Repetition and visual rhythm is something that we often use in graphic design and it's something that helps to make more pleasing compositions in general, but there is a noticeable and increasing amount of these type of images where we have an obvious emphasis on these properties.

This trend also often relies on ASMR or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.

This can be triggered by certain visuals that feel tactile, especially if they are also supported by certain sound effects.

Peach fuzz, Pantone's color of the year also ties in really well with this visual trend, which as they describe is a velvety gentle peach tone whose all-embracing spirit enriches mind, body and soul.

I love this trend because it's very positive, it's calming, relaxing and it's definitely something I'm going to utilize in my designs this year.

Using gradients in graphic design of course is not new, it's something that has been around for a long time.

And there were certain trends that appeared and then disappeared, but this time I feel like 3D gradients are really on the rise.

By that I mean instead of having a two-dimensional linear or radial gradient, we have an irregular gradient either soft or with edges, which is often produced by using either a static or animated 3D object or environment.

This trend can be applied pretty much to anything from typography to product shots to photography in general, and it is something that is already widely utilized on the web.

There are many reasons why this specific visual trend is on the rise.

First of all, there is the inflate feature in Adobe Illustrator, which was introduced a couple of months ago and it made it super easy to turn 2D vector shapes into inflated 3D looking objects.

In terms of typography, this style is supported by the variable font format and it allows for a lot of stretching and distortion within a typeface by having various additional attributes next to the type weight.

This trend generally also have a very positive vibe.

There is just something pleasing about having an object filling up a certain space.

And I love extreme examples where the type or the composition completely fills in the frame or when there is a lot of negative space but still an object is limited to an invisible boundary.

And talking about boundaries, another amazing visual trend is inspired by the Japanese bento boxes and I believe Apple was amongst the first to use this and utilize it on their website and by now it can be seen all around the internet.

However, I'm interested to see that there is a rise also of this same principle or structure not only for user interfaces but also for additional things like showcasing multiple things in the same composition, which can be great for structuring a portfolio or a slide in a presentation.

Although this style is defined by the distinct separation between these containers or bounding However, I love it when there is a clever interaction introduced between these elements.

Although this style was inspired by boxes in the first place, never forget to think outside of the box.

Simple doodles, sketches and cartoon characters are huge at the moment and I believe they will become even more popular this year.

They can be used independently or mixing them with photography or even 3D renders.

And one of my creative friends who I met a couple of years ago does this style amazingly.

He is Aaron Lea from Fright Cactus Studios, definitely worth checking out his website because like I said he does this style so well.

And he has been doing this for a long time, but certainly he is one of the artists to blame for this visual style to be trending this year.

In harsh contrast to most of the other styles that we covered so far, there is also a rise in using pixels and dots combined with other elements.

And I'm not talking about pixel art, it's more about mixing in pixelated details with other smoother and softer elements.

This style mainly relies on contrast and the reason why it works so well is because we are used to looking at extremely high resolution screens and anything that's pixelated will stand out.

And one of the most important thing about visual communication is that you grab your viewers attention so anything that stands out will make the visual work.

Before we continue, I just wanted to let you know about our Creative Membership Program.

For a small monthly fee, you get access to over 200 hours of Adobe Certified Online Training Courses.

Master all the tools and skills needed to become a professional graphic designer or illustrator.

As a Pro Member, you will get mentoring from me and my team, access to webinars, student forum and creative briefs to help you build an outstanding portfolio.

Pro Members can also download the project files for all of our YouTube tutorials.

Sign up at yesimadesigner.com slash memberships and start your free trial today.

There is no doubt that Generative AI will have a massive impact and influence in how we interact with images in 2024.

It was already a major disruptor last year and honestly, I also felt on edge about what to think of Generative AI.

And if you've been following my videos on the channel, you probably know that I am using of different aspects of it already.

But it is still not clear where things are going, so it is hard to exactly predict the future.

However, I have a couple of predictions that I would like to share with you.

First of all, I think there is going to be an anti-AI trend.

And this could be anything from images mocking generated imagery or making a statement by clearly utilizing non-AI methods.

The Content Authenticity Initiative or CAI is going to gain traction as well in 2024.

The original aim of this initiative was actually not to identify whether AI has been used on an image, just generally whether an image has been edited or not.

But since generated images are saturating all the platforms online from stock sites like Adobe Stock and Freepik to social platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, there is an increasing need and demand for a way to be able to tell whether something was generated or not.

And with the latest generative AI models like Midjourney version 6, it is becoming extremely hard to tell in certain cases whether an image was generated or not, and I believe in 2024 it is just going to become even more difficult.

The pace of progress for this technology is just mind-blowing and I don't think it's going to slow down, if anything it's just going to accelerate.

A good example is Magnific AI, which only after a couple of weeks of its original release managed to increase its enhancing capability from the original 2x to 16x, up to 10k pixels in a single step.

And this almost magical technology I think also will bring another visual direction or visual style, which I think can be called Detailism, which is about bringing out as much detail as possible from an image.

And don't confuse upscaling and enhancing images, because there is a difference between them.

Since with tools like Magnific AI you are enhancing the images, meaning that you are as close as possible to the original source.

This revolutionary method is really a milestone in digital imaging, and in 2024 it could easily lead to the end of an era where we were worried about resolution and pixel count.

You heard me right, generated pixels are going to be the new vectors.

And last but not least, there will also be another sub-trend, which I like to call AI-ism, which is embracing the quirks and mistakes or hallucinations of generative AI, and instead of trying to hide them, is going to emphasize them in compositions.