# Design

The Evolution of SMM Design: Trends to Watch in the Coming Years

Red Rocket TeamFeb 13, 20254 min read

Many entrepreneurs don't even think about how many useful effects social media can provide them. Yeah, today, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and other platforms are powerful tools for businesses from any field. This is explained easily, because social networks have gathered several billions of real users. For example, according to statistics, every second resident of the United States of America has a personal account on Instagram, where he spends a significant part of his time. That is why in 2024 the profession of SMM specialist is in demand in the world. However, this job is not as easy as it may seem at first glance.

SMM is not only about creating short texts for social networks. To attract new subscribers and retain old ones, you need to use modern SMM design techniques. When we talk about SMM design, we mean not only images, but also colors, fonts and creating a unique style of the whole account. A great SMM design is when a new user goes to a business page on one of the social networking sites and says «wow, this really looks cool and unique». Want to know how visuals have evolved in the SMM industry and what current trends are being utilized in 2024? At Red Rocket, we're well aware of how important it is to have eye-catching designs and adhere to current trends to keep up with customers.

Many of you probably remember when most social networks were used purely for socializing and entertainment. People used to log on to Facebook every day to text their friends and family. Instagram, on the other hand, was an app where everyone shared their lives through photos and videos in their personal feed. However, when did these social networks transition from entertainment to platforms for business? And how did visuals and design play a role in this whole journey?

Influence of Instagram on the Development of SMM Design

More specifically, the emergence of Instagram in 2010 signaled a significant change in the social media landscape, which is characterized by visually-oriented platforms. Where Facebook and Twitter were initially more or less typographic platforms, the rapid emergence of Instagram put images first.

Originally, Instagram was just an application for sharing casual photos with friends and other users. However, within a few years, both small companies and prominent brands discovered that image-focused social media could be highly effective for interacting with the public. This led to an evolution of business posts to mouth-watering images as brands battled for the attention of their followers on the Instagram feed.

Over time, that competition intensified even further as business people utilized Instagram to expand their companies, and some other social media personalities turned their followers into seven-figure businesses. When Instagram introduced shoppable posts in 2018, they provided a direct one-click transition from the picture to the product. This kicked growth into overdrive and marked the beginning of the «social commerce» era that is characterized by creative sales visuals.

This situation left brands fixated on beautiful photography, videography, and design prowess. The business use of social media was no longer characterized by low-quality images taken with smartphone cameras and pixelated designs. Today, glamorous living photography, perfectly arranged still lifes, and attention-catching graphic designs and illustrations are as organic as genuine raw footage.

Advertisers sought to differentiate their product’s visual narratives to engage viewers and advance potential buyers through the funnel. As a result, social media apps like Instagram and Pinterest introduced various visual features such as shoppable posts, AR try-ons, Story stickers, and others to meet this increasing demand. With these new tools, from a single image to an order confirmation, it has never taken so little time.

The Importance of Visual Effects in SMM Today

Since its inception 14 years ago, Instagram has revolutionized social media into community-based, visually oriented networks driven by beautiful and aesthetic designs. With the new platforms and features in social media, the significance of imagery and design will only increase. Businesses that do not align themselves with this trend may find that competitors who do will be able to out-compete them for attention for every increasing share of social media engagement. To see for yourself, take a look at the visuals that popular companies use on their Instagram accounts.

2025 SMM Trends That We Like So Far

As you may have realized by now, the approach to design and visuals on social media has changed significantly in just a few years. Business owners have realized that it helps to attract more customers and stay competitive. However, a trend is a fleeting concept and it is no longer relevant today to make a design that was used a year ago. SMM professionals should regularly monitor what designs other companies are actively using on social media today. How to design for social media? We're here to tell you more about 6 social media design tips that we've personally evaluated.

1. Vintage Font Aesthetics

This year, it is refreshing to incorporate the use of vintage inspired fonts. What we refer to as vintage are font styles that are designed to mimic the styles of previous time periods. The brands are adopting elegant serif fonts, retro scripts, and ornamental typefaces in their social media posts and stories. Old school font makes it look like it belongs to a particular era and gives the content a very homemade feel.

