Review of the Year 2022: Top 50 Most Read

Roll up, roll up! It’s time for us to delve into our most-read articles of the year – and what a year it’s been. In typical It’s Nice That fashion, the list sees plenty of graphic design articles at the top, with Emma Bers’ wonderful Play-Doh posters, Zheng Kai’s maximalist graphics, and Jens Müller’s foray into 130 years of logos (who doesn’t love a good logo, ey?). Moreover, in a year where videos and Reels took Instagram (and the algorithm) by storm, we’re also not surprised to see Connor Campbell’s typographic video for Jamie XX, and Adhira Putra’s immersive, 80s-soaked animations on the list.

In some of our long-form pieces, Eleanor Turner investigated whether having ADHD may in fact optimise creativity; Gem Fletcher looked into why making good work is no longer enough in the creative industry; Danielle Pender broke down all the worst client red flags (and how to deal with them); and we learned all about the design for this year’s Spotify Wrapped campaign. In the summer, meanwhile, the ever-curious Richard Turley became our second guest editor, with a series discussing topics such as whether machines may remove the need for designers, as well as a thoughtful reflection on the genre-bending 90s studio tomato.

Some familiar faces (or should we say puppets) also made their way back onto the list, with an in-depth look into the upcoming series of everyone’s favourite dark comedy, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared. But the list also saw some new faces and work previously unseen before on the site – namely Melissa Santamaria, who uses synaesthesia to create visuals for musicians, Salomé Gomis-Trezise whose dramatic photography fabricates family dynamics, and Sam Keller’s fast food-inspired artworks, including giant cheese puffs and diamante-encrusted crushed cans. Delicious. Take a look below to see what other brilliant stories made the list.