Two of the biggest search engines on earth just published what people will want in 2026 — and almost all of it is visual. Pinterest released 21 trend predictions built from billions of searches, with a forecast accuracy of around 88% over the past six years. Google followed with its Summergeist report on what the US is searching for this summer. Read them side by side and a pattern shows up fast: people aren’t chasing status anymore. They’re chasing comfort, nostalgia and escape.
Which is good news, because that’s exactly what a cartoon version of yourself does. Pinterest’s own research found that 42% of users only join trends that actually suit them. Nobody wants to buy a whole 80s wardrobe to find out whether they’re an 80s-wardrobe person. But you can see yourself inside an aesthetic in about ten seconds, decide if it’s you, and only then spend money.
So here are the nine aesthetics with the most momentum right now, what each one looks like as a cartoon, and — if it turns out to be your thing — how to bring it off the screen.
1. Gimme Gummy — jelly, bounce and shine
The single most cartoon-friendly trend of the year. Rubbery textures, jelly finishes, squishy 3D shapes, everything looking faintly edible. Pinterest logged “gummy bear aesthetic” up around 50%, “jelly blush” up 130%, and “jelly candy aesthetic” up 100%. It’s sensory nostalgia — childhood candy, rendered in high gloss.
Cartoon it: This style loves thick outlines and fat highlights. Ask for glossy skin, translucent colors, chunky rounded shapes, and a candy-bright background. Toonizer’s bolder cartoon styles handle this better than realistic ones — the flatter and shinier, the more it reads as gummy.
Off the screen: the aesthetic lives in small accessories, which is why it’s spreading so fast. Two items get you most of the way there.
Summer Beach phone case
Translucent, slightly rubbery, and the cheapest possible way to carry the trend around all day.
Jelly slides
Google’s summer data has jelly slides as the top trending slide type this season — the footwear version of the same idea.
2. Extra Celestial — alien-core goes mainstream
Holographic fabrics, iridescent finishes, hyperfuturistic everything. Pinterest calls it Extra Celestial; the internet has been calling it alien-core for a while. It’s escapism with a chrome finish, and it photographs beautifully — which is why it’s spreading.
Cartoon it: Push toward cool tones with rainbow edge-light. Prompt for iridescent, chrome, prismatic, starfield background. Cartoons handle iridescence better than photos do, because a cartoon can just declare a color shift instead of waiting for the right light.
Off the screen: the cheapest entry point is light, not clothing.
Star projector
Turns any room alien-core after dark. Also the single most-photographed object on this list, which is presumably the point.
Holographic sticker paper
Print your own cartoon with a prismatic finish. Works in any inkjet printer.
3. Glamoratti — 80s luxury, unapologetically
After years of quiet luxury and beige minimalism, decadence is back. Sculpted shoulders, baggy suits, chunky gold, funnel necks. Pinterest recorded “80s luxury” up around 225%, “baggy suit” up 90%, “chunky belt” up 65%. Think power dressing for people who watched prestige TV and thought: yes, but louder.
Cartoon it: This is the best aesthetic on the list for a profile picture, because caricature and power dressing are natural allies. Go for dramatic shoulders, warm gold light, a saturated background — burgundy, emerald, or deep navy.
Off the screen: two items do most of the work, and neither requires committing to a full wardrobe.
Chunky gold-tone chain necklace
The fastest signal of the whole aesthetic. Heavier looks more intentional than thin and delicate here.
Oversized 80s-frame sunglasses
Big square or aviator frames. The bigger the frame, the more the decade reads.
4. Poetcore — the academic aesthetic, but sadder
Oversized turtlenecks, vintage blazers, messenger satchels, a paperback in the pocket. Pinterest saw “the poet aesthetic” jump around 175%. It’s dark academia’s melancholy younger sibling, and it’s the aesthetic most likely to actually change how someone spends a Sunday.
Cartoon it: Desaturate. Ask for muted browns, greys and ink tones, soft window light, a slightly downcast expression. Poetcore is one of the few trends where a less cheerful cartoon lands better — let the mood do the work.
Off the screen: the entire starter kit is two objects, and both stay useful long after the trend passes.
Hardcover lined notebook
Cloth or leather-look cover, ribbon marker, paper heavy enough not to ghost. That’s the whole spec.
Fountain pen starter set
An entry-level fountain pen with a converter and a bottle of ink costs less than most gel pen multipacks and is considerably more fun.
5. Pen Pals — snail mail is back
Decorated envelopes, wax seals, collectible stamps, handwritten letters. Pinterest logged “cute stamps” up around 105%, “snail mail gifts” up 110%, “handwritten letters” up 45%. It’s the direct backlash to digital fatigue — and it’s the trend with the most obvious overlap with what we do here.
Cartoon it, then post it: This is our favourite use of Toonizer all year. Cartoon yourself, print it at postcard size, write on the back, and mail it to someone. A cartoon postcard of your own face is a strange and lovely thing to receive, and it costs less than a coffee.
Off the screen: three cheap things cover an entire year of letters.
