2024 Trend Report

Another year means a fresh batch of trends to get your teeth stuck into. The team here at Spark have put our heads together to filter through a range of predictions, industry expert perspectives & our own thoughts for the year ahead.

Whether it be brand, digital or campaign & advertising we’ve got you covered with our predictions for what’s going to take off this year.

Brand

FONT & CENTRE

With the revolt on ‘blanding’ (a direct impact of minimalism) in full force, distinctive and dramatic typography will continue to be evolve in 2024 to provide brands with expressive identities that stand-out. We’ve seen this begin to take off especially through packaging with brands such as Eager & Oatier.

Image sources: Eager (Ragged Edge), Oatier (AllGood), Lex (& Walsh)

STRATEGIC SATIRE

Design-savvy Gen-Z are seeing right through inauthenticity. New brands such as Liquid Death are subverting category norms in a humorous way that builds on their brand purpose. This should be used with care and it is important that this tone is only used when appropriate to the brand positioning.

Image source: PrintMag (Liquid Death)

NOSTALGIA ULTRA

Leveraging nostalgia is a well established tactic for brands. However 70s inspired palettes and serif typefaces are increasingly being ditched for more unique interpretations on decades past such as Yubo or Lunge.

Image Source: Yubo (Koto)

WHAT IS A LOGO

Creatives are breaking free from traditional conventions within logo design. Reimagining what a logo can be and opting for truly unique ideas that best serve the client. Whether this is playing with the logo legibility like ReWeave or flexing to create multiple variations for different uses such as the Natural History Museum.

Image sources: Natural History Museum (Pentagram ), Patreon

A FACE TO THE BRAND

The use of mascots come and go but as we figure out the relationship between design and artificial intelligence, human connection stills remains a key desire from consumers. Using characters and human features humanises the brand to give a face & personality to the brand as seen in Ragged Edges’ identity for Marshmallow.

Image sources: Marshmallow, Trivago

Digital

AI IMAGERY

AI has started to make it’s way into web design by the use of AI imagery. It can be a quicker and more efficient way of creating imagery for web design in 2024 as opposed to expensive stock imagery and can lend itself to interactive experiences. We’re seeing website’s such as Luni using AI generated imagery to push how users interact online.

Image source: Luni

DARK MODE

Dark mode is a popular choice of mobile themes, which has now started to influence web design. Whilst looking clean & professional it eases eye strain because of the reduced brightness, making it better for legibility. This example from Studio Arde shows how you can transition from dark mode to other colour ways throughout the site.

Image source: Studio Arde

BENTO GRID

Last year, bento boxes made a huge impact on the way agencies present their work, but it’s said to make it’s way into web design this year. Bento grids can be clean, organised and uniform, but should be used sparingly as seen on Bolt.

Image source: Bolt

VIBRANT GRADIENTS

Alongside big typography, gradients are set to make a comeback in 2024. They can be animated in HTML to elevate a web design and can be used to give the site depth and interest, we love this example from G3DAAS.

Image source: G3DAAS

Campaign & Advertising

FAST-VERTISING

In 2023 we saw brands being quick on the pulse in response to key pop-culture moments & current affairs. This is going to continue to grow as we see how beneficial this has been to brands such as Aldi & their ‘Kate Moss’ stunt at Manchester’s Chanel show.

Image sources: Prolific North (‘Kate Moss’), Seven Six Agency (Proper X Barbie)

CHATTY TONES

People are finding comfort in down to earth language that is relatable & authentic. Writers are using chatty language that has personality to capture attention & appeal to younger audiences. We found Dropbox’s ‘For all things worth saving’ campaign nailed this.

Image source: Instrument (Dropbox)

WEIRD & WONDERFUL

Surreal creations will embrace the whacky & weird through experimental techniques, this example by Pilgrims Choice really stuck out to us. We’ll see the limits of AI tested as more creatives embrace the possibilities & get to grip with techniques.

Image source: Pilgrims Choice

FAUX OUT OF HOME

It captured everyones attention last year with the likes of North Face showcasing their products through CGI. However we’ve only scratched the surface with what’s possible. In 2024 we’ll see CGI campaigns become more sophisticated & explorative, it is worth considering the question of whether this is a trend or a fad?

Image source: Ministry of Sport (Chelsea FC), JD Sports (North Face)

BETTER TOGETHER

Brand collaborations can be beneficial to all parties and particularly fun for consumers when they come from unexpected places. We don’t see this trend slowing down any time soon, but agencies must keep there finger on the pulse to stay relevant. The Heinz and Absolut Vodka collaboration took social media by storm and resulted in sales going up by over 50% (The Drum).