Colors Trending in 2021 You Should Use in Your Designs

April 16, 2021

Colors can make or break your design. Choosing the perfect colors can make your design(s) stand out from the competition. A major focus of 2021 is positivity and happiness. Colors can express these feelings easily. The following colors are gaining popularity this year because they reflect what people are searching for. Your customers will also be influenced by these feelings, so you should use colors trending in 2021 in your designs.

8 Colors Trending in 2021

1. Gold

Rich and luxurious, gold is versatile and can be used with a variety of different colors. Depending on the person, gold can represent glamour or it could be a color representing warmth.

This color can be used as a base or a featured color in your designs.

2. Jewel Tones

While they’re technically more than one color, they’re all within the same tone family. Jewel tones are known to be deep and mysterious.

As of late, designers have been taking inspiration from the natural world, and gems are a popular choice for their beauty. In addition, gems can have different meanings and people like to use these meanings to express themselves. For example, sapphire means wisdom, virtue, and good fortune.

Use these tones in your design to make other colors pop or to give an air of sophistication to your design.

3. Blue

When the world is in chaos, people turn to well-known comforts. Colors are no exception, that’s why the primary color blue is one of the most popular colors of the year.

Blue is considered traditional and stable. It’s been well documented that blue is one of the most calming colors. Blue is also diverse in its shades and tones.

It’s favored by 43% of Fortune 500 companies, like Dell and Facebook.

Because it’s diverse, it’s easy to incorporate any shade or tone of blue in your designs.

4. Orange

As mentioned before, the world has been tough lately, and people want some positivity. Bright colors like orange instantly bring a smile to people’s faces. It’s also associated with the fruit and can be called a “juicy” color as well.

It’s a great color to use as a feature with other colors.

5. Yellow

Another primary color has made it to this list. Like orange, yellow is bright and associated with happiness. Many people are looking for that bright positivity after 2020.

It can be a difficult color to use in design due to how bright it is. If not used properly it could hurt the eyes, but it’s great for brightening darker designs.

6. Pink

Pink has always been a popular, trendy color. It’s associated with love, sweetness, and femininity. It’s popular in pastel, deep, and bright shades. It gives off the feeling of youth, fun, confidence, and energy.

You can use this color in your design if you want to portray softness or playfulness.

7. Green

Whether it’s the color of freshly cut grass or the deep shades of leaves on trees, there’s nothing more natural than the color green. The color is associated with calming effects. It’s seen as fresh and sophisticated.

If you feel like your designs are getting stale, try using a shade of green to freshen it up.

8. Beige

Instagram is the reason this color has become so popular. It’s a great neutral and often used with other earthy tones. It’s associated with hard work, earthiness, and minimalism.

If you want to convey a feeling of gentleness in your design, try using this color. You can also use it as a background color to make others pop.

Color of the Year 2021

Every year Pantone picks a single color as Color of the Year. In 2021 there are actually 2 colors, it’s Ultimate Gray and Illuminating. The unexpected combination of yellow and gray have many people surprised.

Leatrice Eiseman, the Pantone Color Institute’s Director, says:

“The union of enduring Ultimate Gray with the vibrant yellow of Illuminating expresses a message of positivity supported by fortitude. Practical and rock solid but at the same time warming and optimistic, this is a color combination that gives us resilience and hope. We need to feel encouraged and uplifted; this is essential to the human spirit.”

More Designing Tips

If you need more designing tips, we got you covered! You can check out our blog posts 5 Easy Design Tips and How to Find and Design Popular Print-on-Demand Products. We also have our Academy and Lesson 2, which is all about designing the perfect campaign.