It would be great to see old fonts accompanied by other elements that reflect the antique, such as vintage illustrations or images with a sepia wash. It provides a unified retro appearance to the brands which desire to earn a glimpse of the past. All in all, creative directors no longer think modern sans serifs are inspiring and have shifted their focus to charming scripts and serifs that seem like relics of the past.

2. Bright Colors

Although Barbie style dominated last year, it ushered in a trend for bright and juicy colors: red, pink, green, yellow, blue, etc. Pantone even crowned peach as the color of 2024. So you can combine different colors of the rainbow in your Instagram design and experiment with their brightness. For example, yellow and purple, red and green, blue and yellow-orange.

We like it because the choice of colors is bright and unites the people, making them feel joyous. SMM content has to be attention-seeking, and intense chromatic colors do exactly that. Combined with white space, the palettes look more innovative than oppressive. They generate an immediate sense of excitement for the viewer as soon as the commercial begins to air. We believe that cheerful, happy colors will remain popular because brands seek to associate with their audiences in a positive way.

3. Artificial Intelligence

Yeah, we had to include artificial intelligence in our article. This technology is now filling all areas of our lives, from creating eye-catching designs to developing new treatments for serious diseases. AI design tools enable marketers to pick the kind of design or image they want and the tool creates the images. This makes it possible for brands to generate large quantities of social media graphics specific to the brand’s specialization on a given platform in a very efficient manner.

Nowadays, such designs could easily have taken the designer a number of hours to complete. Now, with such tools, marketers can provide an almost infinite number of options in a matter of seconds with simple requests. Overlay text, enhance a picture, adapt the right size and format, or just get ideas for inspiration. All this is now available with the help of special AI tools.

4. 3D Graphics

Another trend in social media design is the mainstreaming of 3D graphics. Brands are using 3D tools to design something more noticeable and a futuristic editing style. It just adds that extra to have designs that stand off from the screen and makes everything from 3D text overlays to full digital environments to display products and worlds associated with the brand.

The extra depth and movement that 3D visuals exhibit capture more user attention on crowded social media feeds. Because they are not regular 2D posts, they are easily remembered and thus can stimulate more actions in the long run. Look at how famous brands like Coca-Cola, Nike and Lego use 3D graphics on social media. Their examples may inspire you to do something similar for your company.

5. Lack of Unified Style

When you're told that a social media account should have the same style, that was true a few years ago. Today, leading SMM experts are quickly moving away from the idea that all of your posts should adhere to the same fonts, color scheme, and style in general. In fact, it's popular today to put up posts with different colors, graphics, and styles. This will help you become more creative and bring to life all the ideas you want to see in your Instagram feed.

6. Cluttercore in SMM Design

Many designers can say that today, a minimalistic style is relevant for social media promotion and attracting new customers. Of course, you can get rid of unnecessary small details and leave your feed neat. However, just recently, in America, a new trend in social media design has appeared - Cluttercore. This is maximalism, which involves using a lot of different elements together. The distinctive feature of this social media graphic design trend is a riot of bright colors.

The tag #cluttercore originated in TikTok and became especially popular during the forced home isolation among those who wanted maximum coziness. Cluttercore became a real trend in TikTok and Pinterest. While the world was trying to rationalize the pandemic and the thrash going on around it, the soul demanded an irrational arrangement of its room. Today, however, people have started using this approach not only for the interior of their homes but also for their social media pages.

SMM Design Predictions

First impressions are hard to change, and 90% of people pay attention to web design the first time they come into contact with a website, app, or other product that a business provides. A great design will improve the number of sales. In 2025, it will be very important to incorporate design into your marketing strategy and carefully craft it.

Custom illustrations. With the help of illustrations, it is possible to make a website or brand more lively. The modern design of 2025 will be dominated by traditional art formats rather than computer-generated images. And that's where custom illustrations will come in handy.
Large headlines. The trend of using a picture as a headline is becoming more popular. This is a fashion trend likely to remain in demand in 2025. With this approach, it is possible to make a headline with a full image, actively grabbing people's attention.

Obviously, the main trend in the coming years will remain the capabilities of artificial intelligence. SMM specialists will more often use designs for posts that AI has developed. There are quite a few reasons for this. First, in a year or two, AI tools will be even more advanced and technologically advanced. The second reason is to save time and spend it on other important tasks.