Let’s talk design trends, how they influence design style, and why they should be used sparingly when it comes to your brand’s visual identity.

Trends have a way of making us want to drop everything and rebrand because naturally we want to feel in and relevant. However, when it comes to designing a brand and visual identity, my best recommendation is to shy away from trends and head towards the timeless train. Why? Because design trends, like all trends, come and go. Do you want your visual brand to come and go? No! You want to develop a visual identity that is timeless and can grow with you.

So, what is timeless design? This one can be hard to articulate but an article I read on Medium.com by Kyle Ranudo put it best by saying this: "Timeless design is functional, no-nonsense design. It is the result of a process of careful consideration and thoughtful distillation of something down to its core essence. Timelessness is the concept of ‘less is more’, executed with a clear purpose, learned discipline and masterful craft.”

Your brand identity is the visual representation of your brand’s strategy, so it needs to make sense and flow with the direction of your brand strategy — it needs to be functional.

When it comes to designing a brand identity and utilizing trends, you want to think of them as short term direction or guidance, and always have the overall strategy at the back of your mind. Remembering to ask your self — is this functional and sustainable design or trendy and unsustainable design.

To recap, like anything in life, design is all about finding balance — striking the balance between timeless and trendy is no different. I find trends to be best used and cycled through when it comes to the materials that are constantly changing throughout your business (i.e. marketing materials, advertisements, short term packaging, etc) whereas your visual identity should focus more on standing the test of time and aligning with your overall long term brand & business strategy.

If you’re looking to create a timeless visual identity for you brand — i’d love to chat further!