Monotype, one of the world’s leading font and technology specialists, releases its annual Type Trends Report: The Latest in Type Design, examining how the current state of affairs manifests in design terms. The 10 freshly updated trends identified by Monotype showcase how expressions and digital touchpoints are becoming increasingly important to brands. Through exploration and analysis of each trend, the report provides a snapshot into how the design world is moving at an incredible speed to connect to and inspire brands – and the world at large – through innovative typography technology on different digital platforms.
“Type is a gateway to an entire conversation around technology and today’s trends,” said Monotype creative type director Terrance Weinzierl. “This report is an educational collection of work that fascinates and excites us and, most importantly, represents a ripple coursing through the ocean of design. Through these 10 trends, we provide perspective of how our daily life is impacting letterforms.”
Influenced by culture, diversity and inclusion and inspired by technologies we are adopting more into the mainstream like AI, augmented and virtual reality, the report finds themes for creativity and showcases how technology continues to blur the boundaries of what graphic design is.
Trends
Post-pandemic, the world is back with a playful spirit and superhero bursts onto the scene, boasting outlines and shadows, often tilted, skewed or curved into perspective. This trend has happy, playful comic book vibes potentially inspired by the global popularity and saturation of comic book movies.
Super sober offers simplicity and stands out in a noisy landscape of competing brands, apps and notifications. It’s often black and white, simple and centered.
An evolution of last year’s trend, match maker represents diversity, variety and powerful pairing in visual form. The variety and diversity of typefaces continues to reflect this generations’ attitudes, values, goals, and missions. This is a trend that describes the human experience.
Smart grid is a blend of art and science, built on grid structures disrupted, judiciously, by quarter or half circles. The grids are the main attraction but have been selectively softened and cut with precision and sophistication.
As the world continues to move forward and our reliance on paper continues to diminish, screens allow and encourage movement. Enter Flux, a collection of variable fonts, including icons, that are moving around because they can. Ripe for AR and VR, this design pushes further into uncharted three-dimensional spaces.
“Though many of our trends are expanded and inspired by past themes of what we saw in 2022, this report also represents the future of design, and in many ways, a guide to interpreting the world around us,” added Monotype creative type director Emilios Theofanous. “As we’ve produced several trends reports over the years, we see this observation as a celebration of incredible global typography – a summary view of how creativity has flourished in infertile grounds with passion and purpose.”
For more information or to view the full 2023 Type Trends report, visit, monotype.com/type-trends-2023.
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