The 2023 graphic design trends have arrived for another year of aesthetic revivals and new experiments in creativity. But compared to past trends, what sets 2023 apart?
While design comes from creative minds, trends are also borne out of the context of their time. Last year saw the world recovering from a pandemic, and design trends favored comfortable nostalgia and colorful expression. Much of that optimism remains in 2023, but it has been strained through this year’s rising inflation around the world, the ever advancing climate crisis and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Designers respond to these circumstances in a number of ways. Some lean toward excitement and curiosity for what’s ahead as technology inspires them to explore the unknown. While others react to constraints and anti-establishment sentiment with defiance, through styles ranging from escapist yearning to rebellious innovation. One thing is certain: the 2023 graphic design trends are already shaping up to be an eclectic moment in the story of graphic design.
The top 12 graphic design trends for 2023:
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- Mysticism
- Risoprint reimagined
- Punk revival
- Retro line art
- Airbrush surrealism
- Folk botanical
- 90s space psychedelia
- Mixed dimension
- Acid graphics
- Experimental escapism
- Complex compositions
- Abstract gradient
1. Mysticism
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In a design context, mysticism involves iconography that relates to astrology and divination. The trend relies heavily on popular symbolism, including zodiac signs, all-seeing eyes, lotus flowers and sacred geometry. As in ages past, these symbols act as talismans, infusing the natural and celestial world with occult and deeper meaning.
From a purely visual standpoint, there is an inherent gentleness to these designs. They are constructed with thin lines and organic curves that feel light and delicate. Colors become calming when subdued through muted tones. And the imagery of moons, stars and meditative faces evoke uplifting peace, an escape from earthly concerns that offers hope and solace. All of this is what gives the trend its mass appeal: you don’t have to believe in tarot cards to experience the serenity of mystic designs.
2. Risoprint reimagined
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Risograph was a mid-80s printing technique developed by the Riso Kagaku Corporation in Japan. It paved the way for cheap bulk printing by using dots and desaturated colors, with the result that images were often grainy and unintentionally stylized with double exposures.
In 2023, risograph printing is being reimagined for digital, abstract graphics. Its grainy textures add depth and noise to minimalist shapes. This has inspired many designers to create surreal valleys of abstraction with a touch of vintage flair. When depicting real characters, risograph textures and colors are combined with exaggerated caricatures and simplified features, transforming the familiar into the unfamiliar. Ultimately, this trend blurs the line between basic shapes and machine processes.
3. Punk revival
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Punk is a rebellious counterculture with roots as early as the Dada movement of the 1920s. Since then, it has never really gone away—it was born on the fringes of society, and there it persists. But 2023 is witnessing a revival of its mass appeal, as everyday people are finding ample cause to rail against failing systems. Not only has the exponential wealth gap become more glaring at the onset of a recession, but the death of the UK’s monarch in 2022 has also ignited renewed opposition to the monarchy and its colonial legacy.
Aesthetically, punk tends to be characterized by DIY techniques like scribbled lettering, cutouts, mismatched fonts and chaotic collages. Punk design is an overall rejection of opulence and decorum. It is not afraid to be messy because life is messy, and audiences find comfort in this honesty. Additionally, these jumbled arrangements are visually energetic—you can almost hear the outcry of frustration in the jagged edges and graffiti splatter.
4. Retro line art
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In 2023, many designers are turning to minimal line art to create illustrations that are humorous and fun. This is a retro style that recreates the nostalgic memory of drawing with felt-tip markers.
The simplicity of the line art lends itself to a cartoonish style (like thick outlines and rubber hose limbs), which is why the trend is a natural fit for more light-hearted projects. And because these drawings are so minimal, they can handle ultra-bright colors without overwhelming the viewer. To enhance the retro effect, many designers pair these illustrations with throwback bubble fonts and design features reminiscent of vintage magazine ads, such as oval borders and starburst stickers.
5. Airbrush surrealism
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Surrealism is an enduringly popular design approach for its novelty and endlessly inventive weirdness. But in 2023, surrealism is getting an unexpected pairing with 80s airbrush techniques, as soft retro filters are overlaid onto strange, chimeric imagery.
This produces a gauzy effect that subdues the usual disorientation surrealism invokes, blanketing the graphic in a uniform haze. It’s as though we’re recalling the image from a half-remembered dream. In some cases, the blurring of color creates a soft glow, making the image feel inviting and transcendent. All in all, airbrush surrealism fosters approachability as if to suggest that the strange has now become ordinary.
6. Folk botanical
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Patterns are a staple in graphic design, useful for providing backgrounds or framing content. And nature is a common subject matter for patterns, as mixtures of leaves, fruits and vines create compositions as lively as a forest. But in 2023, nature patterns are getting a little less refined through shaky doodles, rough textures and incongruous coloring.
