The design of your ads or marketing materials will make or break your campaigns. Cool graphic designs back up your campaign’s messaging and is the key to raking in millions of views, shares, and engagement. Whether it’s for brochures, logos, websites, or any media medium, having a design assistant to help you with advertising visuals is key to success. Work with Penji for your branding and marketing graphics and experience hassle-free graphic design.
Meanwhile, we’ve curated 10 cool designs from businesses to inspire you.
1. Muted Colors by Shift Communications
For a marketing and public relations firm like Shift Communications, eBooks are excellent channels to showcase their services. This is one of their eBook covers titled “The Future of Marketing.”
The cover dwells on muted colors instead of conventional vivid colors. They made a brilliant graphic design choice by giving it a vintage feel that balances the concept of modern digital marketing trends. The book tackles various interviews with industry experts, and the oversized podcast microphone is the symbolism that best suits the gist of the eBook.
2. Dreamy and Modern Illustrations by Help Scout
More and more startups are leaning towards modern illustrations while maintaining retro color palettes. Brands also use customized illustrations like this to avoid the mundaneness of stock photos.
Help Scout’s blogs’ cover images are all for customized illustrations. Their cool graphic design concept showcases how the brand takes pride in customized content that converts, as shown on their cover images.
3. Cool and Interactive 3D Graphic Design by Evoulve
As technology innovates its way into the next coming years, brands also keep up with the changing trends. That said, cool 3D animations and GIFs are making their way into business websites.
Evoulve is a perfect example of a company integrating cool graphic design to distinguish itself from their competitors. Their website dons a 3D globe design with a dominant violet color palette. As you move your mouse around the globe, it moves with it. This clever graphic design choice is apt for a digital technology innovation company like Evoulve.
4. Minimalism by Leen Heyn
Sometimes cool graphic design doesn’t have to appear obvious. Take Leen, a company that’s “cool” just by adopting a minimalistic philosophy in its aesthetics.
Brands appreciate the beauty of minimalism nowadays. The lack of images can spell success for businesses with traditional or modern branding.
Here’s Leen Heyn’s minimalist product page for their elegant rings and bangles. The tasteful web design is akin to the brand’s exquisite craftsmanship.
5. Thematic Visuals by LinkedIn
LinkedIn went against the grain by creating a cool graphic design piece on blog marketing. But what makes this content stand out is how they crafted the infographic with thematic visuals.
For an overly saturated market, LinkedIn captured the audience’s attention by including unorthodox images on an infographic explaining the ins and outs of blogging. Who would’ve thought food could be an effective representation of blogs?
6. Innovation by McDonald’s
Playing with typography also does raise the bar when it comes to cool designs. They are as effective as high-quality images, especially when you put innovation into the mix.
Here’s McDonald’s going the extra mile for their outdoor advertising, displaying this billboard ad for their fresh salads. A horticulture expert planted 16 types of lettuce in this vertical billboard garden. And three weeks after, with the help of the rain and sunlight, it spelled out the words “Fresh Salads.” This is advertising innovation at its best!
7. Unconventional Images by Adidas
Mixing conventional and unconventional images can give your brand a good boost. You may do this by showcasing your products on social media.
Adidas aligns its social media trendy designs with its avante-garde principles. Here’s one Instagram post for their recyclable, high-performance running shoe.
8. Typography by Brian Mark
The right choice and combination of typefaces give the hierarchy of your design. It also allows brands to display essential information by manipulating the layout and font styles.
Some marketing collaterals may require text-heavy designs, and this poster from Brian Mark Real Estate is the perfect example. The smart layout makes every element prominent.
The headline “FOR SALE” also doesn’t bury the image in the background and the other contact details. However, it does an excellent job of catching any reader’s attention due to its heavy nature.
9. Striking Images by Time Magazine
For a weekly news magazine that relies on readership to keep its business in full swing, images are of utmost importance. And the first way to grab their audience’s attention is through their magazine covers.
This Time magazine cover centers on a decades-long stigma on breastfeeding in public. And the company didn’t think twice about capturing this mom-and-child bond; they put it front and center. Magazine covers like this could have everyone buzzing for months or even years, which is what Time hoped to achieve.
10. White Space by Apple
Gone are the days when designers have to fill the entire medium with images — white space is in, and for a good reason. Negative or white space allows the eyes to relax and process information efficiently. It also makes the design clean and crisp, which can be suitable for brands that bet their bottom dollar on reliability, respectability, and elegance. Take a cue from Apple’s email newsletter.
Why Brands Need To Invest In Cool Graphic Design
Graphic design trends are evolving. The use of asymmetric layouts, abstract images, gradient colors, flowing shapes, isometric designs, and customized illustrations are just a few that marketers should meddle with.
Run-of-the-mill designs keep your brand in the backseat, trailing behind brands that use cool designs. Additionally, audiences are also changing their preferences on how they want to view marketing collaterals. That said, brands must cater to their audience’s needs to stand out in a cut-throat industry. And only the experts know how visual communication allows brands to connect with their target audiences.
If you want cool graphic designs that don’t break the bank, subscribe to Penji. We’re giving away a limited 15 percent discount to get you started. Sign up now before the offer expires!
