Visual Trends 2020 from DepositPhotos

One of the hot topics of 2020 will undoubtedly be Extended Reality (XR). Facebook’s Horizon and updates with Oculus Quest aim to integrate VR into our daily lives. It’s not just going to influence the way we spend our leisure time, but the way we shop and communicate as well. Get ready to immerse in virtual environments at home, with retail, the arts, and the entertainment industry.

Other popular topics will include automation, robotics, connected world, 5G, AI, cybersport, Internet of Things, artificial neural networks, and cloud health. Businesses have to find meaningful ways to leverage the latest tech, and microstock contributors have to be the first to supply the visuals with their imaginative take on the latest technology, as well as their use and applications.

All great designs manage to captivate audiences and grab attention. The play on optical perception, or the visual deformation of composition and typography, attracts the eye more so than a perfect composition. We can’t stop looking at designs in this style because it’s unconventional and doesn’t have clear patterns.

Our minds are programmed to look for patterns, but once you take that out of the equation in a design, one has to stop and grasp the bigger picture. Challenging viewers with distorted type and designs is a sure way to get them to pause, appreciate, and understand the message.

Movie releases can create some serious hype, but in 2020, it might as well be a role-playing video game to take the world by storm. The release of Cyberpunk 2077 will spark pop culture reinvestment into the sci-fi genre that focuses on AI overpowering humanity. The cyberpunk aesthetic is often used or referenced to convey deeper meanings about our modern society as seen in episodes of Black Mirror, Stranger Things, and the movie Blade Runner.

As an extension of the cyberpunk aesthetic, the neon lights and dystopian vibes could influence visual communication beyond the digital realm of the internet. The Neon Dystopia trend with cyberpunk roots will likely influence fashion and pave the road to futuristic undertones in other fields of art and design. References to this trend will stretch beyond and ironically involve all the technology we have to date to create atmospheric experiences.

We celebrated a century of the Bauhaus school in 2019. The pioneering aesthetic in fine arts continues to influence the design of living today and in the years to come. Artists often make references to the foundations of the Bauhaus movement, adding a contemporary spin to it with their projects.

Bauhaus aesthetics is the new definition of “less is more”. It’s evident not only in craftsmanship, paint, textiles, architecture, and typography, but even web design and graphic design in general. It stretches beyond an aesthetic we’re all familiar with, to a school of ideas that can serve as inspiration and challenge the status quo in 2020.

ORGANIC MOTION GRAPHICS

With the right tools, you can produce designs that both define and defy the rules of gravity. Organic motion graphics is an extension of last year’s trend - 3D Design Transition, used sparingly to captivate audiences with soothing movement, fluid shapes, and deconstructed forms in animation.

Fusing animation, technology, art, and design, this trend also gathers inspiration from nature and organic forms. Sometimes, it is the invention of new elements and shapes, or the visualization of unpredictable chemical reactions shown as animation. The result is hypnotizing works with vibrant, gravity-defying 3D elements that draw the eye and add mystery to dynamic online projects.

MUTED SHADES BREAK

The juxtaposition to bold, futuristic colors are color palettes that are soothing, gentle, and communicative. You might be familiar with the famous Tranquil Dawn color, or seen some of the beige undertones and monochrome highlights from this year. In a pool of bold designs and daring artistic choices, muted shades communicate a kind of sophistication that can only be achieved with a minimalist touch.

WGSN placed their bets on Neo-Mint as the color of the year. Arguably, this shade is in line with futuristic vibes, and it scrapes the surface of a bigger trend about preferences for muted colors. We need more color trends that work out the balance of nature and tech and serve as the perfect break for the eyes and mind.

Fresh out of a sci-fi novel, AI is said to take on more human tasks by 2020. Thanks to increased computing power, AI has advanced at lightspeed and is surpassing humans in learning capabilities. It’s also is changing shopping and learning experiences, and influencing business and consumer activity around the world.

The other side of the coin is a surge in societal concerns about the implications of these fast advancements. If tech-leading states, companies, artists, and society have started looking for solutions to current concerns, we should be ready for serious AI-talks in 2020. Arguably it’s already started with the latest solutions against facial-recognition devices and algorithms from Hong Kong. The topic continues with growing concerns about Deepfakes, cybersecurity, and safety in general. Elon Musk tried to warn us.