What will resonate with target audiences in the following months? Which visual solutions will help brands become more current and enticing? With the world becoming more volatile daily, answering these questions is a real challenge for companies.
To help communicators, marketers, designers, and other creators start 2023 with ease, Depositphotos released a list of 7 creative trends with a high potential to explode this year. The quick tips and infographics you will find below are based on stock content demand research, international expert opinions, and concepts that dominated top cultural, social, and business events that took place recently.
In 2023, a craving for escapism will lead us to Japanese animation aesthetics, discovery-aimed globetrotting, magical realism, immersive wellness experiences, and more. Brands will not go wrong if they choose one of the 7 trends described below or combine them.
In regards to ethical concepts, age inclusivity and environmentalism will continue to spread worldwide, leaving those who remain indifferent to them off the agenda. But this time, shifts in brand missions and their positioning will replace theorizing and chaotic small-scale activities.
Resist the temptation to stylize your visuals like old-school anime or hint at manga plots in your communication. Instead, turn to anime color schemes and their slightly naive vibes to fascinate Millennials.
Where to find inspiration: watch classic anime series such as Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion, or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood; explore marketing campaigns by Adidas and Acura with integrated anime aesthetics.
It's up to brands (even if they're far from the travel industry) to help the customer feel like a traveler in the wild, wherever they end up—on your website, on Instagram, or in-store.
Where to find inspiration: discover recent campaigns by Patagonia or videos promoting South Africa, Sweden, Portugal, and Great Britain as tourist destinations in 2022; follow Airbnb’s summer release (the platform’s most extensive service update of the decade).
The best thing you can do right now is think about how your products can benefit Boomers. To speak to this audience, you should start with age-friendly visuals.
Where to find inspiration: visit the social media pages of top senior influencers, including Dinner and Dance (Instagram), Shirley Curry (YouTube), and Grandma Droniak (TikTok); enjoy marketing campaigns for Nike’s CruzrOne sneakers and the Age Perfect makeup line by L’Oreal.
In 2023, the response to dream-like aesthetics in packaging, fashion, interfaces, architecture, and even visual content processing will increase. Whatever your product is, try adding otherworldly aesthetics to your marketing and enjoy the results.
Where to find inspiration: re-explore Magical Realism classics such as One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez and Beloved by Toni Morrison; check out an omnichannel branding campaign by Twitter (If you dream it, Tweet it) and the extremely viral offline promo for Stranger Things 2022.
If you're already on the eco-friendly path, highlight it with minimalistic visuals on your website, in creative campaigns, and on social media. If not, it is the best time to choose a green future.
Where to find inspiration: read more about the #econfession campaign by Ocean Bottle launched on TikTok, and explore Everlane’s brand mission and current creative campaign; keep your eye on brands like Patagonia, A Good Company, Allbirds, and others.
Find out if there is a place for wellness immersion in your communication with clients. A brand can provide clients with a multisensory experience through packaging flavors, textures, or offline initiatives.
Where to find inspiration: use some of the top wellness apps leveraging VR, AR, and XR for a better client experience, including FitXR App, Supernatural App, Mind Labyrinth VR Dreams, or Chakra VR; explore topics such as VR-powered surgical training and pain management.
Mood-boosting colors, images that bring pleasure (delicious healthy foods, animals playing, shiny things, or sports), and delighting melodies that encourage or, conversely, allow listeners to calm down and relax—all this can help you reach wider audiences.
Where to find inspiration: check out the Carolina Herrera campaign for 2022 as a dopamine dressing promo example, listen to mood-enhancing music (like Dancing Queen by ABBA or Love on Top by Beyoncé), and smell fragrances with a scientifically proven feel-better effect, including the smell of cookies baking, freshly cut grass, and sea salt.
Start with a trend closer to your brand’s philosophy, or learn more about each to build a deeper connection with your audience. Collections of images and other files related to each trend can be a good start for creative experiments in 2023.
Read next: 8 Graphic Design Trends that Will Dominate 2023
To help communicators, marketers, designers, and other creators start 2023 with ease, Depositphotos released a list of 7 creative trends with a high potential to explode this year. The quick tips and infographics you will find below are based on stock content demand research, international expert opinions, and concepts that dominated top cultural, social, and business events that took place recently.
“Ready to Escape?”. Why Guiding Customers Through New Realities Is So Important in 2023
Reality can be frightening, cause informational or emotional overload, or, on the contrary, come across dull. In turn, brands can give customers what they desire most—a ticket to another world where they can relax safely, distance themselves from everyday affairs, and find inspiration.In 2023, a craving for escapism will lead us to Japanese animation aesthetics, discovery-aimed globetrotting, magical realism, immersive wellness experiences, and more. Brands will not go wrong if they choose one of the 7 trends described below or combine them.
In regards to ethical concepts, age inclusivity and environmentalism will continue to spread worldwide, leaving those who remain indifferent to them off the agenda. But this time, shifts in brand missions and their positioning will replace theorizing and chaotic small-scale activities.
