Which Visual Trend Needs to Die in 2026?
This year brought with it an explosion of rubberhose run riot, the plasticky sheen of gen AI, exaggerated rounded serifs, and Y2K everything – and we’ve all got opinions on which ones have grown tiresome. LBB hands the mic to creative types around the world to hear which visual design trends they believe should be laid to rest in 2026.
Bruno Regalo
Global chief design officer at TBWA
I’ve always believed it’s important to watch visual trends, not to follow them but to avoid them. Most trends already feel old the moment they appear. Originality and freshness will always be worth more than any generic aesthetic.
We could list many trends: monochromatic setups with a single hand holding an object, Y2K everywhere… but the one that concerns me most is what the brilliant Erin Sarofsky calls:
“Sans Serification.”
The rise of the generic sans-serif.
The automatic choice disguised as elegant minimalism or digital best practice.
That famous image of major fashion brands replacing iconic typographies with bland sans-serifs says everything. It’s simplification taken so far that it removes the soul from the work.
Typography is one of our strongest tools to express emotion, intention, and identity. It deserves more care than following the comfort of generic minimalism.
Choose with intention. Avoid the shortcuts.
Nabil Khoury
Creative director at VML KSA
Alright, art directors, trends thankfully cycle saving us from eternal boredom. Yet, some aesthetics stubbornly overstay their welcome, turning our comfort zone into a creative dead end. Those ‘fresh and playful’ rubberhose characters? Now just predictable, retro spaghetti. That ‘perfect’ AI sheen? It's become the soulless elevator music of design, and frankly, that descent happened way too fast. Our once ‘friendly’ rounded serifs have entirely lost distinction, now mere visual filler, demanding we urgently re-embrace sharper forms. And Y2K, for all its nostalgic appeal, has run its course; weariness has set in. For 2026, let's ditch these tired tropes and the incessant visual white noise. The design landscape is an infinite playground, and it's high time we stopped mindlessly conforming, let’s bravely define new directions, forcing originality to resurface from this suffocating sea of sameness.
Maud Mulder
Creative director at BETC Paris
Artificial intelligence has become an unavoidable part of our daily lives. The overwhelming abundance of automated tools capable of generating content in seconds has raised a crucial question: how do we preserve a human and singular dimension in a world where algorithms increasingly dominate visual creation? Design now sits between algorithmic standardisation and stylistic overflow, often resulting in an escalation of effects that I would like to see disappear in 2026.
This dynamic has pushed many designers to create AI-generated visuals without concept, multiplying artificial grain, simulated textures, or excessively distorted typography in an attempt to reintroduce imperfection and sensibility. Such approaches reveal a growing fatigue with effects – an aesthetic of demonstration rather than meaning. If 2026 is to mark a turning point, it should be this: moving beyond reflexes, reclaiming intention, and placing the idea back at the center of visual creation. Not by looking backward, but by choosing more deliberately – and doing less, to do better.
Lucy Ducker
Associate creative director at Seen Presents
The Wes Anderson hotel concierge aesthetic has had a beautiful run and for good reason. Anderson is a true creative: a filmmaker whose visual language is built on obsessive detail, meticulous framing, and a deep commitment to storytelling. Having recently visited Wes Anderson: The Archives, it’s clear that his magic doesn’t just come from bellhop uniforms or symmetrically framed lobbies. It comes from years of experimenting, refining, and collaborating with creative partners to build worlds that are visually and emotionally compelling.
But somewhere along the way, the industry confused inspiration with imitation. The hotel concierge look has become an overused shortcut with pastel suits, brass bells, and quirky signage applied to creative without the thoughtfulness that makes Anderson’s work resonate. In 2026, it’s time for this trend to retire. We shouldn’t be copying the set dressing. We should be learning from the craft, the process, and the storytelling discipline behind it.
Leah Airey
Senior creative agent at Jelly
Visual trends will flip flop. Big brands will experience taste insecurity. But one thing I really hope gets left behind is work that sits amongst a deeply populated visual market, yet doesn’t say anything of substance.
As ugly AI writhes about our home of the creative industry, humans instead will pull on heart strings by making work that has meaning and depth to it, doubling down on narrative and storytelling.
Craft will rise to the top as the biggest trend of 2026 – the wonderful potential messiness of craft because it’s real – and we’ll feel the big swing after the reign of untextured minimalism and swathes of AI high fidelity. We’ll look away from the truly ennui-inducing Pantone colour of the year and run towards an actual colour… Any colour?
Crunchy shapes and jaggy textures that challenge your brain instead of attempting to appease everyone with bland, on-the-fence creativity that speaks to no one but takes up far too much space.
Paul Rhodes
Animation director at Robot Fights Monster
If done right, 2026 could be the year of genuinely experiential advertising. Campaigns that feel like the perfect antidote to our current social-media fatigue. Work that brings local communities together, backs real creatives, and lets brands place themselves at the centre of an actual spectacle rather than another disposable scroll moment.
Think the adidas Originals Australian campaign (2023) or Spotify’s *hits different* Camp (2024) – events that felt alive, collaborative and rooted in our culture.
We also need more public art and pop-ups that blur the line between culture, retail and installation. Gentle Monster’s giant robotic heads. The Galeries’ Artist-in-Residence series with Micke Lindebergh. Melbourne Central’s BLOOM by Melissa Mathieson. These are the kinds of moments people remember because they’re surprising, tactile and human.
In 2026, advertising can have a positive impact on our cities and still generate money. It can bring people together, make public spaces exciting, spark authentic buzz, and champion real creatives instead of just slapping them on a moodboard.
