The New Signs of Spring

As we launch into a new decade, a quiet, cautious optimism blooms around us. There’s a push for quality and honesty in what’s being shown on social channels. We see a need for connection and embracing imperfections to change how we view our world as a whole. Brands are choosing to make kindness and optimism pillars of business, tapping influencers to create a positive impact or backing initiatives that support a community.

In The Spring 2020 Collection, you’ll not only see spring as a powerful moment for bright beginnings in our colour palettes, but as a timely resource where this new decade’s values and ideals are represented in stunning visual content that lets your creative works take flight.

Here, I share some seasonal insights and reference to additional relevant galleries to help support the evolution of your creative projects, encouraging a more effective connection with your audience this spring.

Go beyond pastels

Incorporating bright tones with the traditional soft, seasonal hues, the Spring Colour Palettes go beyond pastels for 2020. Vibrant hues have grown increasingly popular with designers and on social channels. While remaining consistent with spring’s traditional pastel colours, these palettes now include a youthful update with vibrant pops of colour to add to the overall optimism of the season.

The Petal Party Palette signals spring with bright, rosy blooms and sharp blue skies. Paired with soft petal pinks and greens, this palette enhances the idea of starting something new.

Image source: {left} Zamurovic / Adobe Stock {right} Lisa / Adobe Stock.

With Daybreak, the spectrum of spring weather gets to show off here: temperate golden yellows are matched with a flash of hot red, while a cool-toned grey balances the warmer tones.

Image source: {left} Diane Villadsen/Stocksy / Adobe Stock {right} Rein Janssen / Adobe Stock.

Finally, the New Growth Palette builds on the anticipation of spring breaking up winter clouds by introducing zesty greens with splashes of delicate citrus hues.

Image source: {left} Twenty20 / Adobe Stock {right} AmazingAerialAgency / Adobe Stock.

Make meaningful connections

As our online social spaces continue to evolve, so does a powerful desire to create more meaningful connections with people and the world around us. The following pillars not only informed how we created the Spring Collection, but you can see the actual concepts come to life through the content itself, driving a creative landscape of sustainability, diversity, compassion, and hope.

Image source: Alp Peker / Adobe Stock.

Alter your impact with eco-conscious visuals

Prioritising more sustainable ways of living continues to grow, with Earth Day promising to be an essential moment for both brands and consumers. As mentioned in our Creative Trends Report for 2020, “the movement toward people coming together to support causes large and small is scaling.”

This shift was also seen in the Digital Climate Strike, where over 1,000 websites and companies (including Tumblr and Kickstarter) collectively joined together to spread climate awareness and donate ad space and banners to show support for the strikes. In 2019 the Oxford Dictionary named “climate emergency” its word of the year, highlighting it as one of the pertinent issues of our time. The Impossible Burger, and other meat substitutes, helped cement veganism within the mainstream collective consciousness. To sum it up, we’re looking to change how we impact our world collectively and individually.

Image source: Jairo Diaz/Scopio / Adobe Stock.

Visually, galleries, such as Garden Fresh and Earth Day 2020, offer relevant and resonant content that represent these values. Garden Fresh includes delectable visuals featuring fresh, local ingredients to feed our growing need for a closer connection to what we eat. Earth Day 2020’s images serve the scaling demand that millions of people are seeking: eco-conscious products, services, and experiences.

Image source: Natasa Mandic/Stocksy / Adobe Stock.

A focus on new beginnings

As we usher in spring, both birth and rebirth are big topics for the season. In the burgeoning sustainability economy, consumer appreciation for the cycles of life is growing and brands are responding by presenting creative messaging that focuses on each of these phases. Spring’s collections focus on new life as well as the transformative power it symbolises.

Washington Post columnist, Petula Dvorak, sees the evolution of motherhood being shaped by our children’s futures and political landscape: “There is something about being responsible for every single thing about a tiny human that makes these [cultural and political stressors on human rights] especially personal.” There is a strong desire for compassion and hope that lies underneath these touchpoints of parenting turmoil, and brands are expected to keep up.

The Mothering gallery tackles former social constructs of what motherhood looks like, and embraces the many forms a family can take. Visuals focus on tenderness, guidance, and the transformation of what welcoming a new family member brings.

Image source: Obidigbo Nzeribe / Adobe Stock.

We see the need for reassurance in 2020 from Pantone’s Colour of The Year, Classic Blue. Pantone partnered with Adobe Stock to usher in the timely message of providing a calm and stable foundation for the decade ahead. In their The Future 100 Report, Global Director for Wunderman Thompson, Emma Chiu, found that the announcement of Pantone’s Classic Blue, “perfectly captures a sense of thoughtful optimism. Pantone describes the colour as evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, opening up a world of possibilities.”

The New Beginnings gallery offers visuals of new life and the first stages of the life cycle goth literally and metaphorically: Visuals of budding plants and babies help bring spring’s overall feeling of cautious optimism to the forefront and give artists and brands a lighter entry point into heavier topics.

Image source: {left} Bettina Gueber / Adobe Stock {right} Karma Images/Stocksy / Adobe Stock.

Highlight individual identities

Earlier this year, we discussed the desire to move beyond very limited and traditional ideas of beauty in our Visual Trends for 2020. The Trend Report highlights the interest for more diversity in age representation as well as how cosmetics are being used to celebrate a range of identities. The long-term need for more experiences to be represented speaks to the ongoing desire of all people to be seen and included across mainstream visuals.

Carli Lloyd and Crystal Dunn starred in a major ad this year for beauty and wellness brand Secret Deodorant, addressing the possibility of women, one day, being able to play in the NFL. A preview of the commercial was shared on The Ellen Show, earning close to 18.5 million views in three days. Sabra Hummus entered the diversity in beauty scene by inviting RuPaul’s Drag Race stars, Kim Chi and Miz Cracker as their spokespeople and bringing the world of drag to a major audience.

Image source: Fancy Bethany / Adobe Stock.

Contemporary grooming is all about highlighting individual identities and styles. The shift in the use of cosmetics and colour shows people using makeup as a tool to express themselves. The Fresh Faces gallery is comprised of visuals that celebrate what perfection means for all individuals, and that everyone can participate. It’s very skin-centric, across varying ages, with botanical elements and sunlit-cast shadows to inspire and celebrate spring.

Spring isn’t a one-and-done season where we only celebrate the start of what’s to come, and then nip it in the bud (so to speak). The Adobe Stock Spring Collection offers content to support the growing awareness of, and respect for, the cycles of life. More than ever before, we’re seeing the respect towards this on a holistic scale.

Image source: Xin Wang/Scopio / Adobe Stock.

These galleries reflect these values and encourage and empower spring’s spark–igniting your art, work and the rest of your year with meaningful connections to the world at large.