Time sure flies. We were just talking about branding trends for 2021, yet it’s now months into the year, and all organizations are already looking for branding strategies to use in 2022.

Therefore, it seems the perfect time to conceptualize and see the hottest branding trends for 2022. Ventures will continue to feel the impact of the pandemic because around 50% of them experienced financial hardships. 

In the digital era, a brand’s reach and visual feel have become essential. Organizations have access to more avenues to promote their services, and they need to capitalize on these opportunities to attract and retain clients. But to achieve this goal, they must ensure their branding is flawless. An effective way to better a brand is to keep an eye on the latest branding trends. During these times, trends change pretty quickly, and all companies need to keep a tab on them and integrate them into their branding and rebranding strategies. 

We compiled a list of outstanding trends that can reinvigorate any brand in 2022. 

Quirky Branding

Quirky branding combines a broad range of elements, from chaotic designs to hand-drawn illustrations, overlapping elements, and bizarre imagery. Several companies have integrated quirky branding into their marketing strategies, including ventures from traditional sectors as health insurance and finance. Quirky branding includes unexpected design elements and ignores the rulebook to create a funny and unique brand image. It usually integrates bright and bold hues, colliding elements, odd artwork, random imagery, collages, DIY pieces, fun illustration, and distorted shapes to make an impact. 

Illustrations are an excellent element for quirky branding because they allow companies to use elements of all sizes and shapes to inject inclusiveness and individuality into their brands. Illustrations of odd bodies are popular when creating branding design illustrations because they match a wider range of representation and advocate for diversity. 

Branding Without Brand

Imagine a group of people talking about why it’s important to buy sustainable clothes without mentioning a manufacturer or brand. This is about to become a disrupting branding trend in 2022. When done right, branding without a brand can have a massive impact on the public. Ventures and marketers would have thought of this idea as a joke in the past, but the future sounds promising. The reason why it can be an impactful trend is that the public is tired of companies flashing promises and miraculous products. Organizations have already started to use their unique selling points as their brand image instead of abstract elements and ostentatious logos.

However, the absence of branding elements can backfire when the company fails to create a brand recall. Therefore, only big brands can use this trend for marketing their products and services because the audience already associates them with their messages.

Brand Activism

Brand activism is far from a passing trend because it’s more critical than ever for companies to show they’re committed to the things they believe in. Consumers prefer to interact with organizations that share their values. Using brand activism to reinvigorate a brand implies communicating the commitment to embrace changes with the public and following the right path to achieve these goals. A professional branding agency can easily integrate this trend into a company’s marketing strategy.

How a firm fits into their beliefs systems, values, and lifestyle impacts whether people buy from it or not. When considering the brands they want to align with; customers consider factors like the brand’s mission and purpose. People no longer want to support brands that exist solely to make a profit.

Being Inclusive

Nowadays, no company can make the mistake of not being inclusive. Lately, a huge number of ventures received backlash for not being inclusive and they had to rebrand themselves as caring and open brands that offer services to the broader public. Inclusivity should be in the form of sexuality, race, religion, color, and anything that can offend the audience. With social media, defamatory news can become viral in no time. People’s tolerance levels are lower than ever, and they feel offended quite easily. Therefore, companies need to deep root inclusivity to the foundation of their branding techniques and inspire from well-known names like Dove and Fendi. Only because a brand targets a specific group, it shouldn’t make the mistake of ignoring the others. Victoria’s Secret, a worldwide famous brand, made this mistake and experienced backlash and pressure to rebrand. Now it dropped its angels for ambassadors who represent body positivity.

Gradients

Gradients have entered the design world as fun features for PowerPoint, but now you can see them popping everywhere, from social media posts to digital art, presentations, and logo design. Color gradients are so popular because they’re quite versatile and have a wide range of applications. They can be used in several contexts (connecting photos, adding visual interest, backgrounds) and quickly become a brand’s statement element. A well-developed gradient should be seamless and not disturb the eye. The rule of thumb is to use more than three colors that are analogous, monochromatic, or complementary to craft a perfect gradient.

Getting Nostalgic

The public’s obsession with nostalgia propelled it to become a dominant force in marketing and branding. The past can serve as a rich source of inspiration for branding because it allows companies to put a fresh spin on well-known icons and symbols. In 2022, we expect to witness a resurgence of design elements and pop-culture references from the 2000s.

Nostalgia isn’t a new trend in branding, but the pandemic exacerbated it because people had more free time and rewatched their favorite TV series and movies. Even Generation Z, who didn’t experience these shows first hand, are now indulging in series marathons. TikTok also encouraged people to get nostalgic as it brought back to life forgotten hits like Put Your Head on My Shoulder by Paul Anka, and Classic by MKTO. Brands should capitalize on the public’s love for nostalgia and integrate it into their marketing strategies. Nostalgic branding is comforting, familiar, and safe, and who doesn’t want something like this in the present turbulent times?

And here are the trends we expect to influence branding in 2022. We hope you’ll love them as much as we do!