Textures are an incredibly useful tool that can completely transform the look and feel of a design.

With a single layer of texture or a few brush strokes, you can give a vintage look to a modern illustration or instantly add depth to a shallow design.

Even though it often goes unnoticed, textures play a pivotal role in almost all kinds of digital designs. Even some of the most popular logos, websites, and app interfaces use textures to create more interesting and memorable designs.

Today, we take a closer look at the many uses of texture in digital design and how you can use it to transform your projects with a sense of realism and character.

The Role of Texture in Digital Design

(Credit: Josh Warren / Dribbble)

Textures have always been a big part of art, paintings, illustrations, and all types of design. In print design, textures were used to make deeper connections with the users and create more memorable designs.

The same applies to textures in digital design. Whether it’s to give depth to a flat design or evoke emotions through a retro-themed icon design, textures can be used to not only enhance the user experience but also create distinguishable designs.

It’s the textures that help you make the difference between fabrics and grass in digital designs, as well as instantly identify fur, metals, dirt, and wood grain. Textures also affect the visual perception of the design. It can alter a flat 2D design into a 3D object with a realistic feel. Or make a modern design feel classic or nostalgic.

Simply put, textures give life to otherwise (seemingly) lifeless digital designs. They make designs feel tactile, emotional, and meaningful. They help define your designs.

Different Types of Textures

Textures come in all kinds of different styles and forms that you can utilize in various digital designs.

(Credit: Josh Warren / Dribbble)

A subtle texture can be used in a flat design to add depth and perception.

(Credit: Voicu Apostol / Dribbble)

Realistic textures can be used to make a design feel more alive.

(Credit: Ray Dak Lam / Dribbble)

Abstract textures make designs look more creative and stylish.

(Credit: Sasha LSRBLST / Dribbble)

Patterned textures add personality to designs.

And there are many more. For example, web designers are using textures to create dynamic effects to boost interactions. User interface designers are using it to add depth to elements such as buttons and forms.

Benefits of Using Textures

In addition to making digital art, illustrations, and designs more tactile, textures are also used to make designs dynamic as well as to improve visual hierarchy.

With textures, you can guide users through your designs and highlight the most important parts to direct user attention to wherever you want.

(Credit: Ben Didier / Dribbble)

Textures are quite helpful for creating a layered feel for simple flat designs and making them look more immersive.

The psychological effects of textures are another important benefit to consider. A classic retro texture can make a design look nostalgic and evoke childhood memories. A soft texture can evoke warm and loving feelings. Or bring out the rebellious side of you with an edgy, urban texture.

Incorporating Texture In Your Designs

Using textures is not just about making designs aesthetically pleasing. It’s about creative visual interest and attracting attention. There are so many ways you can use textures in digital design to achieve that goal.

You can use textured backgrounds in web designs to create memorable atmospheres, add depth to icons and buttons, add a tactile feel to navigation menus, give more attention to headers, craft edgy text effects for titles, add unique hover effects in user interfaces, or give a 3D feel to 2D objects.

With the right technique, you can create incredible designs with the help of textures by utilizing overlays, layering, stacking, and other methods to achieve unique levels of perceptions.

5 Practical Tips for Using Textures

Follow these basics when using textures in digital designs.

1. Don’t Overuse Textures

Much like most other aspects of design, too much textures can often lead to bad designs. When you try to mix and match different textures into one canvas, it will lose all meaning and purpose.

Knowing when and how to use textures is the key to utilizing it correctly. Especially in digital design, textures can do more harm if you use them without a clear goal in mind.

2. Design for Accessibility

Textured elements have caused a few concerns related to accessibility. Sometimes, textures tend to warp perceptions and that could affect people with disabilities and visual impairments.

Be extra careful with textures when creating more inclusive designs. Make sure it doesn’t get in the way of visibility and readability of the overall look of the design.

3. Realism vs Minimalism

When going for a minimalist vibe, it makes more sense not to use textures as it can create unnecessary clutter. A subtle texture is the way to approach these designs. However, realistic textures are quite useful when you want to add a sense of realism to a design.

Choose wisely, depending on the type of look you want to achieve.

4. Optimize for Performance

One of the biggest downsides to using textures in digital design is performance. They can not only make your design files too heavy but can also affect the performance of the design apps, as well as the final outcome of the design.

For example, when you use textured effects and layers in web design, it will have a strong impact on the loading speeds of the web pages. Keep that in mind when deciding which textures to use and when.

5. Experiment With New Trends

With the advancements in AI and design software, creating unique textures and patterns is much easier. You can use these technologies to give new life to your ideas and come up with creative ways to utilize textures in various types of designs.

Follow the trends, test new ideas, and experiment with new technologies to take your designs to the next level with the help of textures.

Conclusion

Some designers avoid using textures entirely while others can’t work without them. One thing is certain textures are immensely useful no matter how you use them.

Textures have the power to transform ordinary drawings into artworks and digital designs into masterpieces. And it’s your responsibility to understand that power and use it effectively.

Explore our wide variety of texture collections to find inspiration and get ideas on how to use them in your designs.