15 graphic design trends to keep an eye on in 2025

Graphic design trends are a highly debated topic in the graphic design space. At its core, trends are an excellent source to learn what markets and audiences are gravitating towards. So, what are some design trends we can expect to see in 2025? And as creators, how can we predict graphic design trends?

In this article, we’ll share 15 types of graphic design styles we’ve spotted that are worth keeping an eye on in 2025. We'll also explore how you can start trend forecasting to spot trends with the free resources available to you.

Table of contents

What are trends and why are they relevant to graphic designers and creators?

Trends come and go - by the time you spot a trend, it’s probably already trending or may even be on its way out, while another starts to surface. Some of these trends might already feel familiar, popping up in your favorite blogs, marketing ads, magazines, and social feeds. Maybe you’ve caught yourself thinking, “Haven’t I seen this before?” You’re not wrong. Often a trend is simply something that’s gone out of fashion but has recycled back with a sometimes new or modernized angle. 

When it comes to trends, it’s not about reinventing the wheel but understanding how these aesthetics are being reshaped and recontextualized for modern audiences. Graphic design trends are all about exploration, experimentation, and understanding what both designers and the market are gravitating towards.

3 trend spotting strategies

Spotting emerging graphic design trends requires a deliberate and structured approach. To ensure accuracy and relevance, our team analyzed a combination of historical data, current consumer interests, and industry innovations. Staying updated on trends isn’t just about aesthetics—it can also enhance your online reputation by positioning you as a forward-thinking designer who understands what resonates with audiences.

We used three core strategies to pinpoint the below 2025 graphic design trends. If you've ever wondered how to stay up to date with graphic design trends, these three trend-spotting tactics are a great place to start.

Here’s how we arrived at the trends shaping 2025:

1. Follow brands you trust in your industry

One of the simplest ways to stay ahead of trends is by keeping an eye on industry leaders and brands you admire. For creatives and graphic designers, these could be innovative design agencies, influential graphic designers, or even companies known for their cutting-edge marketing and visual aesthetics. Follow them on social media, subscribe to their newsletters, and regularly visit their websites. Pay attention to the design elements they’re experimenting with - like color schemes, typography, or layouts - and take note of recurring themes. For example, if your niche is related to healthcare, exploring the evolution of scrub caps can inspire creative, industry-specific designs.

By observing trusted brands, you’ll not only learn what’s trending but also gain insights into how those trends are applied in real-world scenarios. This approach helps you understand the "why" behind a trend, ensuring that you can adapt it thoughtfully in your own work rather than merely copying what’s popular.

2. Scour social media (Pinterest, Instagram, etc.)

Drew, who leads the Production Department at Kittl, has a hands-on approach to staying up to date with trends. He combines thorough research with a keen eye for inspiration in everyday life. Many of the trends Drew identifies come from visual platforms like Pinterest and Instagram. He saves interesting and innovative designs he comes across, curating them into personal boards for future reference. 

By consistently collecting and organizing creative ideas, Drew is creating a visual space to reference and spot patterns. This is a trend spotting method that anyone can adopt for free. It’ll also provide you with a great source of creative inspiration you can access anytime. Understanding the Pros and Cons of social media can also serve as a valuable tool for this purpose—offering diverse inspiration while requiring mindfulness to avoid distractions and algorithm-driven limitations.

3. Reference trend forecasting tools

As a graphic designer and digital marketer, one of my personal favorite methods of trend forecasting is to check the data collected from sites built for this, such as Exploding Topics and Ahrefs. These platforms are designed to analyze consumer behavior and highlight topics that are gaining traction, making it easier to stay ahead of the curve.

Exploding Topics, for instance, identifies emerging topics and tracks their growth trajectory by analyzing search volumes and consumer interest. It’s a straightforward way to see which design styles, color palettes, or graphic elements are gaining popularity. 

Similarly, Ahrefs provides in-depth data on trending keywords and related content, giving you insights into how specific topics or visual trends are performing online.

Using these tools doesn’t just give you a snapshot of currently trending designs - it also helps you anticipate what might be relevant in the future. By integrating these insights into your design process, you’ll be able to create work that feels fresh and stay ahead of the curve.

