Graphic design trends for small business

2015 is the year for graphic design and small businesses! Why you ask? Because the hottest graphic design trends are simple enough for any creative person to use in their brand designs. You don’t need years of design experience or a team of designers to make a trendy graphic this year!

Be trendy, but be you

Before we dive into this year’s design trends, let’s talk about branding. As a marketer with a marketing and branding strategy, you know who you are. You know what personality people expect from you and what emotions, words and images influence your audience. You know your audience. You know who they are, what they like, what they hate and what they relate to, etc.

That being said, not every trend is for you. For example, gaming design is hot this year, but a nonprofit that brings medical aid to third-world countries should not use gaming-style design in their marketing. Be trendy, but be you.

The trends and your brand

I went ahead a ignored the design trends that require high-end software or are too industry specific; instead, I simply chose the graphic design trends that anyone can create using the Adobe Creative Suite and styles that can be adapted and used by all businesses.

Flat Design

Flat design is easily one of my favorite design trends and I hope it sticks around for a long time. Flat design is the opposite of realistic design. It is a minimalist style that lacks any stylistic elements that give the illusion of three dimensions. As you can see, all the big brands have been embracing flat design even in their logos, but you don’t have to rebrand to embrace flat design.

Flat design ideas for your brand:

Create an infographic or flyer using flat icons and geometric shapes:

Focus on the lines on your next mailer, not if your shadows are in the correct place:

Full Screen Background Images

This is exactly what it sounds like, you design over a large or full screen image.

Full screen image ideas for your brand:

This style is referred to as a hero image when used in web design. Add a hero image to your webpages to highlight your work and title the page:

Use an image with a lot of blank space and add a quote, testimonial, or statistic:

Grid Layout

Instagram, Pinterest, OSX, Windows 8 (for better or worse) all use grid design for their user experience. It is a logical, evenly-spaced style that appeals to our love of symmetry.

Grid layout ideas for your brand:

Highlight a lot of items in a small space on your next promotional piece:

Break apart your images and piece them back together grid-style:

Now that you have seen the trends, how do you feel? Inspired or overwhelmed? If you are inspired, please share with us the designs this post inspired you to create on Facebook or Twitter. If you are feeling overwhelmed, you are not alone. We have plenty of clients that leave all the design work to us. Give us a call and let’s talk about how Allee can help your brand be more visual!