, (over)saturated colours, and
the redesign worked for them.
In 2016, we expect
to see more designs, redesigns, and rebrands using the same approach.
2016 design trends are new, but not original
In any event, designers
need to decide if they just wanna follow industry design trends, or want to
experiment with their own trendsetting designs. A confident designer can make a
difference and here is why:
2016 design trends are merely an evolution and extension
of existing design languages and patterns. We are not reinventing the wheel
this year, so this leaves room for innovative designs based on familiar
building blocks.
The underlying
basics remain unchanged; we will continue to see clean, minimal design in every
field. The biggest change in terms of style comes courtesy of diffuse shadows,
so this is definitely something to be taken into account. Remember folks, we’re
not just changing the shadows; we need to take into account lighting in
general, so we must consider mimicking soft, diffused lighting in our designs,
which usually translates into lower contrast and softer edges.
Natural design and
animations are worth looking into as well, especially for designers who
specialise in UI, UX, and IxD. We suggest a subtle, conservative approach,
something that will complement the soft shadow look discussed earlier.
Designers concerned
that using softer shadows and more subtle animations will rob a design of its
flare needn’t worry; rich colours are in this season, so they should be used
them to make a design pop.
I started my list
with a couple of points that have more to do with business than design. While
2016 design trends might not look too exciting or challenging, I think it’s
important to stress that designers will be expected to do more moving forward.
This means they will have to master new tools and techniques, and take on roles
they may not be entirely comfortable with. Designers should consider setting
aside some time to experiment, brush up old skills and learn new ones.
Besides, setting
aside a bit of time to catch up and train is never a bad idea.
References
This article was originally published on Toptal
About Author
LUBOŠ VOLKOV
Email: jordan.lyons@toptal.com
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