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2020 VAPORWAVE REALITY
Get ready for the year ahead with our guide to the latest styles — based on billions of image, video, and music searches and downloads from Shutterstock customers.
Scroll down to see what's coming up
Bright colors, cartoon faces, and ostentatious animal patterns show a vibrant undercurrent in this year’s trends. It’s a treasure trove of distractions, playful reflections of our own audacious individualism. Echoes of past trends – leopard print, gold scroll frames, neon signs – remind us just how loud and lively design can be.
Major Trends
Our major trends, based on year-over-year search increases, are each influenced by an era of design with an emphasis on our brightest and boldest memories. This is the past broadcast in stunning technicolor.
Zine Culture
In the digital age, zine culture lives on in the decentralized mindset of social media where independent makers can share and niche groups can discover.
- +1376% Contemporary art collage
The style is uniquely undesigned, creating a raw look that stands out in a polished digital world.
Built on principles of collage, and largely influenced by the invention of the photocopier, it's paper cutouts, noise and grain textures, and rough-edged layers that define this trend.
'80s Opulence
The '80s are back and ready to party with gold chains, animal prints, and attitude.
- +1060% Elegance pattern
- +731% Chain print
- +157% Snakeskin pattern
- +168% Leopard print pattern
We say forget good taste, this is about good times.
When every element competes for attention, the effect is inexplicably harmonious.
Clashing is the keyword for this trend. Think leopard print and snakeskin, peacock feathers and gold chain belts, soft fur and hard metal textures.
Yesterday's Tomorrow
What's old is new again. This trend is an optimistic redux of early-tech – a focus on what yesterday's tomorrow looked like.
- +717% Synthwave
- +676% Retrowave
- +230% Duotone
glowing neon, light grid landscapes, buzzing synthesizers
It's all about the looks and sounds that defined futurism at the dawn of the digital age, like purple, blue, and pink duotone gradients, basic vector graphics, and dreamy synth music.
Look BackRising Trends
Some of the year's rising trends are a rhapsody of beauty and joy made for escapism, while others put reality into sharp focus. From unique illustrations to urgent issues, see what will make an impact in 2019.
Beyond Plastic
With conscious consumerism on the rise, a world free of plastic looks more possible than ever before.
- +729% Plastic free
- +676% Bamboo toothbrush
- +752% Hemp
As the climate changes, so does our attitude towards consumerism.
Now the conversation is about alternatives. Green products made from hemp and bamboo are making headway, while the Three R's – reduce, reuse, recycle – are the inescapable motto of years ahead.
Images
Kawaii
The culture of cuteness was born in Japan, but it's making waves across the world as a welcomed distraction in uncertain times.
- +911% Kawaii
- +182% Cute illustration
We're biologically primed to love and cherish the childlike characters of Kawaii style.
Joyous, pastel-colored vectors and sweet-faced inanimate objects are hallmarks of this positively adorable style.
It grabs our attention in a way other cultural artforms cannot, offering a warm reprieve from daily life.
Kalamkari
The Indian art of painting and printing on fabric, Kalamkari is a traditional method with stunning results.
- +160% Kalamkari
- +974% Ceramic decors
Kalamkari
The Indian art of painting and printing on fabric, Kalamkari is a traditional method with stunning results.
- +160% Kalamkari
- +974% Ceramic decors
Natural colors and complex patterns are central to this traditional artform.
This hand-done process uses only pure, natural colors, like indigo, mustard, and ivy green to make intricate patterns and motifs. Digital representations mimic the handmade quality through pure colors and natural patterns of flowers and animals.
Rococo Romance
The Rococo period is known for rich and elaborate art, full of dramatic vintage patterns, leafy gold scrolls, and an overgrowth of florals.
- +160% Design vintage romantic
- +1277% Damask
Romantic undertones emanate from soft pastels, sensual light and shadow, and elegant curving lines.
Inspired by this distinctly ornamental period, this theatrical trend is all about artful maximalism. It goes beyond the canvas, taking cues from fine art to influence the elegant colors and textures of interior design, intricate lighting and set design in photography, and elaborate takes on web design.
Prism
Color never goes out of style and this trend is proof, showing every color of the rainbow in a bright and geometric frame of reference.
- +7923% Disco lights
- +434% Rainbow geometric
Dazzling rainbows envelop 3D shapes and seamless patterns.
The trend can be buoyant, playful, and supersaturated, or sharp-edged, moody, and neon. Through shining seamless patterns or rippling motion graphics, it showcases multicolor as a powerful design tool.
Hypnotic
The repetitive patterns, swirling spirals, and kaleidoscopic illusions of this trend create truly immersive design fit for the digital age.
- +844% Poly art
- +513% Kaleidoscope
- +741% Hypnotic
Multifaceted and multicolored illusions create trance-like design.
These elements are a mainstay of psychedelia, offering a mind-altering experience through surrealism and abstraction. Look for hints of a glitchy new dynamic called datamoshing in this classic style.
Everyday Futurism
Incredible advancements that seemed impossible at the dawn of Y2K are now part of our daily lives.
- +1679% Esports
- +1414% Face ID
- +923% RPA
As tech reinvents the world, a new language and symbology is emerging to capture our everyday.
From esports' mass live-gaming events and virtual reality multiverses to consumer-level biometric scanning and the automation revolution, the world of tech is alight with imagination and excitement, and we get to watch it unfold.
One to Watch
Get ready to indulge. This sweet style is the cherry on top of our Creative Trends.
Tempting Typography
Fat and sugar-dusted or round and chocolate-coated, our first-ever typography trend gives text a seat at the table.
- +8389% Icing Letters
The rise of augmented reality and immersive design has inspired adventurous new depth and dimension in digital typography. With vector-based tactile lettering, this whimsical typography trend shows us how sweet 3D design can be.
This is type you can taste, lifted off the screen through shadow, texture, and sometimes sprinkles.
Global Trends
Several of the fastest growing global trends confirm larger themes, while others are more surprising. Here are the top search terms in 20 countries around the world.
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