Brand Design Trends: What You Need to Know (2023)

Whether you’re a large company or a one-man business, your brand identity makes you. Branding can steer you toward success and put you on the radar for the right audience. Your brand identity allows you to connect with your target market on a more personal level.

However, people change, and so do their interests and needs. That’s why brands must stay one step ahead and reflect that in their strategies.

Staying relevant as a brand means keeping up with the latest trends. Luckily, trends reflect niche interests and have a fun blend of colors, fonts, and designs. Here are the latest and hottest brand design trends for your vision board this 2023.

Timeless Nostalgia

Take your audience on a trip down memory lane by incorporating some nostalgic elements into your brand design. There’s been a resurgence of retro vibes in fashion, music, and, yes, branding! With the chaos and stress of modern times, people are partial to things that remind them of the good old days.

Brands are using retro and Y2K elements with a modern edge. Each era offers a different way to tap into the hearts of customers. If you’re looking for a preppy, rose-tinted look, use bubbly fonts and rich colors.

You can add swirls to your website background. Y2K is all about pastels and metallics. If you’re aiming for that 80’s pop and disco vibe, entice your audience with a neon color palette.

Collage-style designs are also trending this 2023. This design style offers a unique and edgy finish. Complete with retro mixed media, cutouts, and mismatched typography, this design is sure to captivate viewers.

Funky Fonts

By this point, you should know the dos and don’ts of using fonts on a website. Don’t use unreadable text, don’t cram together too many font styles, and ensure to have a contrast between the words and background. Classic serif and sans serif fonts have become the norm, but you don’t have to limit yourself to them.

This 2023, we’re doing funky font styles to grab the attention of viewers. Designers are leaning into bold and fun font styles to add more weight to their words. Using playful typography is an excellent approach to set yourself apart from other brands.

If you’re looking to update your logo, it’s a great opportunity to jump onto this trend. Text assortment has become increasingly popular in logo design. This trend encourages designers to play with different fonts to create a unique typeface.

It’s giving magazine cutouts in a fun and creative way. You can also integrate this into your website design, preferably on your cover text. This allows you to accentuate your brand’s personality without sacrificing content like blog posts.

Color Statements

Leveraging color is one of the best ways to enhance your brand identity, and there are many ways to do it. Color can help you tap into consumer emotions and encourage good buying habits.

Bold and vivid colors are all the rage this year, especially in brand design. Using such colors can help your brand comes across as positive and fun. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need bright pink and orange everywhere.

Vivid colors contrast well with pastels and muted tones. Find complementary colors and turn the vibrance up or down where it’s needed. For example, you can have a muted pastel green background and top it off with vibrant purple text.

This is a great way to draw the attention of viewers and guide them through your vision. Impactful color combinations are a great way to enhance your brand’s visibility. We’re in an age where we scroll mindlessly through TikTok and Instagram.

Your brand needs attention-grabbing graphics, and color is the best tool to achieve that. On the other hand, you can also try using a limited palette. A limited color palette helps images stand out and gives them an air of refinement.

Clean Minimalism

If less is more for your brand, minimalism is the way to go. Minimalism has been a constant in design trends, and this year, it’s here to stay. Minimalism speaks to less clutter, offering more clarity which is what you need to get a message through to an audience.

Minimalism allows you to bring a few elements together to create a massive impact. That means you need to boil your brand to the essentials to communicate a clear message. Contrary to popular belief, minimalism isn’t about slapping black text over a white or cream background.

You can still incorporate fun color gradients and typefaces. It’s all about choosing which elements to incorporate to create an impactful message. This also allows products to become the center of attention without distracting colors or textures.

Negative space is a key element of minimalism. The more space you leave around an object, the more the eyes become drawn toward it.

Minimalism also encourages visual harmony. Color selection is often limited to two or three supplementary colors. If you’re advertising a product, learn how to use color in a way that will highlight it.

A monochrome palette can also help you refine that minimalist aesthetic. Monochromatic colors offer a sense of tranquility.

Embracing Sustainability

91% of packaging waste ends up in landfills. Consumers are now more aware of its effects on the environment and are looking for more sustainable and eco-conscious brands. As a brand, you can make a big impact with a small change in your branding.

Consumers are more willing to spend money on sustainable brands than ones that are not. Eco-branding also offers a competitive advantage against your adversaries.

Sustainable brands adjust their production process to reduce their environmental footprint. This means using eco-friendly packaging and recycled materials. You also have to be more transparent with your goals so that consumers know you’re not only doing it for the trend.

Some brands also use their position to guide customers and follow the green path. You can partner with a charity dedicated to reducing pollution or environmental waste. Other brands like to work with eco-friendly packaging companies like RePack and Noissue.

Of course, going green does not always have to mean green and brown tones. All colors are natural on this gorgeous earth, from vibrant flowers to thriving coral reefs. You can maintain your brand’s fun personality while carrying out your values as a company.

Humanize Your Brand

Consumers like to buy from brands that they feel connected to. Not everyone has the perfect lifestyle, glass skin, or the body of an Instagram model. It’s time for brands to stay real with customers and open their arms to inclusivity.

Your attitude towards consumers is the main player, but your design is as important. Fashion brands are including illustrations of women of all sizes, and it’s received an overwhelmingly positive response. Customers want to feel seen, and it’s up to you as a brand to create that connection.

Animated Fun

In case we didn’t stress it enough, graphics are everything when it comes to visibility. Studies show that visual content is two to three times more engaging than text-based media. Using animation in your brand design is a powerful way to grab users’ attention.

Animated logos are also a powerful communication tool. Animation can convey balance, spontaneity, sophistication, and more. These elements can give users a unique experience when they visit your website.

You can also add micro-animations like color blocks and scroll-activated images.

Anti-Design

Many designers are breaking all the rules this 2023, and we have to say, it’s pretty enticing. In a fast-paced digital age, it can be difficult to keep up with competitors and market trends. Anti-design can bring you to the forefront and help you deliver something different and exciting.

If bold and busy compositions are your thing, anti-design might be perfect for your brand. Anything goes in this controlled chaos, from brutalism to maximalism. If done right, anti-design can look cohesive and still deliver a bold statement.

Don’t be afraid to play with pixels, overlay, and different font families to achieve your vision. Anti-design encourages designers to break free from the norm and challenge boundaries.  

Hand-Drawn Illustrations

Adding a personal touch to your design can make your brand feel more bespoke and authentic. Hand-drawn branding offers comfort and simplicity. This can help you get in touch with consumers’ emotions and connect on a deeper level.

Many brands are adding handwritten fonts to their websites and marketing materials. Many are also using hand-drawn illustrations to convey that simple and holistic look. You can also add doodles or signatures to your packaging or website for a more human touch.

Working with the right website designers can help you keep your message and brand consistent. Check out Avenue 25 here!

Hottest Brand Design Trends for 2023

Brand design is not only essential for marketing strategies. It can also help you connect with customers and create lasting relationships. Use these brand design ideas to curate the right message for your audience.

If you want to build your brand identity, don’t stop here! Check out our other blog posts to discover more tips on building your brand.