Graphic Design Trends (2016–2020) – The Era of Functional Aesthetics

The second half of the 2010s was like graphic design’s “cleanse and clarify” phase. The internet got faster, phones got sharper, and everyone suddenly cared about UI and UX. Design had to be beautiful—but also smart, responsive, and accessible. And yes, everything needed to load in 0.3 seconds or users would bounce harder than a basketball in a blender.

Let’s rewind and explore what made this era iconic.

🎨 1. The Return of Gradients

Ah yes, gradients. Once banished during the flat design revolution of the early 2010s, gradients came back—but better. No more garish rainbow swirls. The 2016–2020 gradients were smooth, purposeful, and delightfully digital.

🌀 Used for:

Backgrounds
Buttons (hello, call-to-action!)
Branding (Spotify Wrapped, anyone?)

Notable gradient kings: Instagram’s 2016 logo rebrand, Apple’s event invites, and Spotify’s genre cards.

🧠 2. Design Systems & UI Kits Take Over

Google’s Material Design (launched in 2014) reached full maturity, and Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines set the gold standard for design clarity. By 2016–2020, these systems were more than guidelines—they were rituals.

🚧 Designers started:

Using pre-made UI kits
Embracing modularity and consistency
Collaborating more with developers (Figma helped a lot here)

Design wasn’t just visual anymore—it was systemized.

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📐 3. Flat Design Becomes “Semi-Flat”

Flat design wasn’t dead, it just evolved. Enter: semi-flat design, also known as flat 2.0. Designers added subtle shadows, gradients, and layers to give elements a hint of depth—without going full skeuomorphism.

🖼️ Think of it as flat design that discovered dimensionality at a yoga retreat.

🎬 4. Motion Becomes the Norm

You know those slick loading animations and smooth tab transitions? From 2016–2020, microinteractions and motion graphics became a standard, not a luxury.

Why? Because:

Apps needed to communicate feedback (think: button presses, progress bars)
Attention spans got shorter
Everything needed to feel “alive”

Tools like Lottie and After Effects helped designers bring their creations to life without breaking page speed budgets.

🤝 5. Collaboration-First Tools Like Figma & InVision Rise

Before this period, designers had to explain their artboards with PDFs and interpretive dance. But in this era? Real-time collaboration was the new hotness.

✨ Figma changed the game with:

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Browser-based access
Multiplayer editing
Component-based design systems

Suddenly, designers, devs, and PMs could all work in the same space—without passive-aggressively exporting layers 50 times.

📸 6. Authenticity Over Perfection in Visuals

Stock photos? Out. Custom illustrations, diverse avatars, and real photography? In. Companies aimed to appear more “human” and less “robotic corporate lizard.” Brands like Slack, Airbnb, and Mailchimp embraced quirky, organic visuals to stand out.

Also popular: hand-drawn elements, sketchy textures, and low-poly 3D for friendly vibes.

💬 7. Bold Typography Makes a Statement

Typography didn’t just whisper “look at me”—it screamed it in ALL CAPS. Designers began using oversized, weighty fonts to grab attention. Paired with minimal layouts and negative space, typography became the hero of many landing pages and campaigns.

🔤 Favorites:

Futura Bold
GT Walsheim
Montserrat and Poppins (ah yes, the Google Fonts Renaissance)

🧑‍💻 8. Minimalist Design with a Purpose

Minimalism reached peak popularity—but not just for aesthetic reasons. With faster mobile usage and performance demands, clean, distraction-free design wasn’t just a style, it was a necessity.

White space, crisp grids, and no-nonsense nav bars dominated. In a world full of noise, the quiet designs won big.

🤯 Unique Fact of the Day

In 2018, Airbnb announced it had transitioned entirely to Lottie animations for its in-app icons and interactions—reducing app size and increasing load speed. Lottie became the designer’s favorite cheat code for lightweight magic.

🎨 Creative Challenge

Recreate a landing page using a design system (Material Design or your own). Try using:

A gradient header
Flat 2.0 buttons
Microinteraction-inspired motion

Bonus points if you do it in Figma and share it with a team member (real or imaginary—we don’t judge).