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📈 Canva's Trends Report from 170M+ Designers

By Steven Van ·

PLUS: Premiere Pro Updates, Text-to-3D Object, Illustrator "Dimension Tool"

📈 Canva's Trends Report from 170M+ Designers

PLUS: Premiere Pro Updates, Text-to-3D Object, Illustrator "Dimension Tool"

Author

Steven Van
January 30, 2024 • Reading Time: 10 minutes

Happy Tuesday 👋

This week, we have a super interesting report by Canva on trending search terms and updates to Adobe Premiere Pro and Illustrator!

Free assets below for Pro users (subscribe here for $1/month)👇️ 

Just a heads-up – this email's sprinkled with affiliate links. If you fancy exploring them, it's a great way to back this newsletter!

GRAPHIC DESIGN
📈 Canva Highlights 5 Design Trends for 2024, Free Templates, Graphics, and More

Last month, Canva highlighted 5 design trends “you need to know” for 2024 — we broke it down for you 📈

With 170 million users on the platform, Canva has huge insight into what is trending and what is next to come in the design world.

Here’s a quick recap of the design trends they highlighted:

  1. 👾 Pixelation: Pixelation combines retro 8-bit graphics and pixel art, evoking nostalgia and precision. It's gaining popularity, with significant search increases on platforms like Canva: 126% growth in searches in 2022 and 179% growth in 2023.

    Popular search terms: 8-bit, arcade, nostalgic, pixel art, and pixelated.
     

     

  2. 🌀 Flow and Form: This trend blends geometric and organic shapes for simple, expressive designs, growing in appeal with a rise in related searches (up 27% last year).

    Popular search terms: blob, minimalist, organic, outline, scribble, and shapes.
     

     

  3. 📓 Motion Collage: Motion Collage updates traditional collages with dynamic elements, gaining traction with AI tools, making animation more accessible.

    Searches for cut out and scrapbook surged on Canva, increasing by 249% and 173% in 2023.

    Other popular search terms are animated, collage, maximalist, and zine.
     

     

  4. 💎 Surrealism: Surrealism offers an escape into fantastical designs, resonating especially with Gen Z's push for individuality and off-kilter visuals.

    Searches on Canva for dreamy, ethereal, and fantasy grew by 114%, 60%, and 80% in 2023.
     

     

  5. The Bold Rebrand: Bold branding is making a comeback with vibrant colors and unique fonts, essential for brands to stand out in a competitive market.
     

    Searches on Canva for lively and vivid were up over 32,000% and 19,000% in 2023 🤯.
     
    Other terms: Bold, bright, electric, neon, sans-serif, and vibrant.
     

     

In the full report, Canva provides free-to-use templates, graphics, photos, and videos for each trend they mention (all available on Canva!)

🤔 Want to keep updated with the Creator Economy? Here’s your chance 👇️ 

Check out this 3x/a week newsletter called “The Publish Press” by Colin & Samir (1.4M+ subscribers), where they cover the latest news, trends, and case studies surrounding creators.

Other newsletters we recommend: creatorstoolbox.co/recommendations

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
🔥 Luma Genie 1.0, Create Any 3D Object in under 10 Seconds for FREE

Luma Labs recently introduced Genie 1.0, a groundbreaking text-to-3D AI tool that transforms words into 3D objects and game assets.

This tool supports editing in 3D software, texture addition, and model integration and is easily accessible on the web, an iPhone app with 3D scanning capabilities, and their Discord server.

Genie also offers HD upscaling and multiple formats for download (and is currently 100% free of charge).

“a detailed croissant”

You can export the 3D objects for the following platforms (and formats):

  • Blender (.blend)

  • Autodesk 3ds Max (.fbx)

  • 3D printing (.stl)

  • Cinema 4D (.fbx)

  • Godot (.obj)

  • iOS/macOS (.usdz)

  • Houdini (.fbx)

  • Maya (.fbx)

  • Nuke (.fbx)

  • Roblox (.fbx)

  • three.js (.gltf)

  • Unity (.fbx)

  • Unreal Engine (.fbx)

  • VRChat (.fbx)

VIDEO EDITING
⚡️ Premiere Pro (Beta) Introduces New “Text Styles” Enhancements

Exciting news for Premiere Pro users: the latest version of Adobe Premiere Pro (Beta) introduces significant enhancements to graphics and captions styles and is now available for testing in the public beta.

To get the Premiere Pro (beta) on your desktop, head over to the Beta apps section in your Creative Cloud desktop app and click “Install” beside Premiere Pro (beta).

Here’s what’s new (images by Annika Koenig):

  1. Thumbnails 🖼️ 

    The introduction of thumbnails allows creators to easily identify and select their desired styles.

    Text Styles thumbnails

     

  2. Redefine Style Button ❇️

    A new "Redefine Style" button that allows changes to a selected a selected text style.
     

    Update an existing text style

  3. Usage Indicator ✅ 

    The new usage indicator displays where text styles are used in a dropdown menu for swift navigation and reference.
     

    View where a text style is used

     

  4. New Style Browser 🌐


    The updated Style Browser, accessible from the Essential Graphics “Edit” tab, offers an icon or list view for ease of use.

     

    Choose between “list” and “icon’ view

  1. Apply Styles to Parts of Text 🔠 

     

    You can now apply text attributes and styles to selected parts of text. Previously, if you applied a text style, it would be applied to the entirety of the text.

    Applying styles to a selected part of a text

  1. Reuse Text Styles Across Projects 📁 
     
    Styles can now be conveniently stored in a new default local location for easy access and reuse. To export styles for future use, simply use the “Export Text Styles” option from the Project panel.
     

ILLUSTRATION
📐 Adobe Illustrator (Beta)’s “Dimension Tool,” Measure and Plot Dimensions in Designs

In the latest Adobe Illustrator beta update, the software introduced a new tool called the “Dimension Tool” that allows you to measure and plot dimensions in your designs.

To get the Adobe Illustrator (beta) on your desktop, head over to the Beta apps section in your Creative Cloud desktop app and click “Install” beside Premiere Pro (beta).

Here’s what you can do with the new tool:

📏 Measure Lines: Accurately measure linear dimensions of shapes between points or long strokes.

📐 Calculate Angles: Capture the exact angles within shapes or between intersecting lines.

⚪️ Capture Radii: Define the radius and diameter of circles and arcs effortlessly.

Read 📈 Canva's Trends Report from 170M+ Designers on Creators Toolbox