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8 Inspirational Design Trends for 2018 Trends come and go, but they provide a meaningful look into modern ideas about aesthetics and usability.

By Kimberly de Silva

This story originally appeared on Bizness Apps

ijeab | Getty Images

Design is constantly changing, but that doesn't mean its trends are just frivolous hype. Digital design, in particular, evolves out of innovative services and improving technologies. Furthermore, design trends are a telling reflection of consumer tastes and needs at any given time. Trends come and go, but they provide a meaningful look into modern ideas about aesthetics and usability.

The design team at Coastal Creative predicts that digital design in 2018 will be dominated by themes of contrast. Look out for lots of double exposure, bold and bright duo-tone images, photographs overlaid with vectors, flat illustrations come to life with subtle animations and 3D aesthetics in 2D mediums.

Contrast in design is achieved by combining distinct visual elements to create visual harmony. This motif of merging distinct elements seems especially relevant in an age where the boundary between the real and digital worlds shrinks with each passing year. It's no surprise that current trends in design play with and replicate this ever-blurring distinction through the aesthetics of contrast.

To get a feel for the trends you're bound to see more of in the year ahead, check out Coastal Creative's Design Trends 2018 infographic below.

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