[isdgroup] is a group of 4 companies that includes ISD group, a digital creative agency, KA.KA.HA, an innovative digital production, HASHTAG, a digital communication agency, and Reiseplan, a marketing agency. [isdgroup] creates projects on the edge of technology and art - from space rovers to artificial intelligence. The company has offices in Kyiv, Hamburg, and London.

Recipe for design success in 2021.

Typography in all its manifestations will be one of the key highlights. Although this is a permanent trend, in 2021 we’ll see more graphics connected with the typeface design, the letters will take on more display font shapes. Companies will increasingly use their custom corporate typefaces as an identification tool. "Bad Typography” will finally break out from the rave party posters and designs of trendy Instagram accounts into the mass market.

Recipe for 2021: Variation, 3D, animation, generative graphics and typography. Mix and shake them as hard as you can.

Why static image with text can no longer be a solution

The amount of digital content is overflowing, while the struggle for consumer attention is getting more intense every day. To attract a user’s attention, you need movement. We see animation being used in all areas of design more often. Increasing relevance of formats such as Stories, brand AR filters, live broadcast, video conferencing, interactive websites, and user-generated content tell us that a static image with text can no longer be the best solution.

The trend is growing due to the availability of tools that allow to create content with almost no effort, as well as the constant growth in demand. Platforms like Readymag and Tilda increasingly focus on animation widgets, not to mention the popularity of animation designers. The amount of content that fits into the duration of Instagram Stories will grow.

AI-powered design as an ultimate trend

Technology continues to be the main driver in the key spheres of our lives, and design is no exception. On the one hand, the avalanche-like development of AI every year simplifies the work of communication designers (the search and processing of photo and video content), while, on the other hand, makes them closer to assistants (or maybe co-creators: recommendations and variability of ideas).

It's still difficult to speak confidently about the strong influence of AI on design trends in 2021, but there might be only one breakthrough release in this area (like GPT-3) and a trend will instantly appear. Could it be a volume and animation from static graphics on the fly, an assistant to new content ideas based on content history, or an automatic adaptation of dynamic content to different channels?

This tendency is closely related to the transformation of design for consumption through social networks. If earlier people used to consume content through a 4x3 or 16x9 TV screen or a couple of billboards and city-lights, now consumption is a variety of screens of any size from iWatches, smartphones of different sizes (with a constant change of vertical), tablets, laptops and monitors, plasma screens, and 30 meter ice displays. Just a photo is not enough, just video is not enough, and here appears AR, 3D motion, and generative graphics, created by algorithms that help to adapt and enrich the design depending on the formats.
— Viktor Shkurba, CEO & Creative Director, Art Directors Maksym Baluiev and Maryna Kizilova