BLURRED & GHOSTLY

This dreamy, blurred visual story plays with diffused colour and distorted shapes, moving from shadowy figures and empty landscapes to more surreal, playful scenes. It’s demonstraited through hazy photorealistic prints, stylised digital artwork and lo-fi spray-can gradients that feel raw and expressive.

The blur carries through into typography too, Colours are bold and almost glowing, with temperature-sensitive and UV-reactive materials adding a sense of movement.

TROMPE L’OEIL

Trompe l’oeil* is having a moment, with creative optical illusions and painted-on prints popping up everywhere in fashion.

Think digitally printed hyperrealistic pearls and chains, and taking basic jeans and casual pieces to the next level. Layering photorealistic or X-ray prints on clothes and tableware creates quirky, unexpected designs, while printing on creased fabrics gives cool, deconstructed patterns. Distressed prints can make fabric look shredded or sneakers worn-out, and faux textures show up in printed brocades or aged food and wine labels for that playful, tactile feel.

*Meaning (visual illusion in art, especially as used to trick the eye into perceiving a painted detail as a three-dimensional object).

COLLEGIATE SPORTS

Sports and activewear continues to shape youth culture and fashion, from “fashionified” football jerseys to T-shirts and sweats featuring stylised football and basketball graphics.

Even celebrity tie-ins are leaning sporty: Timothée Chalamet’s upcoming film Marty Supreme teamed up with LA streetwear brand Nahmias on ’90s-style windbreakers embroidered with the movie title and three stars.

PROTEST & SLOGANS

With protests happening all over the world, graphics and illustration are a great way to turn complex issues into clear, emotionally charged messages.

Raised fists and peace symbols are everywhere. From bold red, black, and cream propaganda-style graphics, to the more animal rights focused theme, with streetwear labels like Golf Wang championing bees and farm animals.

Craft also plays a role, helping people express themselves and build solidarity from patchwork slogans to playful embroidery.

NAIVE BLOCK PRINT

This colourful, art-inspired trend has commercial appeal across lots of categories. Using naive block prints, stenciling, and geometric patterns.

Lino prints bring a tactile, handmade feel offering a fun alternative to slick, computer-made perfection.

MODERN FOLKLORE

Ancient practices from both the West and East are inspiring a ton of graphics and illustration.

British folklore is proving especially fertile for design. London streetwear brand Damson Madder mixes storybook vibes with nature and other designers are putting a modern spin on old traditions: Chopova Lowena and Burberry explore Bulgarian folklore and Edwardian tarot cards.

SKETCHBOOK

Hand-drawn illustrations, playful typography, and doodles give brands a real, authentic vibe, with monochrome palettes keeping things simple and pared-back.

Some of the scribbled examples feel rebellious, with thick crayon scrawls adding to the frenzied artist-at-work vibe.

SPACE RAVE & PSYCHEDELIA

The worlds of 1990s acid house rave, outer space and anime collide in an explosion of psychedelic colour and retro-futuristic pattern.

The nostalgic allure of space and alien life forms offers scope for experimentation. See streetwear brands Aries (UK) tongue-in-cheek alien propaganda posters.

NEW NATURE

The natural world is a never-ending source of inspiration for graphic design, full of organic patterns, unusual shapes, and harmonious colours.

Designers are looking closely at things like lichen, flower petals, and root or fungal networks, and turning those organic shapes into patterns and products. For example, Scotland’s Instruo Pocket Scion biofeedback device is designed to look like growing roots.

In fashion, florals are making a big comeback. Brands like Prada, Dries Van Noten, and Craig Green are using bold flower prints, graphic bouquets, and layered, clashing floral patterns.

GOTHIC ROCK HORROR

A recent wave of gothic horror and romance films like Nosferatu (2024) and Wuthering Heights (2026) is sparking a renewed love for all things dark and moody.

Skulls, gravestones, roses, and thorns show up in everything from spooky cartoons to eerie painterly art. Edgy brands are leaning in too: Vetements (Switzerland) explores provocative satanic scenes. Skate culture has always had ties to death metal see Vans’ emo T-shirts.