2022 Background Design Trends & Styles: 18 Inspiring Ideas

The world has done tremendously well in navigating the global pandemic and getting used to new trends. A lot has changed, and things will continue to change each passing year. Today, designers are adapting to these changes and also embracing futuristic trends like NFTs, surrealism, and 3D design. Other designers, on the other hand, are embracing simple design styles and retro designs.

When it comes to design, the most important and key decision that you’ll make is concerning the background you decide to use. This can be colorless, with a single or multiple colors, or with any other trendy element like wood grains patterns, gradients, and geometric shapes. Sometimes, it may simply be a solid background to use.

Whichever way you choose to layout your design, the most important thing is to ensure that you follow trends, especially when choosing background design styles. It is important to note that using a trendy style will show that the design itself is recent and it has new content.

Whether you draw from past inspiration or from a reference, you’ll need to include some of the creative trends for the coming year, and that is why we have outlined all the 2022 background design trends and styles for you. You’ll find different options to try in this article, so read on.

What are the Background Design Trends and Styles?

Here are the different options you might want to consider trying in the coming year:

Watercolors

Watercolor is also another trend to look out for in the coming year. It is a trend that is used mostly in web design, and it features hand-painted textures. The reason why this design trend has grown in popularity is because of its soft appeal

In addition to that, this design trend also gives a more authentic feel, and it enhances the uniqueness of the contents. Projects these days try to use watercolors because of these amazing features.

Liquid Backgrounds

Liquid backgrounds are the next trends on our list, and they are becoming increasingly popular because they are visually appealing and interesting. Liquid backgrounds are usually presented either as a flowing animation in the background or as a subtle liquid that is placed behind other elements in the design.

Both presentations usually come out clean and appealing to the eyes. It also leaves a calming effect because of the natural feel it gives to the screen. It is worth mentioning that this trend includes high-resolution and is not available in multiple color schemes. However, the available schemes can be muted or saturated.

3D Feel

The 3D background is a trend you should try in the coming year. It makes designs look real, and users tend to feel like they are in the design when viewing a 3D design. This design trend is augmented by a strong visual appeal, unlike other design options.

One thing to know about the 3D design trend for 2022 is that it is modern, meaning that it goes beyond shapes for depth and shadows. It is also designed to include texture and animation, both of which can augment the realistic vibe of the design. For a 3D background design to work, it is important to ensure that it’s believable and the effects that are used are a perfect replication of reality.

With the aid of continuous technological advancement and the introduction of new software, designers in different parts of the world are embracing 3D designs. Also, the trend tends to be about experimenting with vector illustrations, dimensions, and depth. As a designer, this is a trend to look out for in the coming year.

Layered Elements

Foreground and background elements don’t need to be entirely separated from the screen because both pieces can be merged with a different component. The aim is to create a stunning dept and also enhance the dimensional effects of the design. Like the 3D design, layered elements also make it easier for viewers to feel like they are part of the design.

This trend is similar to the reality and merging trend we say the previous years. The trend now focuses more on colors, and geometric shapes, while utilizing different layers to create the depth effect. With this, the end result is like that of a cartoon.

Photos with an Overlay

As designers continue to play with different options and styles that will improve the contrast of their image, this is another trend you might want to consider trying out. Photos with overlays help to create effects on images, and this is to bring the entire scene together.

One reason why overlays are interesting is that you can use them in different ways. It ranges from using full colors to utilizing partial colors to different designs. However, the most important thing when using overlays is ensuring that the color is enough and can make the elements of the foreground visible while ensuring that the background is also visible.

Thick Transparencies

This is a trend that utilizes thick color transparency on videos and images. Thick transparencies usually cause much contrast and can also reduce the visibility of background images. However, this is the designer’s intention. The best time to use this design trend is in cases where the artwork is not enough and additional texture is required. The aim is to ensure that the background does not include solid colors alone.

Using images behind thick transparency should be done with caution. The bottom line is that the images shouldn’t be overly interesting so that people won’t understand them easily. Remember that the idea is for the image to easily fade in the background.

Background with Text

Another background design trend that you might want to try in the coming year is the use of text in the background. While this may not seem possible to you, you can use a typeface that has big words in it as a background.

This is a tricky trend to pull off, and it often requires attention to detail. For example, you’ll need to maintain a balance between images, responsiveness, and lettering. Another important thing is to ensure that readability is maintained.

Subtle Textures

This is a trend that is aimed at increasing dimension and depth to projects. There are different textures that you can try out, but the focus of this trend is on utilizing these textures with solid colors.

The background design trend also seeks to provide a feeling that the design itself is not excessively polished. One amazing thing about this trend is that you can use it on anything, and you can also combine it with the other trends that we have mentioned above.

Hover Animation

You don’t have to leave your background images static. With hover action, you can make add movement to your background. This is a technique that you can apply to patterns, textures, illustrations, and photos.

The trend is a way to add more delight and augment the user experience. Users don’t usually know that the hover action is present until it expresses itself. To use this background trend, you can start by creating little motion.

Layered, Scene Illustrations

This is a background trend that is evolving at a very rapid rate. Although illustrations have been used in backgrounds for a very long time now, they are now being made to be more elaborate and feature layered scenes and animations in some instances.

The positive side of this trend is that illustrations are a more effective way to create memory and grab a user’s attention. One challenging thing about the use of illustration is that it can make the background to be busy, meaning that you’ll need to be careful when planning and styling the elements.

Color Block Layers

This is a design trend that is common in website design, home décor, and fashion. The amazing thing about this trend is that it is not only visually interesting, but it is bright and with layering. You can also use the trend with color palettes, which makes it great for branding. Another amazing thing is that the background doesn’t have to be difficult or complex.

 Are you wondering how you can apply this background design trend? You can begin by using a light background with a color-blocked layer, after which you add a second background with a different color.

Flat Color

Flat colors can never go wrong in a design, mainly because of the colors that are used. Now, these colors are applied more in backgrounds, and it’s a trend to look out for in the coming year. The style often utilizes bolder hues, but they are presented flatly. This is without variation, gradient, but only solid colors in a single hue.

Geometric Shapes

Geometric shapes are now widely used in different designs, and it’s undoubtedly going to be a huge part of the coming year. These shapes let people remember the fun and excitement they had as kids, and it is a nice alternative to flat color backgrounds.

Recent trends incorporate the use of a monotone color palette and elements that have high contrast when making backgrounds. Backgrounds that are designed with this trend are usually flashy and appealing to look at.

Line Patterns

This is another trend to look out for in the coming year because it is increasingly becoming popular, especially among background designers. Lines usually have meaning, and they enhance the design with visual elements. These line patterns can either be tiny or large, and they can be effective for different projects.

Gradients

Like line pattern, this is also a design trend to look out for in the coming year. This is a flexible trend, and it mainly uses color background gradients over a video, animated background gradients, or image. The color of this trend tends to float across the entire design.

Wood Grain

This is another popular trend and is mostly used in scene-style designs and product photography. The advantage of this trend is that it gives a natural feel to the design. This is an interesting trend to try out, and what’s more, is that it increases the focus on the content sitting in the background.

White and Grey

This trend was widely explored in 2021 and is a trend to look out for in the coming year. The trend was drawn from the minimalism trend that utilizes easy and simple background. Using white and gray also provides ample contrast and space to your screen, especially for other elements.

Final Thought

You don’t have to continue using the conventional background designs when we have provided you with 18 background design trends for the coming year. Another way you can explore these design trends is by checking some of these trends on illustAC. Not only are there different options for these trends, but there are also several stock photos available on the platform, and you can use them for different purposes.