What the Blob?
Within the ever-changing landscape of digital design, visually conveying a sense of formality and professionalism has taken a backseat to more playful, dynamic, and consequently eye-catching, design.
Modern brands are incorporating more shapes — particularly amorphous or organic blobs — patterns and secondary colors throughout their landing pages and marketing materials. Adaptable and bold design can make a brand feel more authentic and relatable, and consequently make customer brand interactions more memorable.
What is a blob and how is it used in design?
A ‘blob’ is an all-encompassing term for shapes, such as the light lavender pill shape behind the Creatopy illustration above. The blob is a movement away from simple geometry into less rigid or traditional forms. Using an organic blob in conjunction with photography, illustration or text can elevate the design and add a great deal of visual interest.
Shapes are powerful tools. They can tell a brand story and even help define brand values in a more abstract way. This leaves room for imagination within a brand, and creates an opportunity to express a concept without being so overt.
Blobs within photography
A photo within a rectangle is the most static way to incorporate photography into design. Bringing blobs, shapes, patterns or interesting line work into photography not only calls more attention to the image, but can even alter its context or mood.
Next time you plan to incorporate photography into visual content, experiment with one of the following:
Place the photo inside a shape or pattern — use any shape other than a standard rectangle or circle
Have the photo break through the barrier or its frame, as shown in the HubSpot example below
Cut out the image from its background and place a block, or blocks, of color and shape behind the image
Blobs within illustration
Illustration — reduced to its essential elements — is a series of shapes and lines. By omitting elements of complexity and detail, and stepping away from literal representation, the onus gets put on the viewer to fill in blanks in a way that resonates. For example, in the illustration below, by using abstract shapes, Etsy is able to broadly represent the variety of art and goods they offer.
Next time you’re developing an illustration, consider:
Adding blobs of color behind your illustration — this is an easy way to reduce negative space and add more color to your illustration. It also can be a powerful tool to have a black and white illustration and only have color in the blobs themselves
Mixing in abstract shapes and blobs with your more representational illustrations to leave more room for interpretation
Abstracting the image more than you initially intended. Ask yourself, how you can represent complex or less tangible elements as simply as possible?
Blobs within text
Adding visual interest to copy-dense content maybe incite users to spend longer with the material. One effective technique in the Inbound event example is adding a secondary color to text the viewer should glean should they only skim the content. The blobs on the edges direct your eye towards the text and allow an additional branded element, incorporating more color and excitement.
Why is the blob an effective design technique?
Using blobs can instantly add dimension to a design asset. It’s an intuitive way to combine photography with an illustrative element. Doing so can create a layering effect, making a design more dynamic, holding the consumer’s attention even a moment longer.
Blobs can also be a creative way to express a brand. It’s an opportunity to integrate a brand’s secondary colors, making the asset feel more playful or approachable.
Effective design is all about controlling visual hierarchy and guiding the viewer’s eye where it’s supposed to go, and in what order. Blobs can both draw one’s eye to certain call outs and can be used as a visual indicator that the viewer is moving on to a new section — particularly through color or shape differentiators.
Whether designing a landing page or email, digital design largely requires creating within boxes. Adding an organic element is not only pleasing to the eye, but can quickly break up an otherwise rigid template.
Blobs work well with the responsive requirements of our modern era. Most web traffic is concentrated on mobile over desktop, and designers now use a mobile-first approach. However, it’s important the design reads well on all screen sizes. Since blobs are amorphous and versatile, they can easily be translated to different dimensions. This versatility also translates well in animation, which is increasingly prevalent in digital advertising.
Lastly, organic shapes and colorful design resonate. It’s fun and can help a brand feel authentic and approachable. It leaves more to the imagination, which can help reach a broader audience.
The question is, will this trend continue to be effective, or will it fall out of popularity once viewers tire of seeing similarly blobby shapes across multiple of their favorite brands? If we all adopt the blob technique, will brands begin looking too similar or is the adaptability of the blob concept itself enough to keep it fresh with infinite, unique iterations and expressions?