What graphic design trends can we expect in 2025?

Our methodology combines data-driven insights, industry expertise, and a keen eye for design innovation. By analyzing historical data, consumer interests, and emerging trends across visual platforms, we've identified the key patterns shaping the graphic design landscape.

Based on our research and creative taste, here are the 15 graphic design trends set to define 2025.

1. Minimal type

Minimal typography has been a steadfast favorite in the design world, and it’s clear this trend is here to stay and popular in streetwear design. These designs strip everything down to the essentials - letting bold, clean typefaces take center stage. In many cases, you’ll find designs featuring little more than text, with perhaps a subtle accent like a globe or small icon to complement the layout.

This trend shines in its use of type as both content and design elements. Text is arranged to create visual hierarchy, balance, and abundant white space, resulting in a modern and sophisticated aesthetic. While it has strong ties to streetwear, minimal typography is equally at home in packaging, web design, poster design, and branding projects. The minimal type design trend often pairs thick sans-serif fonts with elegant scripts which amplifies a luxurious, yet accessible vibe.

Experiment with this style to create bold, refined designs for high-end clients. And if you’re curious about mastering it, browse the free templates available on Kittl that feature this minimalist style trend. Below is just a few of hundreds of templates you can find.

2. Utilitarian

Utilitarian design takes minimalism in a different direction by focusing more on organization, order, and alignment. You’ll often see this style done through layering functional details like barcodes, symbols, and organized grids. Think of plane tickets or product labels - designs packed with information but executed with meticulous precision.

This style combines a neutral palette (often black and white) with a "maximal minimalism" approach, filling grids with structured elements for visual interest. Though it began with streetwear, utilitarian design has now expanded into packaging, menus, book layouts, and even presentation slides.

Utilitarian style design has minimal roots in terms of the clean black and white colors, but most of these designs have a lot going on. It’s like adding tons of extra stuff for no real reason other to keep filling up a grid. You can think about it like having a large rectangle and then going wild with all of the different smaller rectangles you can fit inside that one big rectangle.

3. Surrealism

A style we’ve been continuously seeing is surrealism collage graphics. Surrealism takes what is realistic and blends it with what would be considered unrealistic, another more technical way to define it would be combining imagery from the conscious mind with the unconscious mind to create dreamlike expressions. You most-likely recognized this famous art style. It’s been popular for a long time, first emerging after World War 1. Today, we’re seeing its influence in graphic design as tools are advancing, allowing us to warp and meld different elements together to form a phantasmal collage. 

You’ll often see butterflies, galaxies, moons, or planets integrated with human figures - like a head replaced by a cloud, mirror, or TV screen - creating striking, imaginative imagery.

Recently, this style has evolved with the addition of typography. Designers are pairing handwritten fonts, nostalgic serifs, or bold typefaces with impactful quotes from authors or artists, adding depth and guiding viewers to interpret the message.

Though seemingly niche, this style has broad applications in conferences, churches, music events, social media graphics, posters, and album covers. Surrealism collage graphics are ideal for merging unrelated ideas into cohesive, artistic designs, making them perfect for conveying complex or inspiring concepts.

4. Bento grids

Bento grids, inspired by the Japanese bento box, are a clean and organized design trend gaining traction in web and app design. This grid system uses compartmentalized boxes to neatly display content, making it an organized and effective way to share multiple pieces of information or calls-to-action in a single layout.

The concept is simple yet versatile. A bento grid typically features a large rectangle divided into smaller sections, each with its own border to keep elements visually distinct. This approach balances functionality and design, offering a visually pleasing way to structure content.

While it’s most commonly used as a graphic style in digital applications like websites and apps, the bento grid concept translates well to other formats. Think t-shirt designs, flyers, menus, or any project requiring clear organization of diverse content.

5. Gradient shapes

Gradient shapes are making a comeback with a subtle twist. This trend combines organic, wobbly forms with soft gradients and a grainy texture reminiscent of nostalgic 90s poster designs. The blend of gradients with a slight blur and noise effect gives these shapes a dreamy, retro feel.

Beyond aesthetics, gradient shapes serve a functional purpose by guiding the viewer’s eye and adding implied motion to static designs. The trend’s versatility allows it to shine in various contexts, from websites and posters to packaging and even book covers. 

