Must Design

Why Illustrations Rule 2019
I'm working on a mashup of web, graphics and e-commerce trends for 2019. To create such a summary I read a gaggle of predictions for 2019 trends looking for agreement and interesting outliers.  

One rather large area of agreement is the rise of original illustrations. I have theories on why colorful, original illustrations will be important marketing tools in 2019. 

• Death of Stock Photography
  Stock photography is a very bad thing in the hands of the unskilled and 90% of sites and marketing campaigns are "unskilled". Feels like my eyes are being burned away by boring smiling empty people. 
  
  
• Art, Marketing, and Data Collision
  Brand consistent, arresting, original art lights up analytics as the distance between creative left-brainers and quanty right brainers continues to shrink. 
  
  
• Originality Gets Shared
  One reason analytics spikes assure cogent marketers will create more cool illustrations next year is cool stuff gets shared thus creating the winning self-fulfilling prophecy - original illustrations arrest and engage generating shares reinforcing the need for more cool graphics. 
  
  
• Pictures Mean More Than Words Now
  Hard to imagine Hemingway, Faulkner, or Cheever in a blogging age. Our eyes control so much of our time, brian, and desires these days reading almost anything requires a great visual and a headline writer who knows how to set a hook. I'm not saying quality writing is dead, but discovering quality writing (or anything) requires eye candy and a great headline. 
  
  
• The Attention Span/Serotonin Problem
  We are wired differently now. I judge not sitting here using Scoop.it to communicate with you dear reader, but F. Scott would need to write the Great Gatsby in pieces, on several web pages with accompanying visuals today. If Gatsby didn't look good on our phones we wouldn't click, swipe, or share. Again, I'm NOT judging :). 

I'll share my web and graphics 2019 trends mashup on Curagami.com (and on Must Design) soon. In the meantime share your thoughts on why illustrations will rule (or not) next year, our slouching toward Bethlehem world, or your Gatsby moments and I'll include your thoughts (with attribution and appropriate Quid Pro Quo links). 

Have a great New Year and an epic 2019!

Martin