Current trends

Graphic Design
#1

Hi There. I am a newbie to this forum so I hope I can ask this here. I am a Graphic Design student and am hoping I can get some answers for the following which is for an assessment I am currently trying to complete. I would really appreciate if anyone could help me out please?

  1. Are there any current trends that you think will be used into the future? If so, why do you think it
    will last?
  2. Are there any current trends that have influenced your work?
  3. How do you keep up with current trends?
    Cheers
1 Like
#2

Isn’t an assessment a test?
What are your answers to these questions?

#3

No not really an assessment is more comprehensive than a test and more about learning where a test is testing you on something you already know. The question is meant to be directed at industry professionals however I have struggled to gain this from them. As I am learning I do not have anything to form answers for these and am to learn from others. Thanks

#4

Hmf, it’s not surprising you don’t have answers to those questions, and that you’re not finding them either. That’s because the questions themselves have no answers.* They are almost silly in their superficial naivety. If you were interviewing me in the quest for answers to these questions, the exchange might be something like:

Current trends in what?

What kind of graphic design? There are so many categories and sub-disciplines, and each may possibly have its own trends that are unrelated to the others. And, graphic design most often plays a supporting role to other industries, and answers to the tends in those industries. So, the design of printed product brochures, for instance follows different trends when the brochures are for heavy construction equipment than when they’re designed to sell underwear. See what I mean? Don’t even get me started on web design.

Oh wait.

No.

Yes, the answer is no. There are no current trends that will last into the future. They never do. It’s ruthlessly cyclic; they never last, but they do always come back.

No.

No.

I don’t. If a client’s business objectives beget graphic design objectives dictating a study of current trends, either in the client’s industry or the graphic design which supports it, I observe those current trends and then most typically do my best to steer my client away from them.

*So there you have it:

  1. No.
  2. No.
  3. No.
2 Likes
#5

I’ll ditto what HB said.

Though, I’m beginning to think that grunge is a trend that is never going to end.
Sadly.
I’m so over photoshopped coffee stains in the interest of “casual” and tiny, wonky vector “distressing” that does nothing more than slow rips and plotters to a dead crawl (if they don’t just stop dead from information overload.) Also kind of tired of clients saying, “It looked so good on my monitor (at 8” wide.) What did you DO to it to make it look soooo BAD (at 8’ wide)?!?
Yeah, take a look at your grunge at actual size before blaming me for that reversed bezier crap.
If in doubt, print it out.

1 Like
#6

I rarely meet clients who care about the trends some new designers seem to be preoccupied with.

It’s important not let one’s work look dated, but pursuing trendiness can be almost as bad. Good designers concentrate on solving client problems, not being trendy. If incorporating some new, here today, gone tomorrow trend is useful in solving the problem at hand, fine. That is typically not the case, however.

The best designers, through their innovative work, are trendsetters, not followers. By the time a design trend becomes obvious, it’s usually best to avoid it.

2 Likes
#7

Appreciate all the feedback.
Cheers

#8