For instance, you can pair gradients with clean sans-serif typography for a balanced, modern look. This trend avoids the overdone gradients of the past, instead pushing them into the background for subtle sophistication. 

6. 3D objects & motion design

3D graphics and motion design continue to dominate, especially in marketing and advertising. Hyper-realistic 3D product shots have become a go-to for brands like Apple, Beats, and Sony, creating conversation stopping commercials and dynamic compositions.

This style takes the product or object and blends it into the design itself, making it an integral component of the design. You’ll often see text interacting with the product as well as other components and shapes.  Text might weave around a floating sneaker, or shapes interact with a suspended coffee cup. These designs often feature slightly angled, “floating” objects that feel frozen in mid-air, creating a sense of movement and depth.

This trend works exceptionally well for advertising, web, and social media content, where visual impact is key. 

7. Rugged/sustainable

The sustainable design movement has influenced a rugged, minimalist aesthetic in packaging. Recycled materials, like textured cardboard, take center stage, paired with simple type, minimal illustration, and minimal color. The result is an earthy, authentic feel that resonates with eco-conscious consumers.

This style isn’t limited to eco-focused brands; it’s seen across industries, from coffee packaging to apparel. By embracing natural textures and minimal color palettes, designers can create impactful visuals with fewer resources. This approach not only reduces waste but can also lower costs, making it a practical choice for many projects.

8. Textured art and scrapbook style

Let’s take a quick step away from digital graphic design to look at a more traditional medium. Scrapbook-inspired design is a style rising in use that taps into nostalgia, combining tactile elements like torn paper, handwritten fonts, and vibrant colors. This whimsical style adds a personal, handcrafted feel to designs. 

You’d be surprised by the versatility of this style. Beyond its popularity in poster design, this graphic style works beautifully for label designs, packaging, and even merchandise. For example, you can create designs where the shirt or garment itself becomes the background, with floating elements layered on top for a unique, textured effect.

Additionally, this style excels at capturing attention in digital spaces. Whether you're designing presentation slides, social media thumbnails, or carousel posts, the scrapbook aesthetic can create a cohesive narrative across multiple frames, connecting each slide in a visually engaging way. This makes it an ideal choice for storytelling or creating standout visuals that leave a lasting impression.

For tips on how to achieve the textured, scrapbook style in design, watch the video tutorial below led by graphic designer, Graham.

9. Ink trap & wobbly fonts

Ink trap fonts, originally developed to address ink bleed in printed materials, have made a stylistic resurgence. These typefaces feature small gaps that are intentionally cut into the letterforms, usually at junctions of corners of the letters. When printing on rough or absorbent paper the extra bleed from the ink would fill those gaps/traps and you were left with a full letter. 

We’re seeing this graphic design trend paired with wobbly, organic fonts in everything from branding to packaging.

These fonts balance personality and sophistication, making them perfect for branding, web design, and product packaging. Kittl offers a wide style variety of fonts including ink trap fonts, ready for experimentation. We’ve uploaded a selection of them such as Marry Cherry, Getai Grotesh, Bricolage Grotesque, Murmure, and many others to Kittl that you can get started with in the design project via the button below:

10. Doodles

Doodle-style illustrations bring a raw, naive charm to designs. Unlike polished, professional artwork, these intentional imperfections evoke authenticity and approachability.

Doodles work across various design contexts, from packaging to merch and social media. They pair surprisingly well with a wide range of typography styles, making them adaptable to several brand aesthetics.

This style also ties in nicely with eco-friendly trends, often incorporating natural, handmade elements. Whether you’re designing for a product or creating whimsical graphics, doodles add a playful, human touch that connects with audiences.

With digital tools, you can vectorize hand-drawn elements or layer textures to achieve the look. We experimented with this by hand-drawing doodles, vectorizing them, and printing them onto tote bags. See how we did this in the video below!:

11. Japandi style

Japandi style is on our graphic design trends watch list for 2025, with global search volume growing over 70% in the past five months, according to Exploding Topics - and it’s on the rise. Japandi style blends the simplicity of Japanese minimalism with the cozy functionality of Scandinavian design, creating a calming aesthetic that resonates in modern graphic design trends. This style focuses on clean lines, soft neutral tones, and organic textures, often incorporating earthy color palettes like taupe, beige, and muted greens. 