Creative Trends 2023: How to Leverage Them in Your Projects
#1 Anime Thrill
Global Y2K nostalgia became a prominent communication trend last year as generations Y and Z became the most profitable target audiences for brands. In 2023, Japanese animation will manifest itself as an evolved form of this.Resist the temptation to stylize your visuals like old-school anime or hint at manga plots in your communication. Instead, turn to anime color schemes and their slightly naive vibes to fascinate Millennials.
Where to find inspiration: watch classic anime series such as Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion, or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood; explore marketing campaigns by Adidas and Acura with integrated anime aesthetics.
#2 Back to the Wild
Travel will never be the same again. Most of your clients will be willing to forget tightly timed vacations, popular attractions, and staying at a hotel pre-booked by their agents. Instead, all of them want to be pioneers and insiders.It's up to brands (even if they're far from the travel industry) to help the customer feel like a traveler in the wild, wherever they end up—on your website, on Instagram, or in-store.
Where to find inspiration: discover recent campaigns by Patagonia or videos promoting South Africa, Sweden, Portugal, and Great Britain as tourist destinations in 2022; follow Airbnb’s summer release (the platform’s most extensive service update of the decade).
#3 A Wonderful Age
The healthcare industry is developing, so people are now living longer (and spending more money). Moreover, today's 60+ y.o. women and men sometimes lead more active lifestyles than their children and grandchildren.The best thing you can do right now is think about how your products can benefit Boomers. To speak to this audience, you should start with age-friendly visuals.
Where to find inspiration: visit the social media pages of top senior influencers, including Dinner and Dance (Instagram), Shirley Curry (YouTube), and Grandma Droniak (TikTok); enjoy marketing campaigns for Nike’s CruzrOne sneakers and the Age Perfect makeup line by L’Oreal.
#4 Ethereal World
Technologies related to augmented and virtual reality are great tools for creating a unique environment for clients, where they can immerse themselves in their thoughts or disengage from the mundane. But this is not the only way to leverage the trend.In 2023, the response to dream-like aesthetics in packaging, fashion, interfaces, architecture, and even visual content processing will increase. Whatever your product is, try adding otherworldly aesthetics to your marketing and enjoy the results.
Where to find inspiration: re-explore Magical Realism classics such as One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez and Beloved by Toni Morrison; check out an omnichannel branding campaign by Twitter (If you dream it, Tweet it) and the extremely viral offline promo for Stranger Things 2022.
#5 Eye on Sustainability
Zero-impact ideas are the most discussed aims in modern conscious entrepreneurship. At the same time, achieving a zero environmental impact with your products or services is often possible only through business reconfiguration.
If you're already on the eco-friendly path, highlight it with minimalistic visuals on your website, in creative campaigns, and on social media. If not, it is the best time to choose a green future.
Where to find inspiration: read more about the #econfession campaign by Ocean Bottle launched on TikTok, and explore Everlane’s brand mission and current creative campaign; keep your eye on brands like Patagonia, A Good Company, Allbirds, and others.
#6 Wellness Upgrade
Caring for physical and mental health knows no bounds. At the same time, your customers' emotional and physical state is affected by everything that surrounds them, and, therefore, you can improve too. For example, by applying calming color schemes.Find out if there is a place for wellness immersion in your communication with clients. A brand can provide clients with a multisensory experience through packaging flavors, textures, or offline initiatives.
Where to find inspiration: use some of the top wellness apps leveraging VR, AR, and XR for a better client experience, including FitXR App, Supernatural App, Mind Labyrinth VR Dreams, or Chakra VR; explore topics such as VR-powered surgical training and pain management.
#7 A Blast of Joy
A source of dopamine can be clothes, interior design, or a specific resource activity. Your job as a brand is to encourage your customer to have some fun.Mood-boosting colors, images that bring pleasure (delicious healthy foods, animals playing, shiny things, or sports), and delighting melodies that encourage or, conversely, allow listeners to calm down and relax—all this can help you reach wider audiences.
Where to find inspiration: check out the Carolina Herrera campaign for 2022 as a dopamine dressing promo example, listen to mood-enhancing music (like Dancing Queen by ABBA or Love on Top by Beyoncé), and smell fragrances with a scientifically proven feel-better effect, including the smell of cookies baking, freshly cut grass, and sea salt.
Matching Uprising Trends With Your Brand’s Nature
Blindly following the creative trends of 2023 does not bring results. For one or more ideas to work, you need to incorporate them organically into your communication, whether it's an image in the spirit of Japanese animation or music capable of boosting one’s mood.Start with a trend closer to your brand’s philosophy, or learn more about each to build a deeper connection with your audience. Collections of images and other files related to each trend can be a good start for creative experiments in 2023.
Read next: 8 Graphic Design Trends that Will Dominate 2023
){kind=link}