2016 was an intense year in all senses; political, environmental, social, technological, etc.
A digital world is changing very fast, augmented reality, overload of content, social media, etc made us tired of the information we receive every day. 2017 sees a desire to counteract uncertainty with authenticity, raw humanity, craftsmanship and simplicity and this is evident within visual design trends. Now people want to get back to nature, forget about their digital life and live the real one. Enjoy landscapes, enjoy organic food, enjoy countryside life. 2017 is the year when we return to organic roots, to the natural. Society is craving raw emotion, unfiltered imperfection, individuality and non-manufactured resources. And therefore the color of the year is Greenery.
Greenery Color
Pantone has crowned the colour for 2017 as Greenery – based on its representation of new beginnings, freshness and environmentalism. To determine which shade will stand out as the defining color each year, Pantone conducts a trend analysis across various fields of design, in addition to examining socio-economic trends and shifts across the globe. The chosen hue of the year is meant to be a color snapshot of a particular moment in time. The rising technology-driven Generation Z worries about living in the world, where environment becomes artificial, therefore 2017 is a year of nature, a year of natural environment. This color trend also influences branding, it will be more focused on what the product looks like itself, rather than the packaging that conceals it. There’s a demand for truth to be on display. This couldn’t be more evident than in food packaging. For example if you go to organic food stores or restaurants, you will see transparent bottles and easily readable ingredients. As industrial, interior, fashion and digital design are connected, same happens with web and mobile app design, the simpler, the better!
Don’t forget that your use of color, typography, images say everything about you, especially in today’s world where people don’t’ read as much as “view” something to get an insight, a feeling, a concept about what they see. Color choice for a website or a mobile app is incredibly important, more important than you think. It can influence visitors’ emotions, thoughts, and conversion rates. If you can capture a viewers’ attention, you have a much better chance of getting a response to the action you’d like them to take, for example, give you their email address, make them want to work with you.
There’s a growing desire to reconnect with nature and what is real and find ways to disconnect from technology. People need a break. Even though we live in this modern world where technology will always exist, there’s this need to turn to design to go to the opposite side, to Nature. And Greenery calls to mind the re- words: refresh, revive, restore, renew, replenish, regenerate, rejuvenate, reinvigorate, re-oxygenate. Greenery design is an outlet for all of these fresh beginnings. And the yellow pigment in Greenery references the sun, the symbolic light that people need in these times.
What is the best source of the inspiration? Mother nature, mother Earth. By living in this beautiful planet, we get so much inspiration from the the trees, the grass, the sea, the forest, the landscapes, mountains, tropics, etc. Now web designers implement these elements of nature into eco-friendly web design to reinforce the feeling.
Actually you will see a lot of green forest pictures and designs. There’s a Japanese concept called “forest bathing”, which says that when you are feeling stressed, one of the best things to do is go walk in the forest. As all of us have stressful lives, designers try to calm us down by giving us simple and natural designs. As for the greenery color pairings, as greenery is a versatile “trans-seasonal” shade that lends itself to many color combinations, it is paired with neutrals, brights, deeper shades, pastels, metallics and even the Rose Quartz and Serenity – pantone colors of 2016.
Let’s looks at inspiring examples! Examples of how designers create eco-friendly green designs:
1. https://www.evert45.com/
2. http://www.riverlinechicago.com/
3. https://www.fccatering.com/
4. http://www.vistabluesingerisland.com/home/
5. https://www.trib.se/
Guest article written by: Ekaterina Novoseltseva is a CMO at Apiumhub – software development hub, which is specialized in web & mobile app design and development.