Seminar series - July 2008
Neil Henson, Fashionbytes, was in New Zealand recently sponsored by Resene to present his recent research on worldwide trends that will drive future design.
The journey so far...
- Homes of the future (new technologies) 2005
- The sensual home, 5D marketing 2006
- Emotional consumerism 2007
- Memory and invention 2008
- Colour 2009
Drivers for the future
The future will all be about community, about people. There is an increasing blur, we are bombarded all the time. By the time we reach the workforce we would have been exposed to over 500,000 different pieces of advertising.
To understand the future, first we need to understand the environment of the future - socially, politically, environmentally, technically and economically. The future never happens the way we expect it to.
Forecasting
Forecasting is all about history, research, culture and intuition. Everything that happens works in past patterns.
- Forecasting helps to understand and to use design as a central part of business strategy.
- Forecasting is a tool that increases commercial success and competitiveness.
- Forecasting also alerts business on strategic developments in social and environmental issues.
- Forecasting helps to gain competitive advantage by understanding and harnessing the emerging trends in our fast moving world.
- Forecasting co-ordinates design activity across and organisation.
Today
Today we are at a crossroads between consumerism and sustainability. We are in a weird place at the moment, there doesn’t seem to be much confidence. We are at a crossroads because we live in society based on consumerism. Yet we know that if we continue to consume at the current rate we will be unsustainable. We are moving into a world where things need to have value.
What we produce must have meaning and VALUE and be produced sustainably.
The changes happening at the moment around the world will make us think of things in a different way.
Universal trends
- Fashion reflects lifestyle.
- Product personality.
- Fashionability.
- Individuality.
- No boundaries.
- Social trends - gardening, cooking and exercise.
- Rethinking age.
- Search for secular spiritualism.
- Search for personal luxury.
Key drivers for future homes
- Environment - sustainability (energy use - carbon economy) 4 years ago was just fluffy we didn’t know what was going to come out of it, now we are all realising about the carbon economy.
- Migration - movement of cultures across the globe will influence design (mash of cultures). We have seen this trend with food - Pasta was the food of the 80s, rice the food of the 90s and Couscous is very now… (Middle Eastern and West African).
- Ethical manufacturing and consumerism.
- Global warming has already influenced government regulation.
- Organisations most at risk - financial (insurance, banking).
- Agriculture - food security.
5D Marketing - welcome to the pleasure dome
In every sense an experience a delight, exploring our senses and restoring the balance. Refocus your brand and engage the senses, more and more experience driven marketing… emotional consumerism.
The key is product that offers experience, novelty and excitement … meaning.
Today’s consumer types… emotional, social, spiritual and scientific.
Emotional consumption
Comes out of engaging the senses, engagement equals a better environment to exist in. People are not just after things, they want experiences. You will never engage them by doing the same things as in the past. Rather than owning more, they seek out personal sensations and satisfaction. Emotional consumption is all about innovative nations, empowerment branding, empathic architecture and sensorial solutions.
Memory and invention
Latest designs coming through, certainly not contemporary, almost post modern, extreme, looking at the past for inspiration. