tmh » trends

Are You Trendy?

admin — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 06:32:21 +0000

Have you noticed, there’s a trend for trending blogs at the moment? Even on the TMH Blog. It’s true, they can be a very useful resource to see what’s going on in the world of design, advertising and creativity in an easily digestible bite size. So, please ‘creative team’ do continue to share.

But being one of life’s natural iconoclasts, when I view a trending blog I always get a slight nauseous feeling I am being told what I should be ‘liking’ and what my work should be looking like. If you’re not careful (or maybe just lazy) the doors of creativity can start to swing closed and you’ll find yourself trapped in a dull room marked with a sign saying ‘me too’.

For instance:

Can you imagine Mark Denton (the truly original, eccentric and very funny president of D&AD) delivering a D&AD president’s speech on how following trends helped his career? I think not.

Watch this inspirational link on how to use creative self-promotion to build a career and business

http://www.dandad.org/en/mark-denton-presidents-lecture/

Can you imagine the late Paul Arden (mastermind of ‘Castlemaine XXXX’ and ‘Silk Cut slash’ campaigns and author of books like ‘Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite’ and ‘It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be’) staring at the creative brief and thinking to himself ‘ Hmm – I wonder what’s trending at the moment’? Actually maybe he did just that – but only to find a way to do the direct opposite in a witty and memorable way.

Can you imagine the very much still alive George Lois (the genius behind mold breaking Esquire covers and VW ads and author of Damn Good Advice for people with talent) being so gauche as to follow a ‘trend’? Here is what George has to say about trends in his book:

“I’m usually asked by reporters “What do you think the trends in advertising will be in the coming year” My answer is always identical to what I said the previous year: “Beat the s*** out of me. I’ll know it when I do It.”

Aspire to start trends not follow them.

Graphic Design Trends for 2016

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 12:41:51 +0000

By now, most of you reading this are well into your 2016 briefs, creative, revisions, production and perhaps even, campaign evaluations. But let’s take a step back and look at how the graphic design trend has evolved from 2015 and what’s in store for us this year.

If 2015 taught us anything, it’s that we are leaving over-designed graphics and moving to clean shapes, muted colours and unique typography. Here is a quick snapshot on what I believe is how 2016 will unfold… graphically.

Colour
A few days ago Pantone announced its 2016 colour of the year. which are actually 2 colours – 13-1520-TCX (Rose Quartz) and 14-3919-TCX (Serenity). It’s clear that 2016 will be calming, but colourful with muted tones of otherwise bright and bold palettes.

Flat/Semi Flat graphics
Thanks to Apple’s flat iOS icons reveal in 2014, the trend continues to favour clean and flat designs. However, in 2016, it will start moving into a semi flat design, giving it a 3D feel, which solves all the problems a flat design created.

Typography
While I’m not going to argue about the relevance of Helvetica, it certainly took backstage last year in favor of handwritten typefaces and will continue to do so.

Illustration and graphics
Like hand-lettered typefaces, illustration style is moving to hand drawn illustrations, which will ultimately leave a very lively experience for the users.

Bold Patterns
A re-imagination of the 1950s style lends itself to bold prints with retro style. The use of shapes keeps this trend simple and clean.

Web Design
In 2016 grids and interactive graphics are the way to go. It’s the perfect solutions to great responsive design that adapts to various screen sizes.

The use of interactive graphics is a great way to introduce your product or service to new customers, or learn more about existing customers as they navigate their way through an experience. Instead of animated graphics, people will use cinemagraphs (animated images) because it will give the feel of a photograph and a video altogether.

Gabor Baboth
Senior Designer

Old Is The New New

admin — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 08:27:56 +0000

Taking inspiration from old, defunct factories and rustic surroundings Vintage Industrial, aka Industrial Chic, is one of the hottest trends when it comes to the design world. It is a trend that marks a significant departure from the mainstream, yet is quickly becoming mainstream in itself.

With the digital age apparently encouraging a decline in basic human connections, people seem drawn to the real connection to brands that is expressed through this trend.

A connection to the written word through raw hand lettering showing craftsmanship and skill.
A connection to the past and history through vintage inspired pieces.
A connection to uncomplicated, honest and natural brands.
Or, simply put, a connection to other people.

Dareen Taji
Design Director