3D fever and modern nostalgia, among 2024’s most influential visual trends
Freepik has just presented its Visual Trends 2024 report, a comprehensive guide for brands, agencies, and creators into the evolving landscape of design.
With a team of over 800 freelance designers and 52,000 contributors, the company currently offers over 270 million assets. Over 100 million users rely on Freepik’s tools to search for assets for their designs, enabling the company to identify key insights that will shape the visual trends of 2024.
The design world experienced an influx of new trends in 2023, with “artificial intelligence” emerging as the defining player. Last year, Freepik generated more than 1 million images per month with its AI image generating tool. Later, the company introduced Pikaso, a platform that takes image generation to another level, enabling real-time creation by combining a prompt with a sketch easily crafted using the drawing tool provided in the interface. As we stand on the brink of 2024, Freepik offers a glimpse into the visual aesthetics that will shape the creative industry this year. The company has anticipated fifteen trends, some of which are already making their first appearances in various formats.
A major trend for 2024 is the omnipresence of 3D, manifesting across a spectrum of visual elements—from objects to textures and typography. While the preceding year witnessed the growing popularity of the 3D effect in Adobe Illustrator, 2024 marks a new era where 3D will appear in innovative expressions across different formats. The “Liquid 3D Fonts“ trend, for example, will make words appear to flow, adding dynamic elements to textual components. The “3D Glow“ trend, on the other hand, combines three-dimensional shapes with lighting effects that add a sense of depth and brightness to images or designs. 3D will also appear in abstract compositions that incorporate holographics or iridescence to create a sense of movement and dynamism.
Other trends that will be part of the visual landscape of 2024 will be those reminiscent of the past, finding their place in contemporary design with “Reminiscent of Art Nouveau“ and “Old Engraving“. The timeless elegance of curved lines, organic motifs, and fine engravings introduces a nostalgic charm into this year’s design ethos. Nature-inspired design also takes form in the “Florals and Botanicals“ trend, celebrating the timeless beauty of the natural world through soft tones and pastel palettes.
In another group of trends, the “Collage“ technique will make a comeback, seamlessly blending various elements like photographs, cutouts, textures, and typography to craft visually eclectic pieces. This eclectic aesthetic extends to “Cartoon Style“, where vibrant colors, black-and-white contrasts, and kawaii pastels coexist in playful harmony, offering designers a diverse palette for creative storytelling. Playfulness is also present in “Neobrutalism“, another trend characterized by a reinterpretation of the traditional 1950s movement composition principles: unique typography, solid colors, and elements featuring bold strokes and shadows.
This year will see the consolidation of trends that began to emerge during 2023. Styles such as “Chrome Effect“ or “Glassmorphism“ will converge to define a futuristic design ethos. The Y2K aesthetic, with its metallic chrome finish, will coexist with translucent glass-like elements, giving rise to multi-layered, bold designs with a distinctly modern and innovative flair. Another relevant texture for the upcoming year is the “Grainy gradient“, applied to give a retro feel to creations and provide a sense of depth and dimension to the image.
On the color front, Pantone’s color of the year, Peach Fuzz, will coexist harmoniously with vibrant and bright color palettes, creating powerful combinations that breathe life into bold and cheerful compositions.
Freepik has compiled all these trends with examples of their applications in all areas of design. The Visual Trends 2024 report provides a roadmap for designers to navigate these overarching trends, encouraging creative exploration and innovative storytelling in the year ahead.
