As 2018 is coming to a close, let's look at the upcoming trends for design, eLearning, and other creative fields. Read on to see a few sources of inspiration and what to expect for the upcoming year, as well as, some of the year's best.
2019 Visual and Design Trends
Image by Thais Ramos Varela / Stocksy
In order to maximize consumer impact with visual imagery, it is critical to know the conversation and trends people are most identifying with. The creative team at Adobe dove in and found sources from "the world, from fashion runways and art galleries to the business world, pop culture, and social media — all with the goal of uncovering the major visual trends that will shape the year."
Top Picks A few that stuck out were images from the Natural Instincts and Disruptive Expression collections.
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eLearning Trends
Among many of the lists and articles I read over the past year, there is clearly a common theme among industry leaders of the conversation regarding where eLearning is headed. Much of the discussion is around microlearning, Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality, and gamification. These topics have been at the forefront for the past several years. Most of these topics were carried over from previous years and I feel is in part due to the cost of implementation, continued development of technologies, and still discovering what role they have to play in training.
It does seem that microlearning and gamification will soon be dropping off these list due to the fact that it has become more and more common practice to utilize these strategies in development. However, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are still relatively new to the consumer marketplace. It wasn't until this past Christmas that I first tried Virtual Reality...and I was blown away. The virtual reality headset I used was relatively primitive (costing $29 from Amazon). And after popping my phone in and viewing a free VR video from YouTube, I was immediately transported to the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.
Bottom line, the experience made me all the more excited at the possibilities this tech can bring to the industry.
Fun Note Looking back to 2013, a list of emerging eLearning trends from the eLearning Industry blog– had video, mobile, e-texts, and Tin Can API topping their list.
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Color of the Year (and other stylistic trends)
Image by Viacheslav Danishevskyi via Dribbble
Earlier this month, Pantone announced Living Coral as the official color of 2019. This vibrant and warm color is symbolic of the need to take care of each other and has a humanizing factor.
Fun Note The Color of the Year in 2018 was Ultra Violet. See the image below for past Colors of the Year.
Other Stylistic Trends:
Color
8 Dazzling Color Trends for 2019 (99designs)
2019 Color Trends: Discover the World's Most Popular Colors (Shutterstock)
Typography
Typography Trends in 2019 to Look out For (Creative Bloq)
30 Great Free Fonts for 2019 (Muzli)
Best of 2018
To round out the year, here is a look at some of the best content.
Brand New, a division of UnderConsideration, takes a look at corporate and brand identities. Even if you are not involved or have a career in branding, it is fascinating to see the evolution of design through this lens. The use of typography, color, and design all playing a part in illustrating the ever-changing landscape of design.
Shutterstock curated a list of their favorite ten articles from this past year. Several of which I had previously read and can vouch for.
Also from Shutterstock, is a list of film and photography tutorials. As with the previous article from Brand New, even if you are not a professional filmmaker or photographer, many of the techniques explored in these tutorials are invaluable for improving and incorporating into your work. As an example, the 8 Essential Cuts Every Editor Should Know, can be used in creating training or other video projects you are developing to make them all the more impactful.
Illustration by Jack Daly
Icons8 goes over twelve trends that dominated UI design for websites and apps in 2018. A few of the trends from the list include- big hero images (as shown in the image above), diversity of video content, and personalization.