Seasons have the ability to change our mood, change our lives and change our perspectives. Nature literally tells us that all change is inevitable so why not embrace it.
Artists have always been drawn to, and inspired by, the natural world. Creative minds have always used nature to find beautifully functional design solutions.
They have even created a design philosophy, Biomimicry (a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges), based on the concept that nature knows best.
There is no denying it: many people spent much of last year and bits of this year cooped up inside. Being a Graphic Designer and being stuck in a house with nothing but walls for inspiration began to resemble solitary confinement.
“So many of us have felt cooped up in 2020 with COVID and have a strong desire to spend time in green spaces. Even looking at photographs of these places can feel soothing if you are stuck in apartment. I think we’ll see a greater appreciation for these kinds of visuals coming through in 2021.” – Megan Dell, Director of Design at 99designs.
Whether this trend manifests in the form of leafy patterns, earth-tone colour schemes or illustrations of breath-taking vistas, graphic design is going green. The best part about this trend is we are seeing it reach beyond environmentally oriented products. The effect of natural imagery is to represent serenity, renewal, and growth (hence why spas usually market with leafy designs)—all of which we need in 2021.
What particularly influenced me was a quote I read:
“There is no better designer than Nature.” -Alexander McQueen.
Graphic designers consider cognitive, cultural, physical, and social factors when planning and executing designs for their target audience. There is something powerful that happens when you can look at the natural world with a sense of awe, wonder, and curiosity and then connect those ideas to new designs that solve real-world problems. Nature has a way of removing distractions, of commanding our deepest attention.
Following this kind of thinking, nature is full of lessons we can draw from, lessons which can inform and inspire our daily lives. So, no surprise when summer comes, designs are slightly different. With summer comes new ideas, a different colour palette, greens, yellows, oranges, blues. One cannot deny the beautiful designs of nature. The spiral of seashells, patterns on various butterfly wings, patterns on leaves, texture of tree bark, and the list goes on.
Summer is a time of light, cheeriness, expression, and passionate action. Summer is the season that is symbolic of the strength and life within every heart. So, time to stop procrastinating and start living.
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