Every year a new crop of retro design styles finds its way back into the mainstream art consciousness. The 2010s saw minimalist sensibilities reemerge with graphic designers reaching for neutral colors and stripping back the frivolous details of the early 2000s. So far, the 2020s have been met with a comeback of 70s aesthetics, with people finding inspiration in its groovy visuals and iconic earthy color palette.
Today, we will feature 5 retro art styles due for a comeback in 2023. Some of these styles have already begun to show up more in contemporary sensibilities, while others are ripe for the picking, waiting for a revival.
Pop Art
Pop Art rose to prominence in the 1950s and 60s on the back of artists like Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Eduardo Paolozzi. The movement is known for its inclusion of pop culture, making references to.
Pop Art began as a revolt against the artistic conventions of its day, which placed strict guidelines on what art should be. Pop Artists strayed from the realm of high art, and turned instead to the language of ordinary people: Hollywood, advertising, pop music, and comic books.
Maximalism
For years, design has been trending toward minimalism. We’ve seen countless companies rebrand themselves with sleek, monotone looks.
But maximalism is on the come up, working its way into design tropes in fashion, web design, and graphic design generally. Maximalism graphic design is all about making bold statements with bold, eye-catching visuals. It’s an approach that relies on the use of bright, vivid colors and intricate patterns to create a powerful impact, drawing viewers in and communicating a specific message.
This style often calls for multiple elements to be used together in order to achieve attention-grabbing results—from geometric shapes to layered images and typography.
Bauhaus
The Bauhaus movement was born out of the German modernist school. It brought together a diverse range of artistic disciplines such as architecture, painting, photography, and typography, among others.
Bauhaus’s design focused on the simplicity and starkness of its elements with an emphasis on functionalism and minimalism. This style of design was also known as ‘brutalism’ due to its hard edges and lack of ornamentation.
The Bauhaus movement put an emphasis on the use of typography in its designs, with a focus on modernity, harmony, and uniformity.
Psychedelic
Psychedelic graphic design and typography from the psychedelic era of the 1960s has recently made a comeback in modern-day digital art. Many artists are looking to revive psychedelic designs and recreate retro looks, injecting vibrancy and life into today’s work.
With psychedelic graphic design, anything goes—from bright colors to unconventional shapes—so the sky’s the limit when it comes to creating psychedelic-inspired art. Whether you’re looking to create a psychedelic poster or an illustration with a retro feel, psychedelic graphic design is sure to give your project that extra pop of color and life!
Let your creativity soar with psychedelic design and explore the endless possibilities that come with this exciting visual style.
80’s Tropical
The 80s tropical design style is making a huge comeback in the art world. The bold colors, retro patterns, and playful shapes of this era are now popping up everywhere, from advertisements to apparel designs. Much like psychedelic graphic design, 80s tropical has an almost endless range of possibilities—from retro color palettes to abstracted shapes and patterns.
The iconic Memphis Group, founded in Milan in 1981, embodied the fun and bold elements of this era with their use of bright colors, geometric patterns, and shapes that were truly ahead of their time.
For more information regarding graphic design styles and how to incorporate them into your brand, check out more from Penji.
