2020 Photoshop Trends from the Creatives Who Use it Best

2020 Photoshop Trends header image

2020 Photoshop Trends from The Creatives Who Use It Best

Article by Michael Dehoyos

According to the Adobe website, more than 90% of the world’s creatives use Photoshop. Not a surprising statistic given how the versatility of the leading digital editing tool on the market appeals to photographers, designers, and graphic artists alike. And that’s only skimming the surface of who’s using Photoshop.  Every year new trends appear from the vast swathes of creations by the millions of people using it. Photoshop’s creative community never disappoints when it comes to inspiring, innovative, art and design. In 2020, we expect to see a lot more of these design trends from Photoshop users.

Sophisticated Neon

The neon light effect in Photoshop is not a new one but does seem to be coming into its own.  More and more creatives are come up with original ideas for applying the brilliant light effect to graphics and photographs.

Among the masters of neon, New York based, digital artist, Ashish George Jacob’s used Photoshop CS6 to add neon to his teleporting cowboy creation. Whilst thousands of miles away in Jaipur, Photoshop Artist Sakshan is adding subtle neon highlights of photographic portraits with striking results.

Looking for inspiration for how to apply the neon Photoshop trend? Look no further than the granddaddy of neon inspiration that is the Las Vegas Neon Museum. A multi-acre desert site dedicated to exhibiting the Las Vegas signs of yesteryear. A must for any neon fan.

Source: Digital Artist, Ashish George Jacob’s Instagram

Upgraded Collage Art

Just over a decade or so if you were creating a collage, you would have reached for your glue stick, scissors, and a pile of old magazines. Collage has since grown up. Using much the same concept of remixing and layering existing images and patterns, digital collage is bringing some exciting creations to the fore.

Take a closer look at the fashion industry and you will realize they have been onto this for years. Chanel’s fall-winter 2016/17 campaign and Gucci’s Memoire d’une Odeur campaign are examples of how two-dimensional collage can be applied very differently.

In 2020, expect to see the digital collage raise up a notch as creatives like Erik Winkowski combine it with video for mind-bending results.  “Digital collage is on the cusp of a new wave. Picasso is considered as the inventor of collage in his work and I think he would approve of the using Photoshop to create next level artwork”, thinks Martin Bedford graphic designer at 1Day2write and Writemyx.

Source: Digital Collage Artist, Erik Winkowski’s Instagram

Surrealist Adventure

Imagination is a powerful tool and nowhere is this more evident that the growing digital surrealism movement. In many ways, thanks to Photoshop, surrealism finally has no limits.  Dali and Breton were confined by their own artistic skills and the narrow range of uses allowed by the mediums of their day yet still managed to express dreamlike imagery unlike anything before them. Imagine for a moment if Dali was adept with Photoshop! “The most interesting thing about a tool like Adobe Photoshop isn’t what it can do but what people do with it. With imagination and powerful creative tools there is no limit”, says Rita Ellis tech writer at Brit student and Nextcoursework.

Expect to see surrealism and digital manipulation feature more heavily in mainstream ad campaigns with breakthrough artists like Katerina Jem and Daniel Serva taking centre stage.

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Autopilot • "Life is not a journey you want to make on autopilot" – Paula Rinehart • Hiii guys !! I'd like to thank you for taking the time to write me in the last post, it felt great to read your words of encouragement. This is one of the last photos I took in Los Roques. Right now that I'm in a better mood I'm editing the video of that trip. I think next Sunday it'll be ready. • The idea of the image comes from the way I was going through the beginning of the quarantine, I was so concerned about Sami's health that I froze, I was on autopilot. My way of escape was to watch many series and I put aside what I like the most which is to create; what happens is that creating can be also difficult because it forces you to confront and question yourself, I didn't want to. • So i'm playing with the video editing program and it feels VERY good. I'm glad I have something to do despite not being able to get out. I hope you are taking precautions and not leaving home, talk to you soon. ••••••••••••• Piloto Automático • "La vida no es un viaje que quieras hacer en piloto automático – Paula Rinehart. • Holaaa chicos!! Quisiera agradecerles por tomarse el tiempo de escribirme en el último post, me sentí muy bien al leer sus palabras de aliento. Ésta es una de las últimas fotos que hice en Los Roques. Justo ahora que estoy de mejor ánimo estoy editando el video de ese viaje. Creo que estará listo para el próximo Domingo. • La idea de la imagen viene de la forma en la que estuve pasando el comienzo de la cuarentena, estuve tan preocupado por la salud de Sami que me paralicé, estaba en piloto automático. Mi forma de escapar fue ver muchas series y dejé a un lado lo que más me gusta que es crear; lo que pasa es que crear puede ser difícil al mismo tiempo porque te obliga a confrontarte y cuestionarte, yo no quería. • Por ahora estoy jugando con la edición del video y algunas fotos y se siente MUY bien. Me alegra tener algo que hacer a pesar de no poder salir. Espero estén tomando precauciones y no salgan de casa, nos hablamos pronto.

A post shared by Daniel Serva (@daniel_serva) on

Source: Surreal Artist, Daniel Serva’s Instagram

3D Digital Manipulation

5G, virtual reality, and augmented reality are standing in the wings waiting to step into the spotlight and show us what they can do. It could be argued that in anticipation of their arrival, Photoshop creatives are manipulating 3D tools to imagine what a world with these advanced technologies might look like.

3D typography is a firm favorite for advertising campaigns of late, but 3D art can be so much more with Adobe. The king of 3D digital art Chris Labrooy builds his automotive inspired art from scratch. Not that you would believe it if you looked at the sleek, untarnished, paintwork of his intertwined Pontiacs. Labrooy is leading a 3D art revolution amongst the Photoshop community.

Source: 3D Digital Artist, Chris Labrooy’s Instagram

As you can see, more are more creatives are producing slick multi-dimensional video and graphics. Using Photoshop’s tools to develop characters, worlds and concepts like nothing we have ever seen before.

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About the Author

Author, Michael Dehoyos

Michael Dehoyos is a content marketer and editor at Phd Kingdom and Academic brits He assists companies in their marketing strategy concepts, and contributes to numerous sites and publications. Also, he is a writer at Origin Writings.


Additional images courtesy: pixabay.com

2020-05-19T11:19:58-04:00

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