Top 20 stories on Creative Boom on graphic design in 2021

So to stay fresh, it’s good to break away from all of that now and again and take a deep dive into how other graphic designers work and how other graphic design projects have progressed through to completion.

Here on Creative Boom, you’ll find a ton of interviews and case studies on the latest and greatest graphic design projects. But if you’ve been super-busy lately, you might have missed out on some of the best. So as part of The Review, our series looking back at 2021, we’ve brought together the most-visited stories on graphic design on Creative Boom across these last 12 months.

If you missed any of these the first time around, we’d recommend you check them out now and fill in your knowledge gaps. From thrilling visual identities to groundbreaking type designs, there’s something here to excite every kind of graphic designer.

They also point to some of the biggest graphic design themes of 2021, including the rise of the designers as activists, a new and thoughtful approach to branding, and above all, a strong thread of positivity. It may have been a tough year, but there’s lots of joyful and upbeat work here to enjoy!

1. Rejane Dal Bello on why creatives should be a Citizen First, Designer Second

Graphic designer and illustrator Rejane Dal Bello has lectured around the world and this year released a book about both her personal experiences in choosing a design career and musings on creativity more generally. We chatted to her about why she wrote it, its key focus, and how she battled her own dyslexia to put it together.

2. Ragged Edge’s updated identity for Mindful Chef takes it from ‘specialist’ to mainstream

Mindful Chef is a recipe box service that gives you everything you need to cook healthy dinners five nights a week. When Ragged Edge stepped in to update the brand’s identity, it marked the beginning of an incredible journey, as the agency’s co-founder Max Ottignon tells us here.

3. Badal Patel creates identity for Kulfi, a South Asian cosmetics brand challenging ‘Eurocentric views and patriarchal culture’

Cosmetics brands have been overly focused on white skin and Western styles for far too long, but that’s starting to change. Kulfi caters specifically for South Asian complexions, and in this article, we explore its visual identity, created by graphic designer Badal Patel. She reveals how she developed the brand strategy, visual identity, packaging, copywriting, art direction, and the launch campaign.

4. Jessie McGuire of ThoughtMatter on why the design industry holds the power to create real change

“Brown, short, loud, and a mother of two kids in an industry that is mostly white”: Jessie McGuire – now the MD of New York agency ThoughtMatter – has felt like an outsider throughout her design career. Here she tells Creative Boom how she uses her position as an industry leader to redesign the world so that people like her feel like they belong.

Jessie McGuire, Managing Director of ThoughtMatter

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