Glitch Design

Glitch design is a design approach that intentionally incorporates digital errors — pixel fragmentation, RGB splits, compression artifacts, and data corruption — into graphic design, branding, web layouts, and motion graphics. Rather than treating technological malfunctions as flaws, glitch designers use them as deliberate aesthetic tools to convey disruption, modernity, or digital culture.

The style gained mainstream traction in the 2010s as brands, music labels, and web designers adopted glitch visuals to signal edginess or technological themes. Common techniques include scanline overlays, chromatic aberration, datamoshing in video, and intentional JPEG artifacts. Tools like Photoshop, After Effects, and CSS animations make glitch design accessible to working designers without requiring actual file corruption.

Glitch design differs from glitch art in emphasis: where glitch art often foregrounds process and critique, glitch design typically prioritizes visual impact within commercial or communication contexts. Both draw from the same aesthetic vocabulary of digital failure, but glitch design applies it as a controlled stylistic device.