By Steve Spatucci, Sr. Graphics Specialist, OKI Data Americas

Print and web have become 2 dance partners spinning around the room hand in hand. While print may have hit the floor a little earlier than web (half a millennium, give or take), both now share a more-or-less equal influence on each other. Early website designs borrowed from print pieces by necessity, but we’re now seeing the reverse of that pattern – as well as platform-agnostic techniques that grow more popular across both realms simultaneously.

Below is a list of 8 design trends that you’re likely to see more of as we enter 2016. But be warned – as with any list of trends, this isn’t a prescription so much as an assessment of what’s going on in the world of visual design.

1. Hand Drawn Typography

Before the late 1980s, type was limited to press type and photo typositors – then came the page layout program Aldus (now known as Adobe) PageMaker – which changed the game, allowing users to gain control of type. By the 1990s distressed typefaces started appearing, and these days we’re seeing more type that’s fully handcrafted. Calligraphy, chalkboard textures, and quirky handwritten letters are commonly found on all types of media – both tangible and digital, alike. This trend is on the rise and here to stay.

Photo: Pasture-Raised Alfresco Eggs by Vital Farms – package design by Eyelike Design (Austin, Texas)

2. Hand Drawn Illustrations

As with hand drawn type, illustrations that feature a less-than-perfect style are popular now – especially in the concert poster realm. Walk down the rows of Flatstock, the world’s premier gig poster convention, and you’ll see a dominance of handmade styles. Seen as a rebellion of sorts against digital perfectionism – hand drawn illustrations aren’t just huge in the concert poster world, they’re popping up on t-shirts, mugs, car wraps – you name it! Beauty is in the imperfections, right?

Photo: Amos Lee concert poster by James R. Eads

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3. Featured Photography

If you’re looking to make a big statement, it’s hard to go wrong with one bold photo. Often overlaid with tastefully centered text and images, websites using this technique have been common for over a decade – and the trend isn’t going anywhere. Whether online or in print, full-page borderless spreads dominate by giving the viewer a relaxing sense of space. For maximum effect, use a photo with a wide dynamic range and tint it out – maybe even create a duotone, or go full grayscale. Online, there’s a trend toward using video (typically short, looping clips) instead of static photos – though that trend is a little tougher to pull off in print.

Photo: Parker and Partners Marketing Resources website (Absecon, New Jersey)

4. Card Layout

You can thank Pinterest for this trend (or blame them if you’re not a fan). Essentially nothing more than information grouped into discrete rectangles, cards have proven to be ideal for the limited space offered on mobile screens. Apps and mobile versions of websites benefit from the easily-shuffled clusters of information. The Swedes gave us grids for print layout long ago, but the newfound popularity of card layout has made its way into print. Sometimes as simple as a straight grid; other times with frames, bevels, shadows and other real world elements that add to that tactile sense.

Photo: Crop Trust annual report by EPIC (Belgium)

5. Subtle Effects in Logos

Once verboten in logo design, modern identity has stubbornly yielded to the digital age by incorporating gradients, overlaps, shadows, feathered edges, and other subtle effects that are difficult to reproduce on the printed page (and frequently impossible using only spot colors). Single or two-color logos are still commonly seen (especially in the industrial and manufacturing spaces), but these softer techniques now have a steady foothold in the world of logos. Sorry, traditionalists – we’re not living in a solid color world anymore.

Photo: Global Media Group logo by MYBRAND (Portugal)

6. Big Text Blocks

Grab a few words, set them in a big chunky font, and center that text on your artboard. Lay it onto a textured background, photo, or even a solid field of color. Big blocks of text are…well, big right now. Even mixing typefaces – when well selected, of course – is no longer the taboo it once was. In the modern multi-tasking digital world our attention spans aren’t what they used to be – huge type is an undeniable way to catch our focus and keep it…at least for a few seconds.

Photo: Chinchilla Coffee House menu by Korolos Ibrahim (Australia)

7. Texture

This trend is as old as print itself, but it’s becoming equally as common to see web design templates that incorporate watercolor effects, fabric patterns, industrial elements and other textures to adorn or separate headers and footers, sidebars and backgrounds. Texture is especially useful to denote history or nature and to create a reference to physical objects and environments. Flat design is still around, of course – but it’s not hard to see (literally) that texture is having a moment and it is here to stay.

Photo: Bitter Rooster menu print sample printed on an OKI C942 with Spot Color White Toner

8. Digital Interfaces in Print

Perhaps the ultimate recognition of digital’s influence, print pieces as simple as posters and as complex as full-length books are increasingly incorporating the architecture and visual treatments of the online world. Breadcrumbs in paperbacks? It can be done – and it has. Author and digital analyst Brian Solis wrote X: The Experience When Business Meets Design with the same level of reader experience awareness as a UX Designer. Expect to see more online experience translated onto the printed page as we move into the new year.

Photo: X: The Experience When Business Meets Design by Brian Solis – design by Mekanism (San Francisco)

I enjoy creating custom designs using all of the trends listed above, but one of the most exciting parts is making them come to life by printing them. With OKI Data’s C942, you can take control of your designs while exploring new techniques – these trends aren’t going anywhere anytime soon!