It is indeed getting toasty in here. But are you ready for summer? Come with us and get inspired by these 9 hot design tips.
Summer is not the season for holding back. As usual it’s all about getting outside. There are parks and beer gardens to be sat in, festivals to be attended, and, most importantly, towels you need to lie down on. So come on, off you go.
For our design tips, we thought it would be nice to stick out a bit. Less sunflowers this time. More parasols. More melons. More dinosaurs. Protect your skin with big prints on T-Shirts, that should help, right? What definitely does help though, is keeping up with current trends. But before someone steals your sun lounger, here are our 9 inspiring design tips for summer.
1. Get colourful
Body Text: What comes to your mind when you think of summer? Sun, sea and fruits in all colours of the rainbow? Perfect. Here you can join in the celebration of colour. Hold on, here come the big 5:
- Yellow (like the sun, get it?)
- Sunset Orange (also like the sun?)
- Bright Pink
- Barely Blue
- Kelly Green
You can’t really go wrong with these colours but watch out for how you combine them. Think harmoniously, flatter the wearer. What summer pictures do you like? Let them inspire you to make fresh designs for summer. Be as Club Tropicana as George Michael, with a tasteful mix of tropical fruit colours.
2. Right out the front: Patterns and Prints
So we know it’s going be tropical but it’s also important to know the trends for 2022:
- Colour Progressions and Colour Block Designs → Woodstock called; they want their designs back. Get psychedelic with colourful and vibrant prints from the 60’s and 70’s, such as butterflies, swirls, blurred watercolours and, not to forget, some groovy batik patterns.
- Artsy Skills and Surreal Gardens → keeping with the season, this print trend fuses colours together in a unique way. There is no right or wrong, the blurred prints come in the shape of tangled flowers, abstract figures or large-scale ombrés. This trend stands out through seemingly random prints that mimic scribbles or doodles.
- Floral Pattern → Florals may change from season to season, but they never go out of fashion. Expect to see varying floral styles, from simple minimalist designs to more detail-oriented dainty florals that have a vintage and heirloom feel, like your grandmother’s wallpaper.
- Fruit Salad → It’s healthy, keeps you fresh and looks good too. This juicy mix of lemons, oranges and other fruits of your choice attracts all eyes. You can also go wild here in terms of colour and shape.
3. Aunt Viv! The 90s are back!
Westlife and Boyzone have recently combined to make Boyzlife. The 90s aren’t gone, they just look a bit different. Nostalgia and vintage are a match made in heaven. Join the ride and design summer looks for outdoor, beach, camping and adventure in 90s style. Dare to use bright tones and pastels that contrast strongly with the dark colours of the borders and lettering.
Summer and Friyeah designed by Niceguys
4. Please Smile: Funny, Fresh Motives
We’re keeping it fruity. Bring watermelon, pineapple and banana to life and animate them lovingly. How about the return of the annoying orange? Or a shy strawberry chilling atop a sundae? Let your imagination run wild with food in this one. Good vibes and summer mood are guaranteed.
Lemon pees lemonade designed by Hopfauf
5. Illustrations so sugar sweet
LHow sweet: another trend this year are candy colours. With this colour pallet you not only prove your taste (hehe) but can also make your designs stand out from the crowd. Just grab the summer favourites like ice cream, lollipops and candy floss, then garnish them with a big helping of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. You like it softer? Get inspired by Mendl’s Patisserie from Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel. We don’t mind, just make it sweet.
Cute Grape Stay Grapeful Positive Pun Doodle designed by Rusty Doodle
6. Typical Typos: Statements for All
Sometimes all you need are words The following design trend consists of letters in catchy fonts. Make it easy and create individual lettering or play with different font sizes and alignments. Surprise with a letter that suddenly stands out from the word in italics. Or emphasize a group of letters within a word by using bold to create new meaning. Combine your vocabulary with an exciting colour scheme and bam … you’re sure to attract attention. By the way, you can find the latest fonts here. Pro tip: Choose strong quotes and messages that really catch the summer vibe.
Good vibes only retro vintage font gift designed by Upteees
7. Less is more, make it minimalist
If only everything was so simple … minimalism is also a hot topic for designs in 2022. Take a deep breath and use your creative energy for eye-catching, simple designs. How about a combination of simple geometric and organic shapes and a thrifty colour palette? Just let the basic motif stand on its own, without any expansive elements in the background. The motifs will unfold their warm and eye-pleasing effects all by themselves. Think of boho designs in soft, earthy tones.
Plant on pastel colors nature and Wave Sun designed by Bowie Byron
8. Dinosaurs: Prehistoric yet on-trend
Imagine being millions of years old and still cool. That’s basically dinosaurs, they’re going to be big this summer. It’s quite possible that the Jurassic World movie is partly behind this trend. So get scribbling and put dino designs on shirts, sweaters and the like. And because we miss the cute giant lizards so much, their visibility also raises awareness of climate change and species extinction in line with the UNDP program. Two dinos with one stone!
Rollerciraptor designed by Monsieur Mouton
9. Fantastic Designs and where to find them
Now is the best time to let your imagination run wild. Enchant your sketchbook or screen with magical designs that open your eyes to other worlds. Go wild and use elements like moons, star constellations, letters, fantastic animal creatures and more. There are no limits to your creativity.
Hippie Skeleton Vacation and Psychedelic Floral Lion designed by moonape
Phew, what a ride through colours, shapes and ideas. Did we shake up your thought process a bit? If you still haven’t had enough, we have some inspiration for you on Pinterest . And if you’re more interested in technical stuff, this article on vector graphics and software should be high up your reading list.
