Mixed Media: A Modern Artform
by Chris Costello
Recently, I’ve noticed that mixed media and hand-drawn elements are becoming increasingly popular, introducing a fresh, tactile dimension to graphic design trends. This style blends traditional art forms such as hand-drawn (or vectorized) illustrations and interesting textures with digital techniques to create unique and engaging compositions.
Mixed media in graphic design brings together a variety of artistic techniques to create visually captivating visuals. By combining elements such as photography, illustration, typography, and digital art, designers can craft cohesive and fresh-looking pieces.
Key Elements of the Mixed Media Trend:
Fusion of Traditional and Digital: Designers are now effortlessly merging hand-drawn elements with digital textures, achieving a balance between traditional artistry and modern technology. Integrating hand-drawn elements into branding, packaging, and digital media adds a personal, human touch that resonates with audiences. The imperfections found in lines, brushstrokes, and textures create an emotional connection that is often missing in fully digital designs.
Collage as a Focal Point: Collage is seeing a resurgence within this trend. By blending photography, illustrations, and textures, designers are crafting multi-layered, dynamic compositions.
Incorporating mixed media in graphic design enhances creativity by encouraging the combination of different mediums, leading to very unique and innovative design. Designers also benefit from the versatility it provides, allowing them to experiment with various combinations to achieve different moods, styles, and effects. Lastly, mixed media enables a high level of customization, allowing designs to be tailored to specific client preferences or project requirements. These advantages make mixed media a really, really powerful tool for creating impactful and memorable visuals.
Recently here at Hashtag Interactive, we employed a mixed media approach for a proposal for a climate-conscious organization based in Singapore. Recognizing the importance of visual storytelling for this project, we felt that mixed media would provide the perfect means to convey the organization’s values and objectives. By integrating real-world photography, lively and engaging illustrations, a variety of tactile textures, and bold, attention-grabbing fonts, we crafted a visual narrative that was both dynamic and meaningful.
The moodboard for this project was designed by our Senior Designer, Ella Macatangay, who expertly combined traditional art forms with cutting-edge digital techniques. Ella's ability to seamlessly blend elements like hand-drawn illustrations with digital textures resulted in a stylescape that was not only visually compelling but also rich with depth and character. Her thoughtful use of mixed media elevated the concept, turning the moodboard into a highly engaging piece that resonated with the client and effectively captured the essence of the brief.
