Each year Getty Images produces a visual trend report titled “Creative in Focus”. The report distinguishes the largest visual trends based on the most searched for terms used on their visual library of stock photography. The six biggest trends are for 2016 are listed below with visual examples taken from DegreeArt.com.
1. Outside In
In response to being inundated with mass-replicated imagery, aggregated articles and lists we look for more quirky and standout visuals. This trend focuses on the unexpected image rather than the overly produced and polished. Darren MacPherson's vibrant paintings combine elements of street art, modernist styles and his own personal interest in Japanese culture to create daring compositions and colour combinations that dazzle and captivate the viewer.
2. Divine Living
This trend focuses on meaningful consumption: the careful selection of treasured possession or experiences over mass consumerism. Mindfulness and contemplation are the core concepts of "Divine Living". Pantone's colours of the year, Rose Quartz and Serenity are a perfect embodiment of this trend. If you are searching for a soothing piece for your home, why not browse works with this colour scheme in our Pantone 2016 Collection?
3. Extended Human
The visual cues of the Extended Human trend marks a change from a grey dystopian depiction of technology to more a more favourable vision that explore the ways in which technology is changing the way we live our lives, share our experiences, make our art and interact with our surroundings. This trend also explores the concept of what it means to be human as it enhances our bodies, expands our minds' capacity for memory and creativity, and increases communication. DegreeArt's Post Digital show surveyed this theme back in 2014!
4. Messthetics
Messthetics produces work that is inspired by physical, the messy, dirty, sweaty and intense. The trend pushes beyond the celebration of perceived flaws it is a considered exploration of awkwardness and vulgarity. This aesthetic is about celebrating an extreme, primeval state of being in artworks that delve into ideas that transgress traditional senses of cleanliness and propriety. Artist Laura Fishman's body of work focuses entirely on the accidental forms created when paint is poured as opposed to applied purposefully. The results are beautiful and captivating.
5. Silence vs. Noise
Silence vs. Noise is centred on the idea of making space to breathe and reconnect in a overwhelming marketplace. Inspired by the 1950s and ‘60s minimalist art movement that pivots on the distillation of complex ideas into refined simplicity and calmness. Royal College of Art graduate Kennis Chan produces beautifully serene geometric paintings in sombre colours and soothing textures.
6. Surreality
‘Surreality’ juxtaposes visual references and explores how we visually make sense of the new formats and digital mediums that we consume culture and share information. Just as Surrealism looked to translate the unconscious in order to understand the conscious, think Dali's pairing of disparate elements such as a lobster and a phone, the visual signifiers hat shape this trend speak to the duality we experience while consuming large amounts of data and images digitally. Surreality translates into a Post-Internet aesthetic referencing online phenomena, like gifs and memes. Collage artist Alexandra Gallagher embraces the digital medium to create stunning prints of beautiful women against dystopian otherworldly backdrops that both intrigue and unsettle.
