A look back at 2023 and ahead to 2024 from a brand and web design perspective.

Written By Ben Allsop

Over the last 12 months we have discovered, followed, evolved, emulated and invented many design elements in either our own work or seen from our favourite sources of inspiration. To write an account of all of these would be a huge undertaking and likely a little boring to non-design-geeks, so we have cherry picked just a few prominent pieces that we think you will find most interesting in brand and website design.

 

The battle of Bold vs Basic

This year, global brands such as Ford and Pepsi pared-back their logo designs in a bid to go back to a simpler aesthetic. Yet in other industries, designers are abandoning the muted tones of the past for bold and vibrant colour schemes that demand attention. Spotify's design system is a great example of this.

Will we see a resurgence of rich, saturated colours combined with high-contrast palettes to create visually striking and memorable brand identities? Or more stripping-back-to-basics?

Credits: PepsiCo, Spotify ‘Wrapped’.

 

Sustainability Firmly Adopts Centre Stage

We will witness continued growth in awareness of environmental issues and how this consciousness is reflected in a brands' ethos and design style. Brands are increasingly adopting eco-friendly and sustainable design elements to convey a commitment to environmental responsibility. But to what end?

Credit: www.beeswrap.com

Earthy colour palettes, organic shapes, and eco-conscious messaging are becoming prominent features, reflecting a commitment to environmental responsibility.

However, consumers are increasingly aware of 'green washing' and brands must ensure this is done with honesty and integrity. Brands like Patagonia and Ecover still lead the way as conscious brands incorporating sustainable design authentically into their core mission, purpose and business practices, not only their marketing and advertising communications.

A growing consideration amongst brands taking sustainable practices seriously is their digital carbon footprint. We expect to see fewer heavy image-overloaded email and web designs to minimise their dependency on pictures, leading to clean, minimal, multimedia-free solutions and explorations in other areas of design such as typography.

The question building in importance for 2024 is how brands can help consumers make the active change from wanting to live sustainably to actually doing so.

 

Avoiding ‘Blanding’

Typography is breaking free from the constraints of conventionality. In a world where the majority of what we view (from brands) is on a small screen, sans serif typefaces are preferred. However, when there is no accompanying icon or logo, this trend creates a problem that has it’s own term: ‘blanding'. Everything starts to look the same.

Dynamic and expressive fonts are being explored in numerous forms, allowing businesses to convey personality and uniqueness through their typography choices. Trends such as semi-serifs, ‘funky & chunky’ and 3D and interactive fonts are unpacked in this brilliant article by Creative Boom.

 

Minimalistic Micro-interactions

While bold type and colours regain the spotlight, micro interactions are quietly revolutionising user experiences.

In web design, subtle animations and micro interactions are being used more and more to enhance user engagement. From hover effects to seamless transitions, these small design elements contribute to a more intuitive and enjoyable user journey.

The cleverer the better - providing they enhance the experience and don't simply add movement for movements sake.

Ben Allsop
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