Wax seal stamp kit
The single item that makes a plain envelope look deliberate. Get one with a spoon and a warmer rather than the melt-a-stick-with-a-lighter kind.
Washi tape set
Decorates envelopes, journal pages and gift wrap. One box lasts years.
Blank postcard stock
Pre-cut, correct thickness for mailing, and printable. This is what your cartoon goes on.
7. Butter Yellow — the color of the summer
Straight from Google’s Summergeist report: “butter yellow nails” hit an all-time search high, and yellow-lens sunglasses are the top trending sunglass lens color. Butter yellow is the soft, low-stakes version of maximalism — a color that reads as optimistic without shouting.
Cartoon it: Butter yellow is a background color before it’s a clothing color. Ask for a warm pale-yellow backdrop with your cartoon in a complementary tone — soft blue, cream, or terracotta. It’s an instantly recognizable 2026 look and it does not fight with skin tones the way brighter yellows do.
Off the screen: the two things people are actually searching for.
Yellow-lens sunglasses
Top trending lens color of the summer, and they genuinely improve contrast on overcast days.
Butter yellow nail polish
The exact search term that hit an all-time high. Creamy and pale, not neon.
8. Summerween Slashers — Halloween in July
Google reported search interest in “summerween movies” more than doubling in a month, with slasher as the top trending sub-genre. Halloween has quietly become a two-season holiday, and the summer version is sillier, warmer, and much more shareable.
Cartoon it: Slasher-movie posters are already stylized, so the cartoon version basically designs itself. Ask for high-contrast lighting, a limited palette — usually red, black and one sickly green — and a big title treatment. Put your own name in it. This is the single most shareable image on this list.
Off the screen: turn the poster into an actual decoration.
A3 poster frame
Print the slasher poster at A3 and it stops being a joke and starts being décor. Barely.
Warm orange string lights
Does more for summerween atmosphere than any amount of plastic decoration.
9. Throwback Kid — parents rebuilding their own childhood
Vintage toys, retro nursery décor, 1970s-inspired kids’ fashion. Parents are recreating the visual world they grew up in for children who will never know the difference. It’s the purest expression of Pinterest’s headline theme this year: nostalgia as reclamation.
Cartoon it: Cartoon an old family photo. Not a new one — an old one. Scanned childhood photos already carry the grain, the color cast and the clothing, and cartooning them removes the awkwardness while keeping the memory. It’s the most emotionally effective thing this tool does.
Off the screen: keep the loop going, and give the results a wall.
Instant camera
Makes new photos that already look old. The next generation of scanned childhood pictures starts here.
Gallery wall frame set
Matching frames turn a scattered photo box into something that looks curated.
Get your cartoon off the screen
Every trend above ends the same way: you make an image, you love it, and then it sits in your phone forever. The trends that actually stick are the ones that become objects. Two things do that better than anything else.
Printable sticker paper
The cheapest possible way to see your cartoon in the real world. A4 sheets, any home printer, cut by hand or with a craft knife.
Compact photo printer
If you’re making more than a handful — postcards, stickers, gift tags — a small dye-sub or instant photo printer pays for itself fast. Print matte, not gloss: flat cartoon colors band badly on glossy paper.
How to do all nine in one sitting
- Pick one clear photo. Front-facing, decent light, face not too small in frame. Nothing else matters as much as this.
- Run it through Toonizer. Try the same photo across different styles before you settle — the aesthetic often works better in a style you wouldn’t have guessed.
- Change the background, not the face. Most of these trends are carried by color and setting. Butter yellow, glacier blue, deep burgundy, starfield — the background does 70% of the work.
- Save the ones that feel like you. That’s the whole point of trying an aesthetic in cartoon form first. Most of them won’t be you. One or two will.
FAQ
What aesthetic is trending in 2026?
Pinterest’s 2026 forecast points to gummy and jelly textures, 80s-inspired luxury, alien-core iridescence, Art Deco revival interiors, and a return to handwritten mail. Google’s summer data adds butter yellow, yellow-lens sunglasses and summer-season horror. The common thread is comfort and nostalgia rather than status.
How accurate are Pinterest’s trend predictions?
Pinterest reports roughly 88% accuracy across the past six years, based on comparing two years of search data from around 600 million monthly users. It also notes that trends starting on Pinterest tend to last about twice as long as trends from elsewhere online.
What’s the best cartoon style for a profile picture?
Bold, high-contrast styles read better at small sizes. A detailed illustration turns to mush as a 40-pixel avatar; a flat cartoon with a strong background color stays readable everywhere.
Can I print cartoons made on Toonizer?
Yes. Generate at the largest size available, and for anything bigger than postcard size, print on matte rather than gloss — cartoon flats show banding on glossy paper.
Which trend is easiest to try first?
Butter yellow. It’s one background color, it costs nothing, and it dates your image to 2026 more precisely than anything else on this list.
Sources: Pinterest Predicts 2026 (published December 2025) and Google Trends’ Summergeist report (June 2026).
Disclosure: Toonizer is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. This does not affect what we recommend or what you pay.
0 Comments