Elaborate Typography

Graphic Design is a pretty fluid concept. Just like with anything design related, it changes with time and updates almost constantly. Design wasn’t the same 10 years ago and it won’t be the same two days from now. With the evolution of ideas, designers need to stay updated and aware of what is new and fresh so that clients aren’t left in the proverbial dust.

According to Dictionary.com, trends  can be defined as “a general course of prevailing tendencies”, but recently there has been an increase in ‘micro-trends’ which are specific trends within an over-arching trend that, while unique, don’t have enough power to become a full bodied trend.

For example, within the over-arching trend of increased focus on typography, there is a micro-trend surrounding elaborate typography. I’m not talking about just the usual flourish here or there either. This new kind of decorative type harkens back to the days of embellished cursive so detailed it became its own form and presence. This new trend of detailed text has taken over the need for imagery, as the type becomes the visual texture – sometimes readable sometimes not.

Some of the most popular typographers of this particular trend are: Cameron Moll, Yulia Brodskaya, and Jessica Hische. Each designer has a specific and unusual way of approaching typography. Cameron Moll uses small, elaborate typography to create images, Yulia Brodskaya uses paper craft to infuse her typographic designs with color and whimsy, and Jessica Hische uses an old world, vintage feel to make her typography seem nostalgic. All these styles are effective in their goal of creating a visual expression from type: the more elaborate and the more eye-catching, then the more successful.

Keeping up with these trends and micro-trends allows me to stay creative and open to new concepts that may be useful for a client. It’s always better to be aware of what’s out there and use it for inspiration or as a safe-guard against plagiarizing as opposed to relying on the same ideas over and over.

Graphic Design is a pretty fluid concept. Just like with anything design related, it changes with time and updates almost constantly. Design wasn’t the same 10 years ago, and it won’t be the same two days from now. With the evolution of ideas, designers need to stay updated and aware of what is new and fresh so that clients aren’t left in the proverbial dust.

According to Dictionary.com, trends  can be defined as a general course of prevailing tendencies, but recently there has been an increase in ‘micro-trends’ which are specific trends within an over-arching trend that, while unique, don’t have enough power to become a full bodied trend.

For example, within the over-arching trend of increased focus on typography, there is a micro-trend surrounding elaborate typography. I’m not talking about just the usual flourish here or there either. This new kind of decorative type harkens back to the days of embellished cursive so detailed it became its own form and presence. This new trend of detailed text has taken over the need for imagery, as the type becomes the visual texture – sometimes readable sometimes not.

Some of the most popular typographers of this particular trend are: Cameron Moll, Yulia Brodskaya, and Jessica Hische. Each designer has a specific and unusual way of approaching typography. Cameron Moll uses small, elaborate typography to create images, Yulia Brodskaya uses paper craft to infuse her typographic designs with color and whimsy, and Jessica Hische uses an old world, vintage feel to make her typography seem nostalgic. All these styles are effective in their goal of creating a visual expression from type: the more elaborate and the more eye-catching, then the more successful.

Keeping up with these trends and micro-trends allows me to stay creative and open to new concepts that may be useful for a client. It’s always better to be aware of what’s out there and use it for inspiration or as a safe-guard against plagiarizing as opposed to relying on the same ideas over and over.