Many folks in the design and creative space take the end of the year or the beginning of the new one to prognosticate and pontificate on upcoming trends, including everyone here at Dieline. Software behemoth Adobe is no exception. Given its market dominance and widespread use of its creative tools, Adobe does have a unique vantage point when it comes to trend spotting.

Similiar to Pantone, Adobe’s trend report has an overall theme of calmness and reflects our collective search for serenity. It’s been rough the last few years for most of us, and 2024 doesn’t look like it will get any easier. Trends identified by Adobe also include an acknowledgment of our tapping into the past and connecting with nostalgia while also looking to the future through the metaverse.

Additionally, given Adobe’s strong emphasis on its generative artificial intelligence (GAI), which it calls Firefly this past year, I’m not surprised its trend report didn’t fail to find some space to mention it. While it might seem somewhat self-serving for the tech giant, it isn’t wrong; AI is here, and millions are using it to create and design already. And that isn’t going to decelerate in the upcoming year.