In graphic design, Japandi style is about balance - pairing sans-serif fonts with hand-drawn elements or using spacious layouts that evoke tranquility. You’ll see this trend reflected in branding, packaging, and web design, especially for lifestyle and wellness brands. Its understated elegance makes it a timeless choice for conveying sophistication and warmth.

12. Black and white designs

Black and white design is the epitome of timeless sophistication, making it a staple in graphic design trends year after year. This trend thrives on contrast, creating bold, high-impact visuals that demand attention. Whether through typography, intricate patterns, or minimalist layouts, black and white designs remove distractions, emphasizing form and structure.

You’ll often find cool black and white designs used in branding, editorial layouts, and web design. Pair it with sharp sans-serif fonts or elegant serifs for a sleek, modern feel. Its minimalist and striking aesthetic makes it ideal for sophisticated, high-end use-cases and high-quality brands.

13. Swiss coffee color combinations

“Swiss Coffee” is a paint color that has grown in popularity over the past year, sparking interest in Swiss Coffee color palettes - a trend we foresee continuing to thrive into 2025. In sharp contrast to 2024’s maximalism trend, Swiss Coffee color palettes are warm, soft, and inviting, embodying a cozy aesthetic. While it’s a design trend on its own, Swiss Coffee also pairs perfectly with other graphic design trends listed here. This color trend emphasizes off-whites, cream tones, and subtle beige shades, creating a calm and comforting look. These hues pair beautifully with clean typography, hand-drawn elements, and natural textures like paper and linen.

This graphic design trend works exceptionally well in branding, packaging, and interior design graphics, offering a subdued yet sophisticated look. Swiss Coffee colors create a sense of understated luxury, ideal for lifestyle, wellness, and artisanal brands.

14. Wabi-sabi art

Wabi-sabi art embraces imperfection and impermanence, making it a compelling addition to current graphic design trends. Rooted in Japanese philosophy, this concept celebrates raw textures, asymmetry, and muted tones to promote designs that feel organic and authentic.

In graphic design, wabi-sabi translates into intentionally imperfect layouts, hand-drawn elements - like the doodle art trend - and distressed textures. This trend is often used in packaging, poster design, and branding for artisanal or eco-conscious brands. Its emphasis on authenticity over perfection connects with audiences on a deeper level, creating designs that are as meaningful as they are visually striking.

15. Mid-century modern

Mid-century modern design has seen a resurgence in recent years, but it’s currently experiencing a remarkable spike in popularity. Global search volume for the term grew by over 75% in just the past three months, signaling a renewed interest in this timeless aesthetic (source). This design trend is poised to grow even further as a counterbalance to the bold, layered maximalism dominating other areas of graphic design trends.

Characterized by its clean lines, organic shapes, and a harmonious blend of form and function, mid-century modern design emphasizes simplicity and timelessness. Its muted yet warm color palettes often feature hues like mustard yellow, olive green, burnt orange, and walnut brown, for a nostalgic look while staying versatile for modern use.

In graphic design, mid-century modern translates into layouts that feel both structured and inviting. Expect to see geometric patterns, bold sans-serif fonts, and retro-inspired illustrations. This graphic style looks particularly beautiful when combined with textured backgrounds or grainy effects to mimic the physical materials of the era, such as wood, leather, and metal. 

Key takeaway

Graphic design trends are constantly evolving, blending the old with the new, and inspiring fresh approaches to creativity. Staying updated on these trends keeps your designs relevant and pushes you to explore unique ideas that could even spark the next big movement. By keeping an open mind and experimenting, you’re honing your skills and elevating your work.

Ready to try out these graphic design trends for yourself in 2025? With Kittl, you can explore and create using a wide variety of design tools tailored for both beginners and professionals. Sign up for a free graphic design account today and start experimenting with these design trends or any other creative project.

Sign up now for free and get started. Plus, don’t forget to check out the Kittl YouTube channel for graphic design tips and tutorials to take your skills even further.