Motion
In the sea of information that we get exposed to every day, the videos became a natural way of grabbing attention. Moving images are better at getting attention and are more engaging, therefore not only video but also the short image animations are widely used in order to create an original, engaging and visually pleasing content.The encouragement of social shares that video material provides drove it to grow even more popular.
Various brands, from small companies to the big names, have started getting and developing relevant content on video sharing platforms such as Youtube and Vine. Anastasia Beverly Hills, a popular beauty and makeup brand, has an active YouTube account, reaching 117K followers by December of 2016.
Brands become publishers, not just providers of the products. It is likely that in 2017, the brands that “went digital” will feature more targeted video than ever. More GIFs (file formats that are most frequently used for moving images) will be seen across the digital products of the brands; they are easier to consume than videos. Uploading them on mobile is faster than uploading the video, which makes them friendly for small screen users – a useful quality that can not be ignored considering a growing number of smartphone users. Coca Cola’s campaign GIF The Feeling encouraged the audience to create their own GIFs to reflect the way consuming their beverage makes them feel. The engagement with the audience and the authenticity of the campaign made it go viral.
Consider using moving images not only for your company’s website and social media pages, but also for email campaigns, posters and outdoor banners. It is not enough to substitute words with images, you have got to make these images move in the new year!

Nostalgia
The nostalgic movement was a response to the pressure of inventing new things, making the return to the things which the audience finds familiar and comforting a popular phenomenon. It is the time for the comebacks not only to the shelves, but also to our screens. Quoting Florence King, “true nostalgia is an ephemeral composition of disjointed memories.” In 2016, a great number of companies had invested in these memories, presenting the customers with familiar products straight from their childhood.
In order to build a connection, the brand’s story has to be relevant to the needs of millennials. Relaunching such “nostalgic” digital product as Myspace was unsuccessful due to the failure to make it relevant to the modern users. However, the successful return of Gilmore Girls, this time produced for the “new” Netflix’ audience, can be explained with the strong nostalgic feelings sparked by the returned TV series, which affected both the old and new audience. Positive references from the 90s, 80s and 70s have been appearing not only in fashion but also in technology, accessories and graphic design, such as the designs by the stationery brand Write Sketch & and Officemilano.
In 2017, the power of nostalgia is based on the emotional attachment to certain memories, which have to be revived correctly in order for the strategy to succeed. Returning to the origins is not done through presenting the identical product, digital or material, as it existed all those years ago. Use the elements of retro design in your brand’s products, but beware making it look or feel outdated.

According to Netflix, a reboot of Gilmore Girls ended up being one of the 10 most popular shows in every market. Image courtesy: Netflix
Stationery brand Write Sketch & created a design which is a tribute to the 1980s postmodern movement. Image courtsy: Write Sketch &
One last advice…
Overall, 2017 will rely heavily on user centered content, engagement with an audience and building realness around the brand with the help of influencers, brand advocates, and you, the customers. It is safe to say that the trends mentioned above are directed towards creating a more appealing, friendly and understanding environment around their brand. It is a competition of who will become the customer’s best friend through social media content, responsive designs and topics carefully chosen to win over the trust of the larger (or more specific) group of consumers. To grasp and keep the attention, such evolving mediums as moving images and carefully applies nostalgia strategies will come in handy. Remember: you would need to have a clear idea of who your client is in order to produce the brand products, designs and content which would feed your audience’s interest in the year ahead.
Thoughts?
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If you missed it, read Brand Design Trends 2017: Part 1 here.
If you would like to share your opinion on the article, drop a line to Youri at youri@creativesupply.com