I’ve been noticing an interesting shift in design trends across different industries, and I wonder if we are entering a completely new design era.

Think about it. For much of the past decade, minimalism, muted colours, black themes, and clean interfaces dominated almost everything. From fashion and smartphones to websites, software UI, cars, and even interior design, the preference was largely towards simplicity and darker aesthetics.

But things seem to be changing.

We are seeing more vibrant colours in fashion, more expressive UI designs from tech companies, colourful device finishes, boalder car designs, and even more experimental architectural styles. Dark themes and minimalism arent disappearing, but they no longer seem to be the default aesthetic everyone preferring.

Even in cinema, filmmakers are increasingly experimenting with vibrant VFX and visually exaggerated worlds. They might not always represent reality, but audiences seem to enjoy these more expressive visual experiences.

Another interesting shift is that we are moving away from extremely simple designs towards more complex, unconventional, and distinctive design languages.

Maybe people are getting tired of everything looking the same. After years of minimalism, perhaps we’re craving more personality, colour, creativity, and visual expression.

I m curious what others think.

Put together a collection of interesting design studios, independent projects, reads and creative inspiration. Around 560 links for now.

A mix of things worth exploring, bookmarking and coming back to.

Thought some fellow designers might enjoy it:

https://app.getspot.live/join/w_G6mGCqLO

Feel free to have a look around! And let me know if you want to contribute. Thanks!

TLDR: let’s share ideas and tips on how to survive this market and/or how to pivot, I’ll share what I did:

Became a contractor full time, started a business, did digital marketing and copy writing short courses, pivot hard into branding and strategy, planning to study a completely different degree

Long version:

Hi everyone. Instead of another doom-and-gloom post, I thought I'd start a thread where we share tips on surviving the layoffs and AI upheaval our industry is going through. If you've successfully pivoted, within or out of design, or have words for the ones just starting out, please chime in. It's tough out here, so let's help each other out.

I'll start. I've been a graphic designer for over 14 years and worked my way up to in-house lead designer, until I was laid off in September 2025.

I was completely blindsided. It's been a year and I still haven't landed a permanent role. However I’ve pivoted to being a contractor and building my own business. I was lucky to land a big client who is providing me with consistent work.

**What I've been doing to survive since being laid off:**

**Taking contract roles.** First a maternity leave contract, then a 4-days-a-week contract-to-perm role through an ex-colleague's referral. No permanent role is available now, so my contract will most likely be extended for at least a year instead.

**Lean hard into branding and strategy:** unfortunately just being good at designing is not enough. You have to be able to demonstrate strategic thinking

**Pitching to leaders directly.** I asked a founder out for coffee, analyse his business’ problems and pitched a solution, I scored another contract this way. This doesn’t work everything I’ve been rejected plenty. You gotta have thick skin.

**Starting my own business.** I partnered with a marketing specialist on a design and marketing business. We've landed a few clients by reaching out to old colleagues and our network. My goal is to make it sustainable for both of us, so I never have to rely on a single company again. It's not easy. AI has devalued our profession, and I've lost many nights of sleep over this.

**Planning a pivot.** Next year I'm starting a part-time social work degree, aiming to become a mental health social worker doing art-based therapy. The dream is to do social work, still take on design projects I like, and bring art-based therapy into my business.

**Some suggestions**

**Upskill.** Pretty design isn't enough. I took short courses in digital marketing and web and SEO copywriting. Learn terms like funnels and click-through rates, and make sure you understand them. Companies want to know how your skills will make them money.

**Build relationships. In every job, I prioritise good relationships with my coworkers and keep in touch even after I've left. That's what led to my referrals

**Diversify.** Don't rely on one company for your income. Diversifying is hard, and I can only do it because I have a network. If you're a junior without one yet, put yourself out there and actively approach people. With so many layoffs, many people will be starting businesses, and those businesses will need websites and branding. I know not everybody can do this but even if it’s like a hobby that you can monetise for now. A friend of mine started selling artwork at art fairs and I heard of another one doing paint and sips events. Start something that is 100% yours.

**Show results in your portfolio.** What problems did your design solve? Did it improve sales? Keep your resume and portfolio updated.

**Use AI, but don't offload your thinking.** I use it to speed up tasks in Photoshop, check code, format contracts, write pitch documents and optimise SEO. I never use it to ideate or conceptualise.

None of this unfortunately will guarantee a job or income but it’s just what I’m doing right now, keen to hear others’ experience

I hope this is helpful, honestly I’m also still trying to figure it out as I go, What's helping you survive right now?

We're excited to announce that 'attractive distortion' is now officially registered on 'Grow Your Clothing Brand / GYCB,' a US-based international platform! 🙏
So happy about this 😎

International shipping is available for ¥4,400, so customers from overseas can now shop our items too!

I’m currently 31 and 7 years into the industry. I’ve been trying to figure out my future career path…

A lot of my peers are venturing into art direction, or changing their careers into something different but still creative (jewelry, floral, sets, etc), or turned freelance full time, or a few that just never climbed the ladder and searched for stability.

It’s hard to see what feels best when you’re right in the middle of it all.

I’ve considered all. I so badly wanted to do art direction and was building my freelance career, but now with my new medical condition, I require remote work with health benefits. I worked at a lot of startups which was fun but the unpredictability and getting laid off was not fun. Not sure how to strike a balance that allows that creative fulfillment but also has stability and security that I need…

Curious what everyone else ended up doing in their career journey. Did you guys have certain things you wanted to do but changed over time? Was there a specific moment that made you realize what you wanted? How did you achieve it?

