Practice English Speaking&Listening with: TOP 5 Graphic Design Trends 2020 - Printful Print-On-Demand

Hi everyone it’s Andris from Printful’s marketing team and in this video I’ll go

over design trends for 2020.

First up, Retrowave art.

In our previous video we covered 80’s and 90’s pattern designs that paid homage to

the cartoons of that time.

Even though we’re now in a new decade, public’s craving for nostalgia is on the rise because

of new cult TV series, fashion, music and other media that managed to hook audiences

from all generations.

That’s how the Retrowave design trend has made its way back into the spotlight.

This trend is an expansion of the ‘80s aesthetic movement that embodies ‘80s nostalgia and

‘80s retrofuturism.

We did some research and found that the majority of retrowave designs:

are placed on a dark background include a 3D grid that merges polygonal mountains

and feature thick, blocky, 3D typography that's often styled to resemble metal

Together with our Graphic Design team we decided to test this design trend on an all-over print

fanny pack.

We started off with a high resolution full bleed image of a 3D grid which we were able

able to scale and reposition for every side of the fanny pack in our Printful Mockup Generator.

We also added the “New retro” title on the front placement of the product.

When it comes to colors, it’s best to stick to the analogous color scheme, in other words,

hues that are located right next to each other on the color wheel.

To help your objects stand out from the busy background, glow effects are a big help.

While they print fine on all-over products, for DTG you need use the halftone effect to

achieve a similar neon glow, in order to avoid semi-transparency.

We have a step by step tutorial for this effect, I’ll leave a link to it below so you could

watch later.

Before we move to the next trend let’s quickly pop in to Google Trends, there’s something

I want to show you.

Here we can see that for the last five five years the interest for the keyword “retrowave”

is still growing strong.

Now if we compare it to “synthwave”, which is the musical genre from which retrowave

originated, you can see similar growth, especially in the Western hemisphere.

Since the trend is based on 80’s nostalgia you have an entire generation that relates

to it because they lived in those times, and then the younger generation that romanticizes

them.

3D & Realism 21st century tech not only solves modern problems,

but also brings new ways of entertainment.

Augmented Reality apps are available on our phones that help us use our surroundings as

a giant sandbox to play around with 3d objects.

3D is steadily becoming the new standard.

If you’re creating digital art using only 3D modeling software or combine 3D elements

with photography, now's a good time as ever to use your art to create posters and sell

them online.

Here we have a 12x16 Enhanced Matte Paper Poster with a design made of simple 3D objects.

We chose this matte poster and not a canvas, because the smooth surface helps to highlight

the depth of this composition, its rich color tones and small details.

A canvas, on the other hand, would prevent such accurate depiction due to its textured

surface.

Bicolor Designs This graphic design trend uses bold elements

and a strong color contrast.

As the name states there are two colors in the composition.

The best part about bicolor designs is the simplicity.

You can create them on the Printful Mockup Generator in a matter of minutes: pick a product

in any color you like, and add a clipart design in a different color.

Done!

A similar trend went viral a few years ago in photography thanks to the Spotify rebranding

campaign that featured lots of visuals with the duotone effect.

Our graphic design team combined both trends into one, and then printed it out on this

Bella + Canvas 3001 Heather Blue T-shirt and an iPhone 11 phone case.

Because of the simplicity, it's easy to use this design on different products.

If it had more details, they’d need to be rearranged to fit the printing area of each

product type.

Simplified Illustrations Following the idea of “less is more” for

our next trend we have simplified illustrations.

Illustrations have been popular for a few years now and will continue to be designer’s

favourites in the following decade.

We have our print files prepared for stickers and mugs.

Bright bold colors, clearly defined shapes accompanied with goofy texts is the way to

go.

You can literally use any shape.

If you can’t come up with anything, you can start by taking a picture of any object

with your phone.

Then, in the graphic editor use a pen tool to select the shape of this object, which

by the way shouldn’t be perfect, and fill it with color.

Add another shape on top of it, some text and you`re done.

If you’re creating this type of design for stickers and want to make sure that the text

and the shape are both on one sticker make sure that they have a background shape layer

in the print file.

For our last entry we have the ultra-minimalist trend.

Its main characteristics, such as simple geometric forms, and limited color palette make it a

perfect choice for embroidery.

Remember when creating a design for embroidery you need to think of the composing elements

as shapes, rather than drawings.

We used a Flat Bill Cap, with embroidered black and red round shapes.

We were able to bring 3D depth to it by using the 3D puff embroidery method.

Because of this we have this awesome shine effect as the light reflects on the embroidered

elements.

When creating the designs with geometrical shapes always remember about the thickness

of the shape, and spacing between the elements, as this will prevent the order from being

placed on hold.

Minimalist art is free for audience’s interpretation.

As minimalists painter Frank Stella once said ‘What you see is what you see’.

The last thing I want to talk about is this year's Pantone color of the year - Classic

Blue.

Same as last year’s Living Coral this color is also out of gamut, making it impossible

to reproduce digitally so that it could be printed.

But what you can do is use similar hues within gamut and include them in your design.

Just remember that the color may not look the same on different garments.

Also it’s worth noting the color psychology behind the color blue.

While Pantone capitalizes on its sense of peace and tranquility to the human spirit,

remember that blue is a color favored by corporations because it's associated with trustworthiness,

loyalty and confidence.

So if you decide to go with it, make sure it is in line with what your store represents.

Don't be afraid to experiment because as you know, Printful prints your products only when

the orders come in and you don’t have to order anything in bulk.

Remember that whatever design trends you decide to introduce to your store, the end product

should create an experience for your customers that is in tune with your values.

If you need any help creating designs, reach out to our graphic design services team.

You can do that by going to our Printful homepage and under services tab choose graphic design

services and then submit a request.

If you’re new to this channel make sure to subscribe and tap on the bell button to

never miss out on the latest content.

Lastly, write down in the comments which design do you think will go viral in 2020?

That’s all from me this week, I`ll see you around.