Tele Trends and Insights Night

Consumers today are embracing life loudly, and Telegraph is listening up.

At Tele Trends and Insights Night, we discussed our teams’ predictions for marketing trends in 2022. Below, we’re featuring some of those predictions and why we see them in this year’s forecast.

Bold Colors & Patterns

Telegraph predicts bold colors and patterns will dominate 2022, no matter the industry. 

We viewed examples of everything from the colorful brand guidebook for Glaceau smartwater to vibrant packaging from Lush to bold patterns now found on building exteriors. 

We also explored the fascination of “Y2K” and why inspiration is found in its bright and fun clothing. At the turn of the century, the year 2000 began a new era. A current nod to Y2K symbolizes a new era for consumers today stepping back into a post-2020 world. The future is bright, and we’re excited to see colors back in the spotlight. 

Psychedelia & The 1970s 

The ‘70s are back, and the psychedelia trend is grooving on a broad spectrum. 

We’re seeing the hipster revival everywhere from country music to fashion to typography. Viral tutorials on Tiktok and Youtube can teach you how to dress in 1970’s inspired styles. Typefaces that feel smokey and acid-dipped are being used in unexpected places. Even cereals, like Magic Spoon, have boxes with psychedelic designs that further speak to the bold colors we’re predicting this year. Grab our bell-bottom jeans? You don’t have to tell us twice.

Mascots 

Anthropomorphizing means to give human characteristics to something that isn’t human. To Telegraph, it also means to make things trendy. 

Mascots are on the rise along with objects displaying human-like characteristics, thus bringing the word anthropomorphizing into our discussion and vocabulary. Brands like M&M’s and Pringles continue to modernize their classic mascots, while brands like New Belgium Brewing have more recently adopted a consistent character appearing on products.

We referenced lips designed on a coffee mug and our rebranded logo for Birmingham Orthodontics that shows a tooth with its own smile. Though these aren’t actual “mascots”, They’re ordinary objects with human characteristics. A brand’s biggest goal is to connect with people, and the one thing people connect with more than anything is the image of a face. We’re looking forward to more face time with brands and objects as this trend gains momentum. 

Mushrooms

Forget baking banana bread. This year, we predict the trendy DIY project will be growing mushrooms.

“Six months ago all the hippies I’m friends with were posting on Instagram about growing their own mushrooms”, said our Associate Creative Director, Nolen Strals. More recently, he noticed MeatEater published how to grow mushrooms, and his light bulb went off (literally– mushrooms are grown in the dark).

The trend of growing mushrooms ties in with plant-based food popularity and the pandemic craze of growing our own plants. We think this trend will stick as mushrooms are low maintenance and growing kits are easily purchased on Amazon. They remind us of the ‘70s, psychedelia and the plant we forgot to water this morning.

Our insights, combined with insights from Pinterest and Hubspot, inspired conversation as we analyzed these trends and many others. We believe optimism is the overarching theme driving all of 2022’s trends. When we say our future is bright, we mean it in more ways than one.

Brands We Love

Brands are our thing. We notice them, we remember them, and we get inspired by the ones we love. Below, we’re sharing some of our favorite brands and why they get the Telegraph Team’s bolt of approval.

Southwest Airlines 

Whether we’re browsing, purchasing flights or recalling a brand we love, this airline comes to mind. Maybe it’s the heart in their logo. Regardless, Southwest’s personable and friendly tone make the brand uniquely approachable. David Hildebrand, Creative Director here at Telegraph, put it best when saying they “humanized air travel” after rebranding years ago. They take pride in putting the customer first, and that’s definitely something we’re on board with. 

Karbach Brewing Company 

We’ve heard everything is bigger in Texas and that includes the personality of this craft beer brand.Their designs keep people on their toes, and their tagline, “Crafted for Fun” speaks right to our heart. Unironically, the beer lived through its taglined purpose when it found our design intern, Levi Sanford. While having fun at a baseball game in Houston, the brand caught his eye, and he has since turned to them for inspiration. Their focus on quality beer, inclusivity and hospitality has us admiring the brand’s take on a glass half-full mentality. 

Halfway Crooks Beer

We’re pouring over this quirky beer brand. The brand’s cultural references are often obscure, the art is lo-fi and the copywriting is poetic, even though it seems as if it was written by a machine that only just learned English. It gives us an “old-world-European-meets-graphic-dryness-through-a-post-ironic-contemporary-lense” vibe. Our Associate Creative Director, Nolen Strals, said once he began to understand that they were doing their own weird thing, he came to also understand the inscrutable beauty of it. In the heart of Atlanta where many brands are so highly polished, this brand stands out— and to that we say, “Cheers!” 

Fifty-Nine Parks 

Fifty-Nine Parks is a brand with a print series that gives back. On posters and other merchandise, illustrations paired with type capture the distinguished beauty in each of our National Parks. Savvy Meek, Telegraph Graphic Designer and collector of 59 Parks merch, pointed out the brand’s unique use of modern typefaces with a more vintage style that elevates classic prints. The brand unites artists under a common goal as part of the poster sales go to The National Park Service. With a purpose just as beautiful as its designs, this brand is a breath of fresh air. 

At Telegraph, we appreciate even the smallest details that add up to fully characterize a brand. We love brands that come to life, and we’re obsessed with bringing our clients’ brands to life every day.