Hey everyone! I'm a graphic design master's student from Ukraine, and I'm currently exploring Pen & Pixel Graphics as a potential subject for my thesis. I've always been fascinated by their album covers, especially the exaggerated typography, complex compositions, visual excess, and the way they represented artists and their success. But I'm interested in something beyond just recreating their aesthetic. Can Pen & Pixel's work actually be defined as a distinct graphic design style with its own recognizable principles? Or was it part of a broader visual tradition that already existed?

A few things I'm particularly curious about:

1. Were there designers or studios using similar visual approaches before Pen & Pixel?

2. Beyond chrome typography, Photoshop effects, and luxury imagery, what makes their compositions recognizable? Are there consistent rules of visual hierarchy, composition, or image construction?

3. How would you describe or classify this aesthetic from a graphic design perspective? Kitsch, maximalism, something else?

4. Do you know any interviews, books, articles, or archival materials that discuss the actual design principles behind these covers?

I'm hoping to understand whether their visual language can be systematically analyzed and described, rather than simply treated as a collection of stylistic effects. I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially if you've worked with similar aesthetics or know more about the history of Southern hip-hop design.

Thanks in advance!

I'm desperate to find opinions for something I've been struggling to decide for the past few months, which is to choose a suitable career option.

Long story short, I have been preparing for design entrances for the past 9 months, but now i feel like it's not the right thing for me to do.

I do exceptionally well in fine arts, but i lack the thinking for DESIGN.

Even if i magically get into a good design college, i don't want to struggle the 4 years with assignments piling up and me ending up hating art. The base of design will always be drawings, and for me that is my only escape, which I don't wanna hate.

My mother encouraged me to choose design, while my dad asked me not to.

Now, my mother wants me out of it aswell, and shift to something else.

I'm an Arts student (11th and 12th) and was a former commerce student in commerce which was in 9th and 10th. I still have economics as a subject, and can switch into commerce later on.

How would design be as career, because I don't wanna struggle the first few years of trying to find a job, especially when AI is taken into consideration.

I've seen many designers i know struggle, but I've also seen successful ones. But i really need opinions.

Maybe id prefer a boring 9-5 job, come home frustrated and do the thing iove which is creating art.

But with design, doing that 24/7, i don't know if I'll end up liking it yk?

Would really appreciate some guidance :)

I built a HR tool about a year ago, (mostly for my own business) and kind of forgot about it. It was hosted online, and has active sign up.

Now I have a few paying customers, and my friends tell me I need a logo.
Personally I don’t see their point, but would like your unbiased view on this.

Happy to provide the link to the tool if you think it’s relevant.

this is the backside of a upcoming camp themed poiesis. Im thinking of framing everything but I don't know what to frame it with or would the "frame" ruin the minimalist design

Hi all,

I am a semi-frequent user of fiverr purely for personal/vanity projects - personalised artwork for gifts or custom sports jersey type design work, and I was just wondering which approach designers prefer:

I come to you with an AI generated concept and say:

This is kind of what I was thinking of, please run with this and see what you can do, or

Please recreate this exactly as a whatever-file type?

And how do I describe it to a designer?

**update: Thank you all so much! I think I have what I need and I sent this thread to my designer! and yes, he is a real designer and NOT an ai agent lol**

Hi. My friend is starting a new insta page. I just wanna you guys show some support to her. Just check it out once. She is studying design rn.

Link : https://www.instagram.com/shreykala.studio?

Hi. Anyone still have ffffound archive to download or can share?

Humble Bundle has a new graphics bundle

I’m a junior ui designer and AI is getting pretty advanced. I feel like ui designer jobs are slowly starting vanish, leaving with is with limited career options in the creative space that simultaneously pay well.

I feel like deployment first/machine learning software engineers are one of the few job titles that likely aren’t at too much of a risk in the tech space. But i suck at coding/not that smart and i’m naturally more of a creative.

Will ai likely create new jobs for designers? I read online that ai could get rid of standalone pixel pusher ui designers eventually, but it’ll also likely create more design jobs based around system and strategy thinking?

I just hope the field doesn’t become too limited, leaving it almost near impossible to get a decent paying job as a creative in tech.

Lemme know what y’all think?

Welcoming any and all constructive criticism - compliments - suggestions (Lifestyle Brand Logo)

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I'm in the early stages of building a clothing/lifestyle brand called SCHWERVE. The idea is to build something that represents individuality, confidence, self-expression, and living life on your own terms.

My original logo was made up of three main elements: a triangle, an eye, and an upside-down teardrop shape surrounding the eye. I liked how the different shapes came together and the overall symbolism behind it, but the more I looked at it, the more I worried people might associate it with the Illuminati or the "all-seeing eye." That wasn't my intention, and I didn't want the brand to be misunderstood because of its logo.

So I started reworking it, trying to keep the original concept and some of its recognizable features while creating something more unique, modern, and better suited for a clothing brand.

I've attached the original logo and the newer version I'm currently leaning toward. Nothing is set in stone yet, and I'd like to get some outside opinions before committing to anything.

What do you guys think? Is the newer version an improvement? Does it still give off that Illuminati/all-seeing-eye vibe? Could you see it working on clothing, or is it too complicated?

Feel free to be critical. I'm not looking for compliments, just genuine feedback. Appreciate anyone who takes the time to look!