Just about every field has trends, and graphic design is no exception. In 2024, the current trends seem to revolve around minimalism, nostalgia, and vintage inspiration. And with the constant churn of social media, they move faster than ever before. Here at Spraycan, we stay on top of trends in our visual communication and brand strategy, but when it comes to a brand identity, timelessness far outweighs a trend in the means of importance.
Staying Relevant
Brand identities need to last a business a decent amount of time. We typically shoot for 10 years or more, to be safe. We want our clients to be in love with their brand! In order to accomplish this, when we’re working through a branding design, we keep in mind the idea of timelessness. It can be hard to resist trends, especially when they’re those that appeal to your own personal tastes, but it’s important to do so. We don’t want our client’s business to get pigeonholed into a very short, specific time. Once that trend has passed, they may appear outdated or irrelevant to potential customers. An air of timelessness keeps them reputable and always in the back of people’s minds.
Fluidity in Marketing
Now, this isn’t to say that trends aren’t helpful at all when designing for brands. A business’s identity can have a timeless brand, while still resonating with what people are currently interested in. This comes into play in the marketing. Especially with social media, marketing gives brands an opportunity to participate in trends without being tied to it for longer than necessary. Digital marketing especially is extremely fluid, so a business can adapt and change with current movements and trends as needed. This helps them feel relevant and keeps their customers interested in them, because they pay attention to the world around them. It’s a fantastic opportunity for variation on their part. With how fast platforms like TikTok go through trends, it’s important to have that flexibility to ride those cultural waves.
There are a ton of details that go into a brand as a whole, more than simply an identity. It’s important to spread the branding through marketing to solidify values. You can do so while still participating in trends. It marries the two together in a way that lets audiences know that you keep up with what’s going on in the world, and are still relevant to them. So hop on those trends, but make certain you do so in a way that prioritizes longevity for your business!
*This post was written by a human named Alex.
