Discover the most important visual trends for the coming year, courtesy of Getty and iStock by Getty Images.
Like it or not, we’re all influenced by visual trends. That doesn’t mean you have to slavishly follow them, but it’s important to know what they are.
As world leaders in visual communication, Getty Images and iStock by Getty Images are in the perfect position to identify new and emerging visual trends. And so every year, they unveil their forecast of the trends that will influence all things design, advertising, visual and communication-led in the coming 12 months.
In this post, we round up the six trends they’ve identified for 2017, and what they mean for designers everywhere.
The unfiltered trend identifies a new direction in commercial photography, one that represents a move towards a documentary aesthetic. Drawing on the aesthetics of photojournalism, this kind of imagery helps brands to connect with younger, savvy consumers and bring a raw, spontaneous edge to their storytelling. The antithesis of glossy advertising, Unfiltered imagery opens up a dynamic new method of storytelling that cuts through the noise of social media, and instantly grabs attention.
With younger generations expressing themselves in increasingly complex and unpredictable ways via social media, brands are following suit, with an image style called the New Naivety. Loose and irreverent, this type of imagery proudly displays traits we once tried to hide – such as being freckled, chubby or geeky – and is full of personality, humour and individuality. The New Naivety is spontaneous and playful, real and raw, and above all, makes us laugh.
The Virtuality trend reflects how new 360 and VR technologies have moved us beyond two dimensions. We’re no longer passive viewers on the outside of the frame; we are intimately and viscerally immersed into an experience. As a result, brands are allowing story to be king, developing emotive, shared experiences that extend the consumer connection in new and exciting ways.
The Colour Surge trend highlights how image-makers are liberating themselves from conventional colour palettes and the accepted theories of “what something should look like”. It’s about using colour in ways we previously couldn’t imagine, breaking the rules, and embracing unnatural combinations that immediately ignite interest and excitement in a brand campaign.
The Gritty Woman trend is about a whole new type of female representation that’s starting to appear in design, branding and advertising. Tenacious, laser-focused and unafraid to get their hands dirty, these women are not to be crossed, overlooked or underestimated. We’ve seen them emerge from a confluence of other trends that Getty has identified over the last five years, including Female Rising, Genderblend and Messthetics.
The ever-increasing circulation of people, goods and information around the world is changing the way we see ourselves. The Global Neighbourhood trend is about embracing this state of flux, where our collective cultural identities are becoming less about where we are and more about what we believe, based on our connections. Brands are themselves becoming nomadic, learning to change and responding to our increasingly complex consumer identities.
View the trends in more detail in the Visual Hub, and discover affordable, trend-led, exclusive imagery at iStock.com.
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Tom May is an award-winning journalist and editor specialising in design, photography and technology. Author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Great TED Talks: Creativity, published by Pavilion Books, Tom was previously editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine. Today, he is a regular contributor to Creative Bloq and its sister sites Digital Camera World, T3.com and Tech Radar. He also writes for Creative Boom and works on content marketing projects.
