New Paradigms

In this last section, we will take a look at recent and current design trends. Let’s look at a few different areas that have surfaced in recent years and are positioned to (possibly?) alter the future of design.

Review the videos and text below to explore the New Paradigms and observed design trends. What design trends have you noticed in your world?

AI Designed Products

The impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning is being felt in all areas of the creative industry. We have robots reporting the news, computers generating songs, and paintings by AI machines. Our creative roles are changing once again.

One designer discusses the potential implications of AI in our design processes and provides an example of a shoe designed with AI tools.

Virtual and Augmented Reality

VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality) are working their way into a range of disciplines, but these are still emerging technologies. Many people predict VR/AR/XR will be bigger than the internet. We have seen how technology can be a driving force in the changes in society and in the field of design, but it may take time for real adoption to occur.

Recently Facebook announced it is evolving into Meta: “3D spaces in the metaverse will let you socialize, learn, collaborate and play in ways that go beyond what we can imagine.”

Check out some examples below and imagine what VR and AR will look like in five to ten years.

Apps that use AR technology

• Maybelline’s virtual try-on tool
• Warby Parker’s Glasses try-on app

Advertisement using 360 Video

View on desktop and use your mouse or the arrows to move around the scene.

Hyper-Reality: One designer’s dystopian imagining

Could this be the Future?

Want to learn more?

Here’s a designer who talks about his journey and career in 3D and AR.

• Harnessing Adobe 3D and AR Tools to Prepare for the XR Revolution 

Here’s an example of the use of VR to share the experience of racism:

• Experiencing Racism in VR | Courtney D. Cogburn, PhD

Diversity in Design

As discussed in other sections of this OER, the mainstream history of design is historically narrow ie: white, and male. While change is glacially slow, a current trend in design is the awareness of a need for diversity of voices in the field of communication design.

White Default

Cheryl D. Miller, the Cooper Hewitt’s 2021 Design Visionary National Design Award winner, has given many talks on diversity in design, such as White Default. In this video she provides an examination of racial identity and its presence in advertising.

Graphic Authorship & Diversity

In the following video, she talks about her personal history as a designer and also a writer. It is critical that we have a variety of voices authoring the history of design and contributing to theoretical discussions in the field.

Ethical Design

The Ethical Design Movement has grown out of the impacts of social media and the internet. This movement which is often connected to technology, takes many forms: accessibility, inclusion, open culture, and social equity.

Here is an interactive video that takes you through some of these questions of ethics and design. Below are related links.

• A Designer’s Code of Ethics by Mike Monteiro
• Center for Humane Technology
• Ethical Design Manifesto by Indie Team
• Code of Ethics for professional designer by the French Design Alliance

Design Trends

Every year you see lists of current design trends. These often look at visual trends, such as Vintage Design, Minimalism, Maximalism, Metamodernism, etc. Take a look at an example below of one designer’s observations of current trends.

1. DIVERSITY + INCLUSIVITY 2. METAVERSE 3. DATAVIZ 4. MUTED TONES 5. VINTAGE APOTHECARY 6. ECO EVERYTHING 7. IRIDESCENCE 8. MODULAR GEO 9. TRIPPY TYPE 10. MOVING MARKS 11. TRUE GRIT 12. VERY PERI

What’s happening NOW?

In your academic career and your career as a designer (in whatever form that takes), keep an eye out for what is happening right now in the broad field(s) of design. Here are a few suggestions. If you have channels that you follow to keep up with what’s happening in the field, add them with this form.

• AIGA Eye on Design – Published by AIGA, an editorial platform covers the issues important to the global design world + elevates the voices of contemporary designers as a way to build a more engaged design community.
• The Observatory– Michael Bierut and Jessica Helfand on design, current events, and current enthusiasms.
• Design Matters – Debbie Millman features interviews with designers, artists, and cultural leaders.