In recent years, design has progressively gone from minimal to completely flat; and for some, this style doesn’t represent an accurate message. Users are being drawn to design that seems “real”, whether real means VR and AR apps that almost feel lifelike or packaging that showcases a product instead of the brand behind it. This search for authenticity, whether perceived or real, is the driving force behind most of this year’s emerging design trends.

Design trendsto watch in 2017

Nostalgia, in some shape or form is always in. More millennials are joining the workforce, and with them, a pushback to the early ages of the internet and the zine color stories of their youth. Design has recently becomeso minimal that being intentionally colorful and just slightly imperfect can make a bold statement.

Source: Vibe Magazine

90’s retro

More companies are making an effort to respond to their consumers’ concerns about sustainable practices, and in some cases, health. That means sourcing information is becoming easily available, labels are getting simpler, and ingredients becoming the star of the show while branding is put on the backburner. Straightforwardness is becoming a differentiator, and that can be incorporated into every aspect of a business, right down to design. It’s gotten to the point where it’s easier to stand out by not having distinctively branded products.

Source: Roots and Bulbs

Debranding

Augmented and virtual reality aren’t exactly new, but for a while, they seemed more like a party trick than the next big thing until Niantic’s Pokémon Go proved skeptics wrongas it quickly became an international hit. VR, in particular,is used to create everything from movie promotions for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to a whole new type of movie.

This technology puts the viewer in the role of the hero, creating an experience that’s vastly different and far more exciting than being a mere spectator. The real question is whether or not these experiences will become a norm or if people will get sick of them entirely.

Source: Pottermore

Immersive andinteractive experiences

Motion design is everywhere, and something as simpleas tapping a button on an app is given more meaning because of motion. The way we think about personalityis closely intertwined with how someone moves andthis translates into motion design. Thoughtful movement within a design conveys energy and gives your user afocal point, all while creating a dynamic and subtly pervasive element that invites users to lose themselvesin an experience. CSS animations are becoming so prevalent that they’re even beginning to set a wholenew standard for keynote presentations.

Source: Invision

Motion design

The days of taking a desktop site and simply condensing it for mobile are long gone. The design and marketing worlds have been pushing mobile-first formatting and UI untilthey stuck; and that shift is even having an influence on preferred software. For quite a while, the majority of web designers and developers were relying on Photoshop and Illustrator, but now those tools are being supplemented with newcomers like Sketch and Invision, which were created with UX and UI in mind. These new tools even have a less steep learning curve, making interaction and experience design more accessible than they’ve ever been. Now designers everywhere are excited to break through the conventional boundaries of interfaces and define what UX and UI mean for new technology.

Source: Invision

The rise of new UXand UI tools

Let’s get started

As attitudes toward technology begin to shift, design trends have to adapt in response. For 2017, that means design will reflect the world’s search for authenticity. It can be easy to get caught up in how quickly these trends emerge and evolve. The key thing to remember is to keep the user, and their

experience in the front of your mind.

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