How visual choices shape different communities

Visual elements sends a signal about who belongs and who doesn’t. The same message can feel welcoming to one segment and estrange to another and everything depending on how it’s designed. For example, let’s talk about the “clean look” aesthetic trend… neutral colors palettes, minimal layouts, white spaces that communicates simplicity. I think this language resonates with often millennials or older Gen Z consumers who associate minimalism with quality.

However, the same “clean aesthetic” can feel cold and boring to other segments. Younger audiences or more expressivecommunities may be more related to bold colors, layered visuals or playful graphic assets or typographies because they might be signal of energy, creativity, uniqueness. For some people the ultra minimal design can read as

“not made for me”

In 2023, Adobe’s visual trends research shows that modern audiences (especially Gen Z), are drawn to expressive authentic imagery that feels real and relatable. This shows that design isn’t just trends, it’s more about alignment and sensation of belongingness. When the goal is to build community, brands should ask themselves:

Do we want to feel like and institution or more like a dialogue?

Different groups of people respond very differently to different visuals. Communities want to see themselves reflected. When design highlights real people, diverse experiences and genuine moments, it communicates a powerful message: “You belong here”. Even format choices influence engagement. So, talking about communities, they aren’t build by being universally appealing, they are clearly aligned. It’s like every color, font, image, etc etc acts in the way that tells people that that space was created with them (target people) in mind. Stronger communities work because members recognize themselves in the brand and design (and communication).

When someone lands on a website, or scroll a feed, or walks into a branded space, the design immediately answers a question: Do I belong here? if the answer is yes, people stay. If not, they leave… and that’s not a failure.

In my experience leading communications for a Gen Z student community between 18 and 24 years old, based in the U.S., it was quite a challenge for me. I was part of (or very close to) the same age group, I’m from Peru and was living there at the time. So keeping up with certain slang, trends, and visual trends was especially difficult to understand. This pushed me to immerse myself more deeply, adapt quickly, and find creative ways to connect with the audience.