{"id":34721,"date":"2016-04-01T05:20:43","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T12:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/?p=34721"},"modified":"2024-04-10T23:38:46","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T06:38:46","slug":"hottest-graphic-design-trends-of-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/hottest-graphic-design-trends-of-2016","title":{"rendered":"Hottest Graphic Design Trends for 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Now that we&#8217;re officially four months into 2016 (Hi there, April!), we wanted to share these exciting new trends with you. We are confident that each of the following design styles and elements will take over the marketplace in what&#8217;s left of this year &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; and even going into 2017! You&#8217;re welcome to bookmark this piece and refer to it again and again.<br \/>\nHave you used any of these so far? Share your thoughts in the comments area below.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Cursor_trails\"><\/span>1. Cursor trails <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\nWho can resist leaving a shiny trail behind the pointer? Add some magic to your next design and experiment with sparkles, circles and even cloned versions of the cursor itself.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2016\/04\/10223749\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_1-Cursor-Trails.jpg.webp\" alt=\"April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_1-Cursor-Trails\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34785\">\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Heavy_drop_shadows\"><\/span>2. Heavy drop shadows <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\nWe were actually a bit hesitant to include this one because it&#8217;s still so new. If you&#8217;re feeling adventurous today, go ahead and try adding heavy drop shadows to your shapes, buttons and even text.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2016\/04\/10223752\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_2-Drop-Shadows.jpg.webp\" alt=\"April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_2-Drop-Shadows\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34786\">\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Glossy_buttons\"><\/span>3. Glossy buttons <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\nNeed we say more? Add a layer of sophistication and hyper-realism with 3D glossy buttons.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2016\/04\/10223754\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_3-Glossy-Buttons.jpg.webp\" alt=\"April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_3-Glossy-Buttons\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34787\">\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Mega_Glitter_GIFs\"><\/span>4. Mega Glitter GIFs <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\nWe could basically stop at glitter, since it happens to be everywhere around the web these days. However, it is specifically large glitter GIFs that seem to be having a moment.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2016\/04\/10223756\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_4-Glitter-Gifs.jpg.webp\" alt=\"April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_4-Glitter-Gifs\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34788\">\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5_Under_construction_signs\"><\/span>5. Under construction signs <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\nAn absolute must if your website or one of its sections is still not quite there yet. Under construction signs are a thoughtful UI element that warns visitors that you&#8217;re not ready for them, but soon will!<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2016\/04\/10223811\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_5-Under-Construction.jpg.webp\" alt=\"April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_5-Under-Construction\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34789\">\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6_Page_hit_counters\"><\/span>6. Page hit counters <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\nWhere would we be without these? We&#8217;ve even added one at the bottom of this article.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2016\/04\/10223813\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_6-Page-Hit-Counters.jpg.webp\" alt=\"April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_6-Page-Hit-Counters\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34790\">\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"7_Word_clouds\"><\/span>7. Word clouds <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\nThese are an engaging, non-traditional way to display text. Add word clouds to your next print or web design project and watch user delight soar.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2016\/04\/10223816\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_7-Word-Clouds.jpg.webp\" alt=\"April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_7-Word-Clouds\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34791\">\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"8_Put_a_cat_on_it\"><\/span>8. Put a cat on it <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\nIt&#8217;s cats. And the web. And oh-so-fresh. Just add the cats and everything will be fine.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2016\/04\/10223818\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_8-Put-A-Cat.jpg.webp\" alt=\"April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_8-Put-A-Cat\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34792\">\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"9_Torn_paper\"><\/span>9. Torn paper <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\nAchieve that vintage, organic feel by adding torn edges to your shapes and page sections. Emulating old paper is a bold move in an industry dominated by symmetry and geometry.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2016\/04\/10223828\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_9-Torn-Paper.jpg.webp\" alt=\"April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_9-Torn-Paper\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34793\">\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"10_Bevel_effects\"><\/span>10. Bevel effects <span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\nReady to test your Photoshop skills? You&#8217;re a few layer styles away from one of the most popular looks in web design these days. Experiment with different beveling shapes and intensities: you&#8217;ll be surprised at how proper bevel effects can fix almost any design mistake.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2016\/04\/10223831\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_10-Bevel-Effects.jpg.webp\" alt=\"April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_10-Bevel-Effects\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1080\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34794\">\n<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Your_turn\"><\/span>Your turn<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\nAny other trends you&#8217;d like to include here? We&#8217;re listening!<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.reliablecounter.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.reliablecounter.com\/count.php?page=creativemarket.com\/blog&amp;digit=style\/plain\/24\/&amp;reloads=0\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" border=\"0\"><\/a><br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"font-family: Geneva, Arial;font-size: 9px;color: #330010;text-decoration: none\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a> <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now that we&#8217;re officially four months into 2016 (Hi there, April!), we wanted to share these exciting new trends with you. We are confident that each of the following design styles and elements will take over the marketplace in what&#8217;s left of this year &acirc;&euro;&rdquo; and even going into 2017! You&#8217;re welcome to bookmark this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"topics":[],"class_list":["post-34721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-design-trends"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.4 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hottest Graphic Design Trends for 2016 - Creative Market Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/hottest-graphic-design-trends-of-2016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hottest Graphic Design Trends for 2016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Now that we&#039;re officially four months into 2016 (Hi there, April!), we wanted to share these exciting new trends with you. We are confident that each of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/hottest-graphic-design-trends-of-2016\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Creative Market Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/crtvmrkt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-01T12:20:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-11T06:38:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\/uploads\/2016\/04\/10223749\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_1-Cursor-Trails.jpg.webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Creative Market\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@creativemarket\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@creativemarket\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Creative Market\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/hottest-graphic-design-trends-of-2016\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/hottest-graphic-design-trends-of-2016\",\"name\":\"Hottest Graphic Design Trends for 2016 - Creative Market Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/hottest-graphic-design-trends-of-2016#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/hottest-graphic-design-trends-of-2016#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/10223749\\\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_1-Cursor-Trails.jpg.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-01T12:20:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-11T06:38:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d6927fab89f28e3dd8f6bb7b36219d66\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/hottest-graphic-design-trends-of-2016#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/hottest-graphic-design-trends-of-2016\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/hottest-graphic-design-trends-of-2016#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/10223749\\\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_1-Cursor-Trails.jpg.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3ui957tjb5bqd.cloudfront.net\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/04\\\/10223749\\\/April-Fools_10-Design-Trends_1-Cursor-Trails.jpg.webp\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/hottest-graphic-design-trends-of-2016#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hottest Graphic Design Trends for 2016\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Creative Market Blog\",\"description\":\"Creative Market Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/creativemarket.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hottest Graphic Design Trends for 2016 - Creative Market Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/hottest-graphic-design-trends-of-2016","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hottest Graphic Design Trends for 2016","og_description":"Now that we're officially four months into 2016 (Hi there, April!), we wanted to share these exciting new trends with you. 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