This post was written by Miklos Philips, UX Designer for Toptal

Our daily lives are are saturated with amazing images. Visual design experiments become hot graphic design trends, and suddenly we see them everywhere.

Striking visual designs are plastered all over the sides of buses, posters, billboards, TV ads, magazines and of course, digital products. They have many names, including duotone, double exposure, scan lines, glitch, smudge, color channel, photo masking, vibrant-garish colors, and misprint.

graphic design trend glitch visual effect on a subway ad

The graphic design trend “glitch” on a New York City subway advertisement.

As with fashion, design trends are often recycled from decades past—we see them coming back again and again: Russian constructivism, Bauhaus, screen printing, 1970’s… etc. Simple, saturated geometric design patterns have been around for almost a century, and designers are still using them because they’re just as effective as they were 100 years ago.

Luckily, today’s designers have a much wider variety of digital tools with which to create these trendsetting effects than they did in earlier days. Still, even though the tools may be easier to come by, let’s not forget that it’s brave creativity and visual innovation that will forge the freshest, most compelling designs.

Some creative directors and designers may resist design trends because they don’t want to be seen as “followers.” However, using graphic design trends could prove to be an important decision because doing so can help make a designer more contemporary. Daring to be different also has its rewards. The best designers “follow and borrow” heavily from trends—past and present—at times creating something entirely new by combining graphic design trends into something striking and fresh.

Word of caution—designers should use graphic design trends in their work only when appropriate, and keeping branding in mind. For example, people expect stability and trust from banking, investing, insurance brands, and so on—so a subversive counter-culture effect like “glitch” may not be appropriate in these cases.

double exposure effect motion graphics following a design trend

The HBO series True Detective uses “double exposure” to great effect in its opening titles.

Let’s look at a few of these hot graphic design trends, and share some of the top Photoshop tutorials on how to create them.

Hot Design Trend: The Double Exposure Effect

Spectacular image combinations can be achieved by using the “double exposure” effect. The name comes from celluloid film photography where two or three photos are taken without winding the film forward in the camera, exposing the same frame multiple times with different images. This trend featured a lot on movie posters and TV promos. As seen above, TV show opening titles such as True Detective on HBO have been using this effect with motion graphics to great affect.

double exposure photography effect graphic design trend

double exposure effect visual design trend

double exposure photoshop effect a hot graphic design trend

In order to achieve a great double exposure effect, careful image selection is very important. High-contrast images work best when darker areas take up an area of the image where another image is going to be used. Juxtaposing a portrait with a more detailed image such as a cityscape or landscape is often done.

Here are some top Photoshop tutorials on how to achieve this hot design trend:

Double Exposure Effect Photoshop Tutorial #1:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p9BeTmESIo?rel=0]

Double Exposure Effect Photoshop Tutorial #2:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrvghIDL9fc?rel=0]

Double Exposure Effect Photoshop Tutorial #3:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfpIa15w37g?rel=0]

Glitch, Misprint, Visual Interference Effects

This is a double-taker. It catches the eye in a sea of “perfect images” because it’s all about imperfection. It’s based on the unexpected result of digital errors known as “glitches.” Everything around us—advertising, posters, magazine covers, and TV promos—has been Photoshopped to perfection, (some would even call it “fakery” or “visual pollution”), thereby driving a desire to see more real, organic, less-than-perfect images.

Often more appealing to younger generations, this design trend is a subversive, counterculture, “anti-fake” movement intended to make designs stand out. As mentioned above, it may not be appropriate for some situations or brands, so designers are advised to tread carefully if choosing to implement this effect.

Most designers would use the term “glitch,” but sometimes it’s called a VHS effect, RGB shift with scan lines, misprint or visual interference. Innovative designers sometimes combine several types of these vogueish effects into something new.

glitch, misprint, visual interference effects graphic design trends

Mr. Robot posters used variations of the glitch effect to stand out and reinforce the counter-culture sensibility of the show.

glitch, misprint, visual interference effects graphic design trends

The misprint/color shift design trend and a combination of the color-shift and glitch effect

video scan lines graphic effect design trend

Video scan lines and image-shift are also used to create unusual, eye-catching graphics.

Everyone has their own method of creating this effect, so look around YouTube and pick one that you like. There are even Photoshop Actions designers can buy to create the glitch effect with just a few clicks. Here are a couple of top Photoshop tutorials on how to achieve this design trend:

Glitch Effect Photoshop Tutorial #1:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2BzkQGCFjY?rel=0]

Glitch Effect Photoshop Tutorial #2:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO9_Q-dqiWM?rel=0]

There are even ways to achieve a cool glitch effect with only CSS as this slideshow demo and this landing page demo show.