If we want trends to ‘die’ in 2026, let it be the safe ones. Let’s make space for the big, weird, joyful stuff.
Tommy Spitters
Design director at Wonderhood Studios
In 2026 we should get rid of wobbly type. You know the kind, it’s blobby, illegible, and absolutely everywhere. What was once a symbol of quick and playful layouts now feels like an overused way of making something look fun and fluid with minimal consideration. We want to see a return of intricate type forms that show craft and finesse in lieu of spontaneous graphic blobs.
Hugo Aranha and Bruno Valença
Heads of design at Africa Creative
More than eliminating trends, 2026 should bury the superficial use of them.
What really needs to disappear isn’t rubberhose, Y2K, or AI glow – it’s design without narrative, without cultural context, without craft. The world is more saturated than ever; aesthetics for the sake of aesthetics no longer hold attention.
The ‘everything at once’ aesthetic – heavily fueled by AI and TikTok – has brought with it a confusion of layers, textures, and references. Globally and locally, we’re seeing brands pursue the opposite: clarity, intention, and a more streamlined set of visual attributes. Not cold minimalism, but purposeful design.
If there’s one thing the Brazilian market teaches the global industry, it’s that design needs soul, warmth, and purpose. Following a trend isn’t enough – you must answer to culture.
Stephanie Yung
Chief design officer at Zulu Alpha Kilo
Visual trends are like fashion trends; everything is a variation or an iteration of something that existed in another point in time. We’ve seen it all before. When I say something should die, I think that’s a natural part of a trend cycle. You try to put something out there that is memorable and visually interesting, and it eventually becomes so saturated and generic that the meaning has changed.
I could talk at length about Bento Grids for websites or Corporate Memphis illustration style or inflated typography effects. But overarchingly, what I think should die is a brand’s approach to visuals being either too try hard or not trying hard enough. On one end of the spectrum, you have corporate companies trying to feel more approachable with handcrafted or handmade design details, or trying hard to have a big and quirky personality to stand out, but that’s not true to who they are. On the other end is not trying hard enough: Brands making everything overly functional and generic – think redesigns like Jaguar or Cracker Barrel – stripping away a brand’s personality to a point where it’s nothing. Can’t we just be authentic?
Jamie Stark
Group creative director at Quality Meats
There are two main things that I’d volunteer as tribute to stay the hell in 2025. The first would be the whole ‘90s aesthetic – my feed is constantly flooded with analogue film treatments, nostalgic packaging refreshes, ads wardrobed and propped in ‘90s garb. In a single week this year, I saw two ‘90s hotline-styled campaigns launch back-to-back; don’t get me wrong I have a soft spot for the ‘90s (because I lived ‘em) but at this point it feels extremely played out and like we’re now just pandering to the whims of gen z.
The other would be big brand logo redesigns that suck the soul and the charm out of the brand. Like the controversial Cracker Barrel redesign – they went too far to modernise it and as a result it lost all the humanity in it. And speaking of the Cracker Barrel redesign controversy, doesn’t it feel like these redesigns are becoming strategically planned rage bait? Yeah, that can stay in 2025 too.
Julien Vallée
Director from director duo Vallée Duhamel at Psyop
I’m hoping 2026 brings an end to the growing trend of AI-driven pieces that feel like showreels disguised as films. I’m thinking about all of the ‘AI battlefield chaos’ or ‘sleek synthetic car sequences’ that don’t say much beyond ‘look what this model can render’. The tools are extraordinary, but the novelty has worn off. What excites me is when AI becomes a storytelling or technical ally. Something that sharpens a filmmaker’s point of view and cuts through the noise instead of adding to it. Work that feels distilled, not decorated. I hope we see more intentionality and less spectacle for spectacle’s sake.
Shawn Holpfer
SVP, executive design director at Laughlin Constable
It’s time to move on from flat design trends. This one pains me to say this as I absolutely love how flat design can be visually impactful. The problem is that every brand has adopted some form of flat design into their visual identity which creates a lack of distinctiveness. With the rise of AI and AR, we’re seeing the trend move away from flat visuals and into a resurgence of skeuomorphic design. This time, it’s not about torn edges and overly complex gritty textures. It’s about making things feel real and meaningful. Techniques like liquid glass and dynamic gradients will help us define visuals that have more depth and give us a sense of something tactile. This will lead to a visual aesthetic that delivers on a personal level. One that allows all of us to get closer to the things we interact with.
Yker Moreno
Creative director at BUCK
After a decade of blend-everything, brands (including tech) will move to solid color systems – cleaner, bolder, and easier to recognise at a glance. Gradient fatigue, accessibility needs, and cross-surface consistency (OOH, product UI, print) are pushing teams towards flat, high-contrast palettes and confident blocks of color. The result: identities that feel more modern and distinctive and stand out from the gradient noise. The use of gradients might keep moving to the AI initiatives inside already established brand systems, like Google Gemini and Apple Intelligence.
Gints Gūtmanis
Creative at Panic
If there’s one look that’s starting to feel a bit tired heading into 2026, it’s the super-perfect, shiny-everywhere AI style, the one that made everything look a little too smooth, too slop, too… the same.
Lately, we’re noticing people leaning toward something warmer. Work that feels like it has a heartbeat. Real textures, sketches, tiny quirks that make you think, ‘Ah, a person made this’.
It’s not about rejecting tech. It’s about keeping human hands in the picture. Creatives and clients both seem to want that balance, the speed and smarts of the tools, paired with the soul of the artist.
So if a trend needs to fade out, it’s the idea that AI should be the new artist. We’re ready for work with fingerprints again – shades, textures, grain, imperfect lines. Work that feels cared for. Work with a story inside it.
