Everyone likes to have their say when it comes to predicting design trends, and this year is no different. Shutterstock, 99 Designs and Tailwind have all collated data to try and determine which direction the web design world is heading in – and they’ve all came to the same overall conclusion.

We’ll begin with taking an overall look into colour trend predictions for 2022. Shutterstock have released this year’s insights into key colour trends for 2022, leading the way. With standing out on social media and across the web being vital for businesses, “it’s important to work on your visual elements… to get noticed by your target audience.” (Hutchinson, 2022).

Colours in their trend analysis are reminiscent of bygone eras, most notably a revival of Y2K and early 21st century hues. We can also see this as a big part of an overall revival of the period – with fashion trends following the same curve. Similarly, we as a group of people are also thoroughly enjoying a revival of even earlier fashion trends, with the 60s being a big influence on colour schemes and statements.

Colours such as ‘Calming Coral’ [HEX Code #E9967A], Velvet Violet [#80D080], Pacific Pink [#DB7093] and various shades of green have been highlighted by Shutterstock (2022) to be “colours climbing the charts”.

These are all shades that can be seen increasing in popularity not just within clothes stores however, but also across social media and the web in graphics, imagery, video, web design and animation. This resurgence of vintage and nostalgia is something that we as designers and as consumers alike will continue to have thrust upon us for a long time to come.

We can see a reflection of this same trend pattern with Tailwind’s Social Media Design Trends predictions. A similar recognition of needing to stand out from the crowd, “your visual elements can play a key role, and can help to ensure that your posts and updates stand out in increasingly busy news feeds” (Hutchinson, 2022).

Tailwind has found that nods to the ‘Jet Era’ and washes of vintage and playful embellishments are all high profile trends. We are seeing massive waves of “throwback” design styles with fashion influences from the past 6 decades all coming into play.

From space age styles with Tailwind’s Look To The Future hinting at a throwback to 60s styles when NASA landed men on the moon, and Vivid Dreams hurtling us to the 90s with iron on patches and bright colours being a major influence, the early 2020s as a decade itself are seeing previous eras making their comeback across major design platforms.

For a web design angle, Red Website Design has shared 9 Web Design Trends “to inspire you” (Walker-Ford, 2022) using data from 99 Designs. It’s here that we can really see vintage design trends really come together with their Retro Revolution prediction.

With web designers wanting to get in on the ‘vintage fashion resurgence’, they are taking their creativity to the next level with reviving the World Wide Web of the 90s, albeit with the “added benefit of nearly 30 years of collective design experience” (Walker-Ford, 2022).

Tie this in with the growth of Handmade Graphics, we can really begin to enjoy and experience the best of vintage with a modern twist.

These design trends are incredibly reflective of overall trends we’re seeing almost everywhere. Walk into a clothes store and you’ll be affronted with styles, patterns and fabrics you thought we would have left behind, and click onto Instagram and you’ll have graphic design and imagery thrust upon you that matches the clothes stores.

Why do we think this is? Well, the rise in popularity of vintage is likely due to the increased awareness of the effect of consumerism and fast-fashion on the planet and global warming, with consumers of fashion, homeware, gifts, and the eco-conscious all heading towards thrifting.

A 2019 survey auditing the sales or donation behaviour of clothing acquired second-hand by UK consumers reveals that 62 percent have stated they have donated used items. Whereas 38 percent of consumers reported having sold second-hand items. (Smith, 2022).

While this data is from 2019, we can safely assume that due to the increase in sales within thrift stores and charity stores on the high street, there will have been a similar increase overall year on year.

Fashion influences us all, from web design through to social media graphic design and it is something that we can’t escape.

References

Hutchinson, A., 2022. 2022 Social Media Design Trends [Infographic]. [online] Social Media Today. Available at: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/2022-social-media-design-trends-infographic/618771/ [Accessed 14 February 2022].

Hutchinson, A., 2022. Shutterstock Provides Insights into Key Color Trends for 2022 [Infographic]. [online] Social Media Today. Available at: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/shutterstock-provides-insights-into-key-color-trends-for-2022-infographic/618437/ [Accessed 14 February 2022].

Walker-Ford, M. and Walker-Ford, M., 2022. 9 Web Design Trends to Inspire Your Online Presence in 2022 [Infographic]. [online] Social Media Today. Available at: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/9-web-design-trends-to-inspire-your-online-presence-in-2022-infographic/618438/ [Accessed 14 February 2022].

Walker-Ford, M., 2022. 9 Web Design Trends to Inspire Your Online Presence in 2022. [online] Red Website Design Blog. Available at: https://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2022/02/07/inspirational-web-design-trends-2022/ [Accessed 14 February 2022].

Smith, P., 2022. UK: second-hand clothing sales and donation 2019 | Statista. [online] Statista. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1135238/sales-or-donation-behaviour-of-second-hand-clothing-in-the-uk/ [Accessed 14 February 2022].