The one constant in life is change.
If you’re exhausted from chasing changes in social expectations, cybersecurity, and regulation — fear not. Changes in design trends are here to keep your mind sharp and challenge your business acumen.
To understand the changes your business will need to adapt to — just over the horizon — it’s important to understand how the phone in your pocket has driven design expectations since the modern smartphone exploded onto the scene in 2007.
Design trends ebb and flow like tides. And like many forms of art, they tend to reflect the values of society during the period of their trendiness. The bold ambition of the Art Deco movement in skyscraper design was matched by the design trends of the same giants who rose to new heights. Take, for example, the Chrysler Building in New York City, whose intricate spire was a fitting complement to the complexities found in Chrysler branding (even apparent on the hood of period vehicles).
As our world moved online, it was initially the constraints of technology that defined the boundaries within which branding could exist. As command lines gave way to graphical user interfaces (GUIs), evolution was fast and furious. Touchscreens rose to popularity the day the iPod, phone, and internet devices merged into one — with the showstopping introduction of the iPhone.
This period was largely influenced by technology negotiating with the familiar physical world in a design trend known as skeuomorphism. User interfaces drew heavy inspiration from the real-life counterparts of their tasks and intended interactions to help guide new users toward their desired outcomes. Branding of the period also derived its influence from complex material mimicry. But like any “trend,” this wouldn’t last forever.
iOS 7 would change not only the iPhone but the design world as we knew it — through the introduction of flat geometric design. User interfaces, brands, and design best practices would follow, with extreme examples being the now infamous luxury trend toward monochromatic, almost invisible, minimal sans-serif branding. Popular brands like Burberry and YSL were nearly indistinguishable in this period dominated by simplicity — to nearly a sterile extreme.
But art imitates reality.
And these days, reality is dominated by our digital experience through the computers in our pockets.
Apple has introduced Liquid Glass, which reverses the simple design trends of yesterday, swinging the pendulum violently in the opposite direction. Google’s Material 3 Expressive design more subtly follows the same design trajectory — introducing depth, blur, and organic form into its design.
And just as before, you can absolutely expect a flood of change to influence branding and design guides for the next decade — back toward a more complex articulation of the relationship between our digital and physical worlds.
Logos, websites, flyers, and brand standard guides more generally will begin to reintroduce the physical world into their designs, with an emphasis on layers, depth, and material.
In an era where artificial intelligence can produce infinite variations of flat, indistinct content, brands are seeking ways to assert uniqueness, intentionality, and presence. Depth, texture, motion, and dimensionality do just that — they create a sense of place in a placeless digital world. A visual fingerprint that feels more human, more tactile, more real.
Expect design systems to adopt layered cards, subtle shadows, and micro-interactions. Expect branding to lean into craftsmanship, material realism, and environmental context — even when fully digital. And expect marketing collateral to evolve accordingly: gradients will return, translucency will add intrigue, and typography will reclaim character.
What Should Your Business Do?
1. Revisit your brand standards.
If your logo looks like it was created for a world of flat minimalism — it might be time to evolve. You don’t need to chase trends, but you do need to look current. Ask: Does this design system support depth, motion, and flexibility?
2. Audit your interfaces.
Your app, your website, your pitch decks — all of them are design touchpoints. Update components to reflect material clarity, intuitive layering, and rich micro-interactions. Think less flat and more alive.
3. Design for emotion, not just function.
Beauty is function. In a crowded digital landscape, what stands out is what feels right. That means every design decision — from typography to color to animation — should serve both form and feeling.