Duotone Effects

Duotone has been around for a while but never seems to get tired. Hundreds of years ago Sanguine was used (red chalk on paper) to create simple one-tone drawings by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci. There’s something enduring about breaking an image down to simple tonality and a modern duotone image isn’t all that different from an old master’s sketch.

duotone drawings using sanguine - red chalk on paper

Sanguine drawings by Da Vinci and Mademoiselle de Mondran, and a modern duotone image

Today from Hollywood blockbuster posters to Apple and Spotify, everyone seems to be using the duotone effect. The purpose, again, is to stand apart, to be seen as something different. There are even Photoshop Actions and many mobile apps for creating duotone effects easily.

blade runner poster duotone effect follows a graphic design trend

photoshop duotone effect design trend

duotone effect visual design trend

creating a duotone effect graphic design trend
Here are some top Photoshop tutorials on how to achieve this happening design trend:

Duotone Effect Photoshop Tutorial #1:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyuXdD_v4f8?rel=0]

Duotone Effect Photoshop Tutorial #2:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4T3YLYioCY?rel=0]

Duotone Effect Photoshop Tutorial #3:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uFYp0p3zfc?rel=0]

RGB Split, Color Channel, Double Color Exposure

Here is another eye-catching effect that can use photos, text, and shapes. This effect sometimes uses 3 different images in 3 different color channels of the same subject, and juxtaposes them for an interesting image. This effect can sometimes also be seen as mixing together the glitch effect and RGB split effect. Some designers get really creative and mix double exposure, glitch and the RGB split effects.

rgb shift effect design trend created in photoshop

color channel and glitch effect photoshop actions

photoshop tutorial color shift effect a design trend
Here are some top Photoshop and Affinity Photo tutorials on how to create this trending visual design effect (please disregard what they call the effect, everybody has a different name for it):

Double Color Exposure Effect Photoshop Tutorial:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcG6OeYtens?rel=0]

Double Color Exposure Effect Affinity Photo Tutorial:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElnAHqB3J7w?rel=0]

Vibrant, Garish Colors and Fluorescent Duotone Effects

Again, the goal here is to really stand out. This trend uses vibrant, saturated and fluorescent colors in generous amounts over the design.

duotone fluorescent effect website design trend

New Deal Design’s website follows the fluorescent duotone effect design trend.

vibrant color effect graphic design trend

vibrant, garish color effect used on a web calendar, a website design trend

Calendar panel from AfriSam 2018 Corporate Stationery using the website design trend.

bold saturated colors effect website design trend

Employing this website design trend, design agency ELJE Group’s website uses vibrant, saturated colors.

hackernoon employs bright fluorescent saturated color effect a website design trend

Hackernoon uses bright fluorescent saturated colors to stand out.

The direction to take here is to be bold (when appropriate) and take risks with garish, saturated colors, whether it’s a website, album cover, or a poster.

Photo Masking, Cutouts, Abstractionism, Cubism

This is one of those recurring design trends that continues to be an enduring graphic design approach. It can be a hybrid of bold, flat color areas, montage, and masking. It’s a technique that is almost 100 years old, as these Russian propaganda posters from the 1920’s demonstrate.

russian propaganda posters with simple geometric shapes, cutouts, and photo masking visual effect

To create works of wide-ranging color and complexity, during the last decade of his life Henri Matissedeployed two simple materials—white paper and gouache—that became his famous paper cutouts. A simple pair of scissors was the tool Matisse used to transform paint and paper into a world of plants, animals, figures, and shapes.

matisse cutouts set a certain design trend for simple shapes and colors

The digital variation of cubism, abstract art, and “cutouts” today is the photo-masking design trend employed by lots of designers to attract attention.

photo masking effect design trend

Some of these visual layering effects resemble the famous paper cutouts by Matisse.

another design trend the photo masking effect

Interesting photo masking effects can be achieved with simple geometric shapes or typefaces.

photo masking effect graphic design trend

There are no hard and fast rules on how to create this effect. It all depends on the source materials and your creativity. Look for design and art inspirations such as the Russian propaganda posters, Picasso’s abstract cubist art and Matisse’s cutouts. Most of these photo masking techniques and collages can be created with layer masking in Photoshop. It’s more about photo selection and creativity, and less about technique.

Nevertheless, here are a couple of top Photoshop tutorials on how to create this hip design trend, the photo masking effect:

How to Create a Text Effect Poster Photoshop Tutorial:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj_iwNgv8aQ?rel=0]

How to Create a Letter Portrait Photoshop Tutorial:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EoGlRhVy30?rel=0]

Here’s another interesting Photoshop tutorial using photo masking to create this image:

photoshop tutorial for photo masking design trend

The tutorial is an example of how a few simple techniques can be used to create elaborate illustrations using multiple layers, masking, the pen tool, some basic lighting, and one simple texture.

Explore, Be Brave and Set Your Own Course

Today, creative bravery isn’t optional. It’s what designers must do as people’s expectations rise and their attention becomes harder to capture. Don’t shy away from following some design trends. In fact, mix it up, do something new with them! Rock the status quo, be bold and explore your fancy. Take the leap! Be creatively brave!