How TikTok’s chaotic visual culture is inspiring young designers, redefining motion graphics, and fuelling the future of digital creativity
TikTok has become the go-to spot for fast, spontaneous expression. Scrolling through the feed feels like wandering around a carnival of content, with millions of videos popping up and disappearing within days, many of them built on recycled trends and familiar formats. It’s fun and addictive, yet it reveals a concerning downside: a lack of visual design quality.
Formats look alike, typography is often chaotic, colour palettes can be jarring, and graphic compositions seem hastily thrown together. Aesthetics are frequently compromised in favour of immediacy. This isn’t the fault of the content creators; the algorithm rewards recognisability, and TikTok’s built-in editing tools are quick but limited. The outcome is akin to “visual fast food”, where quantity trumps quality.
And yet, amidst this scarcity, lies enormous opportunity.
TikTok as a Design Playground: How Young Creatives Are Unlocking New Visual Opportunities
For young designers and design students, TikTok is a unique playground. The platform’s visual language is often poor and repetitive, so it doesn’t take much to stand out: a thoughtful use of typography, balanced composition, a clever colour system, or unexpected animations.
Crucially, achieving success on TikTok doesn’t require big budgets or high-level cinematic production. What truly matters is identity. Unlike Instagram, where brands have spent years curating polished visual styles, TikTok is still relatively uncharted territory in this respect. There is significant potential for helping small creators or businesses shape a coherent visual identity through type, colour, motion, and storytelling.
@owmass__ bad feeling #darkred #stevelacy #cinematic #indiefilm #shortfilm #noticed #retro #typography #lyricsvideo #capcut #trendingvideo #shortvideo #fyp #explore #explorepage #trending ♬ suara asli - omass__ - owmass__
TikTok contents have been enriched in the last years by brilliant choices in terms of visual design, which ultimately boosted accounts who innovated with creativity
Emerging Designers and the Rise of Motion-Driven Visual Communication
Davide Lazzoni, a design student at Istituto Marangoni Milano, observes: “As we all know, algorithms now reward vertical short-form video content—not only on TikTok, but also on Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and even Facebook Reels. It’s clear that if you want to communicate today, you must take this vital aspect into account. For a designer in particular, it has become essential to understand the basics of motion graphic design. It’s no longer possible to work in design and communication without knowledge of video and motion. This transition can be challenging because many old-school designers struggle to evolve, but there are also great opportunities. The time has come for us to adapt our skills to this medium, and that can only happen if we are willing to put ourselves out there.”
Lazzoni’s perspective highlights a generational shift: video and motion are no longer optional skills but core components of visual communication. While older practices may resist change, younger designers see a wealth of opportunities.
5 Top TikTok Creators Redefining Visual Design
A select group of designers and creatives is already demonstrating that TikTok can host a more sophisticated visual language:
- Margherita Vox (@margheritavox) – An Italian designer known for her quick tutorials in Illustrator and Photoshop, Margherita combines bold gradients, playful textures, and typographic experiments.
- Janine Heinrichs (@janinedesigns) – She shares poster design processes and tips, blending composition, experimentation, and storytelling.
- Jon Sorrentino (@callthedesignguy) – Jon provides not just visuals but also professional insights on portfolios, fonts, and the essential soft skills of design.
- Angelica Hicks (@angelicahicks) – An illustrator and fashion creative, Angelica crafts witty, ironic interpretations of runway fashion using everyday household materials, making her instantly recognisable.
- Greg Goya (@greggoya) – Based in Turin, he experiments with “fast art” and visual interventions, proving that immediacy can still be conceptually strong.
These examples show that impact comes not from expensive production but from a strong and coherent visual voice.
@margheritavox Abstract animated gradients 🔥🫶🏻 #graphicdesign #designtok #aftereffects #adobe ♬ 7am (Remix) - Keenan Anshari
How TikTok Is Fueling a New Wave of Design Education and Creative Communities
Another hidden opportunity lies in visual education. With TikTok’s short format, you can explain in just 30 seconds how a specific typeface conveys authority or how a subtle motion graphic can make a layout more engaging.
These micro-lessons do more than just inform; they build passionate communities centred around design. TikTok excels at promoting niche content rather than solely mainstream trends. Creatives who focus on topics such as typography, motion graphics, design history, or colour theory can find plenty of opportunities to grow, often without having to compete against the giants of pure entertainment.
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Digital Design
A notable theme emerging today is the use of artificial intelligence. While many TikTok creators experiment with AI filters and generative imagery, few apply genuine design sensibility.
For young designers, this opens an avant-garde opportunity: to curate, refine, and integrate AI outputs into cohesive visual narratives. Done right, this could redefine TikTok’s visual culture and place designers at the forefront of a technological shift.
From Chaos to Creativity: TikTok’s Visual Design Gap and the Next Gen of Designers
TikTok’s visual design crisis represents more than just a setback; it is a gap waiting to be filled by those bold enough to take on the challenge.
For emerging designers, this is a generational opportunity: to transform a platform dominated by “fast content” into a space for visual experimentation, where each video becomes a chance to push aesthetic boundaries.
Where many see only sameness and repetition, a creative eye can view this as the perfect stage to stand out. Amidst countless trends, good design could be the ultimate disruption.