How does Monotype’s annual Type Trend report even come together? The team gives us the inside scoop

The world of design can sometimes almost feel like a mirror – if you look closely, it’s not impossible to spot the way our visual world reflects our lived experiences, and our collective hopes, aspirations and anxieties. Type, too, is touched by this ebb and flow of time, culture and change. Every year, to take a temperature check on type, Monotype looks back at the year that was to chart a path for the year to come, and in doing so, asks what the type of our times is telling us about our lives today. Now in its fourth edition, their 2024 Type Trends report unpacks a lot – from a rush of maximalism, the comeback of serifs, our yearning for craft and nostalgia, to designers’ collective urge to throw the rulebook out the window and push type to new, exciting places. Curated by Type Designer Jordan Bell and Creative Type Director Damien Collot, the report’s findings are presented as ten trends set to leave an imprint on our visual culture in the coming year, and each trend is imagined as an LP cover. In fact, the overall identity for the report places type design into a universally understood context – music. “In this year’s report, we’re not just identifying type trends; we’re also looking at cultural trends. We’re exploring how type and culture intersect – how type changes with culture and influences design, and vice versa,” Bell tells us. “Music is packed with cultural elements, and record covers and labels have a rich history that’s influenced many areas of design. It made sense to use music as a conduit to share typographic trends with a wider audience.” The concept also draws some parallels between type and music. “The recurring music theme serves as a metaphor to convey that type can evoke emotional responses just like music can,” says Designer Ibz Gharib, drawing attention to the fact that, “type and music are both ripe with genres and sub-genres from diverse cultural backgrounds and inspired by specific points in history, evolving as the world changes around us.” Tugging on the cultural discourse of the past year, the identity also uses Midjourney to reflect on the way designers have been using AI to unlock new possibilities in the creative process. Tapping into the tool allowed them “to delve into unexplored aspects of AI image generation and animation, opening up fresh avenues for our creative team,” says Gharib.