Next year’s creative vibe? We decoded it so you can own it. Adobe’s new 2026 Creative Trends Report, driven by the visual and research expertise of Adobe's Content team, identifies the top creative themes shaping next year’s visual culture and shows you how to use them across your own channels.
The trends that will define marketing in 2026 come down to a common idea: people want content that feels human, content they can touch, taste, hear, and feel — content that sparks connection, encourages play, and is grounded in local culture.
Here are four creative trends to play with in your marketing next year:
- All the Feels: Engage all the senses
- Connectioneering: Bring people together
- Surreal Silliness: Get playful with it
- Local Flavor: Serve up cultural authenticity
It’s no wonder that as sophisticated AI and AR tech floods our world, audiences are embracing the messy, the tactile, and the analog. Think real textures, real people, and real stories.
Whether you’re a social media manager, entrepreneur, small business owner, or marketing leader these trends can sharpen your content and pull you closer to your audience.
Let’s break it down.
All the Feels
Explore our “All the Feels” themed templates in Express.
If you want to tap into the senses — like texture, taste, and sound — you need visuals with depth and detail. Nearly 50 percent of customers say they’re more likely to buy from brands that make them feel joy, according to a WGSN report. As marketers, we’ve always tried to evoke emotion in our work, but in 2026? We’re turning the dial way up: whimsy, delight, and good vibes.
From a practical lens, when you’re working with AI, this means designing prompts that do more than just describe how something looks. Tap into how your visual might sound, smell, or feel. Write prompts that include texture, temperature, sound, movement — the tiny sensory cues our brains latch onto. That’s what takes an image from simply pretty to unforgettable.
“Our lives are so screen focused that since the Covid shutdown people have had an insatiable desire to have all their senses engaged,” says Brenda Milis, principal of consumer and creative insights at Adobe.
This is particularly important for brands in food & beverage, beauty, travel — anyone selling a sensory experience. Think sound-led videos (ASMR is having a moment), hyper-textural imagery, and first-person POV shots that drop your audience right into the scene. Scroll through Glow Recipe’s feed and you’ll see it: a symphony of squeezes, taps, scratches, and pumps that practically let you feel the product through the screen.
Connectioneering
Explore our “Connectioneering” themed templates in Express.
Creative design needs to build common ground — and fast. This year’s report shows that 70 percent of consumer decisions are driven by emotion. “Connectioneering” is all about engineering connection: creative that is instantly, intimately relatable, and reflects the lives of your audience. Food rituals. Dating stories. New-parent exhaustion. Nostalgia.
Think of it as visual shorthand for a shared emotion. You see the asset and instantly think: “Same!” Or “I know that feeling!” It’s the head-nod moment. It’s the “this is so me” moment. It’s content that mirrors the audience’s lived experience back to them.
This is ideal for content that builds on trust and relatability around the everyday moments people instantly recognize. B2B creators like Corporate Natalie and Corporate Erin nail branded campaigns by tapping into office culture and work humor that feels painfully, hilariously accurate.
Surreal Silliness
Explore our “Surreal Silliness” themed templates in Express.
Gen Z is the unserious generation — and proudly so. They gravitate towards absurdity, preferring surreal over sensible.
“These are strange times, and if you can pivot and present strangeness in a humorous way, it’s outrageously engaging and entertaining,” says Milis.
Layer in the unhinged creativity of AI — from Gemini’s Nano Banana to Adobe Firefly — and you can achieve visuals that defy physics, logic, and sometimes sanity. It’s maximalist energy. It’s remix culture at its most chaotic. And it’s fun.
Before you go too far...not every brand should go fully unhinged. But, if you’re a lighthearted brand looking to connect with a Gen Z audience, the payoff could be huge. Look at Nutter Butter’s TikTok, a psychedelic fever dream of anthropomorphic cookies and offbeat characters in scenarios that make no sense. The quirky creative captured Gen Z’s attention and earned them Social Campaign of the Year at the 2025 Ad Age Creativity Awards.
Local Flavor
Explore our “Local Flavor” themed templates in Express.
In a world full of deepfakes, doomscrolling, and digital exhaustion, Gen Z is craving what’s real — and what’s local. Think global reach with a local voice.
To reach people where they are, you need to embed yourself in their world: partner with local creators, showcase regional craftsmanship, uplift community stories, and celebrate cultural specificity instead of trying to universalize everything.
Local businesses have a natural edge here, but any brand — even global ones — can design with local nuance.
“When people see themselves or their communities represented, it humanizes your business,” Milis explains. And when it’s done well, it resonates far beyond that one neighborhood or market.
Community-driven brands will want to pay attention here. Nike’s footwear and apparel collab with Delhi-based brand NorBlack NorWhite is a perfect example: it was inspired by the India’s ancient tie-dying techniques, according to CNN, and was shot in the historic city of Jaipur by Indian photographer Bharat Sikka.
Start exploring in Adobe Express
So what does this all mean? A few considerations for your next marketing campaign:
- Design is emotional, not just aesthetic. Overly polished isn’t the goal — connection is.
- Creativity = clarity. You’re aiming for immediate impact and resonance.
- Gen Z sets the pace, preferring surreal and absurd to safe and predictable.
- Local content holds a mirror to the communities you want to serve.
You can get started with these trends today with the following professional-grade template collections in Adobe Express:
