A Complete Guide to 2025 Surface Design Trends
Every year, new visual trends emerge and it’s important to stay on top of them if you want to stand out as a surface designer. This year, we’re seeing a shift towards maximalism, dreamy landscapes, and rich, opulent motifs.
I've been licensing my artwork since 2014 and have sold over 1,000,000 products with my designs. Want to know the main reason I’ve been able to do this? Trend forecasting.
I’ve learned how to pick out upcoming popular trends and capitalize on them to create profitable designs with mass appeal. When you can key into these trends, you’ll build a strategic portfolio that will skyrocket your success as an artist.
I know trends can feel elusive, so every year I put together a free in-depth trend report based on current hot trends that I’m tracking. You can download it here to get a jump start on what’s popular in 2025 and beyond!
2025 Trend Report Sneak Peek 👀
The full trend report includes 22 pages of trends to look out for, but here are a few highlights! Remember, you can download the full report for free here!
Surreal Dreamscape
I’ve always had an affinity for funky, psychedelic artwork, so this is my year to shine! We’ve started to see a shift towards colorful landscapes that bring a fun and youthful vibe for customers of all ages. This style resonates strongly with the youth market while offering nostalgic appeal to millennials who grew up with Lisa Frank aesthetics.
This trend celebrates over-the-top cuteness with a celestial twist, featuring saturated candy-colored worlds where celestial bodies dance and playful creatures frolic through starlit skies.
Seaside Opulence
Seaside and nautical trends are fairly evergreen, but the new twist on this trend is to lean into a more elevated and opulent version of this popular trend. Think iridescent color palettes reminiscent of mother-of-pearl that set the stage for transporting you to an upscale seaside escape.
Maximalist Florals
Maximalism is on the rise, and this trend incorporates explosions of color with a traditional ever-popular motif – florals! As optimism and craft-focused aesthetics continue to influence design, these lush, maximalist florals will captivate audiences seeking beauty and abundance.
Based on the Chintz design style with densely packed floral patterns, you can tap into this trend by bringing your own style to a bold, vibrant floral design.
Whether you think you're a trend follower or not, we all make purchasing decisions based on trends. Most of the products you see in stores and designs you see on clothing have been based on trends. When something is popular, that means people will want to buy it, which means brands want to capitalize on its popularity.
The thing that makes trends so lucrative for brands and businesses, is that they almost always end up being mass-produced. It’s important to make sure you’re tapping into trends early so that you can be one of the first to capitalize on the popularity of a trend before it starts to get saturated as more and more artists find out about it.
I have two free resources to help you tap into trends before anyone else:
One is my free Surface Design Trend Report which I update every year. And one is my Creative Business Bundle where you’ll find a list of other trend reports plus tons of business resources for artists!
And when you’re ready for more, dive into my Trend Forecasting class where I teach my exact process for discovering popular trends quickly. You can carry this skill with you for years to come as you build your career as a successful surface designer!
