From the metaverse, one of the most repeated words in recent weeks, – which many people have yet to understand its meaning (or perhaps they don't fully understand it) – to the importance of mental health, something that is (luckily) increasingly normalised in society. Many phenomena promise to make 2022 an important year in history, a turning point after the global pandemic that we have all experienced and whose effects we are still dragging. Depositphotos, an international content platform with a library of over two hundred and twenty million stock photos, videos, vectors, templates and music, has released its annual forecast: Creative Trends 2022: Merging the future and the past. The report perfectly reflects the key points that will mark the near future.
Its goal? To examine how creative communication has changed and what brands and content creators can expect in the coming year. A challenge that far from being easy or intuitive, requires a detailed analysis of the current situation, trends and past events that directly influence the way people see the world today. It is no coincidence that 2022 is a year whose analysis needs even greater criteria and professionalism. We are now starting an era after the world crisis that, besides having affected the economy and health, has had considerable repercussions in culture, art, communication and how we interact.

“2022 is the year of contrast, where the future stands side by side with the past,” explains Maria Sibirtseva, Content Team Lead at Depositphotos, the platform that has led the report which supports a community of one hundred thousand contributors to help clients in one hundred and ninety-two countries visualise their ideas. The conclusions of their annual forecast, in which the development process creator and industry leaders have been involved, shows an evident duality. The present is defined by projecting into the future, materialised in terms like metaverse – one of the key points of the report because spaces will acquire an even more realistic look with the help of AR and VR technology –contrasting with nostalgia for the past, in the form of a throwback to the 2000s aesthetics and 70s psychedelic art to better connect with the audience.

Spacetime boundary is blurred at a furious pace, highlighting other forecasts that will mark 2022. One of them, the AI-generated music. “Background tracks on websites or apps will be tailored to fit a user's taste,” we read in the document that explains all the information collected. And there is no doubt that experiences will be increasingly personalised according to the tastes and preferences of each user, thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, technology and robotics.

The Y2K effect or the comeback of the early 2000s aesthetics is another key point. A trend that we have seen on social media, and that brands and companies must take into account in their business plans. Creative projects will take a new dimension, and empathy with human feelings will be paramount in business strategies and in communication between brands, creators and customers.

Web development, asymmetric design and never-before-seen digital experiences will not stop gaining ground, at a time when users demand interesting stimuli. “However, the main conditions for a successful scrollytelling project are a short loading time and a unique story readers can relate to,” the report points out when referring to the aspects related to this trend. Last but not least, the document highlights immersion as the great phenomenon of 2022. Here 3D takes on special importance, capable of offering us resources that connect with the audience unusually and surprisingly, creating illusions and demonstrating that there are experiences that transcend the five senses.

Depositphotos makes an effective summary of the 2022 trends, which you can read here. The company, which is headquartered in New York and has offices in Milan, Kyiv, Moscow, and Limassol, has shared views with Megan Dell, director of design at 99designs by Vista; Lore Oxford, global head of cultural insights at We Are Social; Antoine P. Kostadinoff, design director at Dogstudio; Paul Zgordan, chief content officer at Mubert Inc, artist, producer, and consultant; Froyo Tam, transmedia artist and curator who co-runs Y2K Aesthetic Institute; Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, IDSA founder and principal, Interwoven Design Group, LLC; David Wehmeyer, an artist; Synchrodogs, a duo of art directors and photographers.
Metaverse
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Psychedelic Art
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AI Generated
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Y2K
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Science
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Self-love
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Scrollitelling
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Immersive
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