Big is back in Stills’ 2026 Trend Report

Creative trends have never been more iterative – nor flippant – than in 2026, transforming and reconfiguring at a staggering rate. It’s led to creatives and brands being perpetually on their toes, keeping up with an avalanching cascade of social media-led aesthetic evolution. Stills, the online curated photo-licensing platform, has been keeping close attention to such cultural movements, culminating in its 2026 Trend Report. Its findings are rather revealing. “The main trend we expect for 2026 is authenticity,” Spencer Cogburn, creative director at Stills, with all the report’s trends recognising the “undeniable shift toward imagery and design that feels real, honest and genuine”.

It’s no surprise that the creative scene, and the wider cultural space too, is drifting back towards authenticity, especially considering the slew of similar looking, easily-made – perhaps unconsidered – AI-generated imagery. In light of this, Spencer stresses why it’s more important than ever to support original artists, as Stills continues to do. “Right now, anyone can create something that might be called art, regardless of skill, taste or perspective,” Spencer says. “For most of human history, artists have earned that title through years of skill-building and creative struggle.” He adds: “Now, new tools are being marketed as shortcuts. In that shortcut, we lose something important – the creative process.”

When stripping the creative process, we’re also stripping away the necessary act of failing, learning and trying again that’s required before mastering a discipline. “That time between knowing what you want to create and actually being able to do it is critical,” Spencer says, “it shapes perspective and gives work meaning.” Perhaps, he ponders, the end result is stripped of worth if that time behind the wheel is removed. “As more people create instantly, the bar for excellence drops,” Spencer says. “That’s why supporting artists who bring a unique perspective, taste, and skill to their work is so important, these are people who know every decision matters, that art has power.”

This perspective is clearly shared, as illustrated by the 2026 Trend Report. In terms of photography, it outlines a broader return to maximalist and, equally, a grungier aesthetic, highlighting the proliferation of direct flash, distorted wide angles and surrealism, to name a few. Similarly, the design trends that Stills predict are also louder than the clean, stark, Swiss-like brands of trends past. Stills predicts more of a scrapbook-like, handmade aesthetic coming to the surface, with cataloguing and scribbling to boot. There’s also an anti-minimalist contingent growing, heading in a Cyber Goth direction as well as, to Spencer’s delight, a futuristic, Medieval one too. 

“I’m tired of sterile, boring, hyper-polished, pixel-perfect imagery and, honestly,” Spencer admits, “just lazy design being sold as minimal at this point.” Instead, he champions Maximalism and Future Medieval as two trends that really stand out to him. “Every creative we spoke to brought up the same thing,” he adds, “they want more color, and more personality,” as is observable in the adorned and decorative nuances of futuristic, Medieval aesthetics, and how attention-grabbing the trend is as a result. “Every piece from the visuals, borders and illustrations pulls you in,” Spencer says. “When there are 1,001 ways to make something without thinking, shouldn’t we as creatives take our time and focus on the details?”

Interestingly, alongside the intensity and ornamental-focus of Cyber Gothic and Future Medieval is a reappearance of Americana, something that spans photography, design, fashion, interiors and even music. “I think it taps into two big undercurrents,” Spencer says, firstly, in direct response to the 24/7, tech-obsessed lifestyle we’re encouraged to sustain. “Americana is the anti-tech visual language,” amongst open skies and open planes. “It reconnects us with a part of ourselves we want to believe is still there,” whilst also presenting to us something we might not know. “Few creatives live in rural areas; most live in densely populated urban areas,” Spencer explains, “this style, whether in limited series or films, feels like it taps into that unknown.”

Overall, Stills’ 2026 Trend Report observes an exciting direction for the creative industry, one that’s highly-saturated, busier than usual and frivolous when it comes to achieving perfect design – asking what can be added, rather than what can be taken away. Likewise, creatives are becoming increasingly anti mass-market. “If you’re making it for everyone, you’re making it for no one,” Spencer says, “the make-it-for-the-masses approach is done.” It’s clear that designers and photographers want to create something that provokes a feeling, even if that means not everyone likes it. The result is connection and, again, authenticity – something that’s made to be felt. “I want to see every creative making work that is rich with personality and isn’t afraid to be different,” Spencer ends, “to make work that is theirs, that they believe in.”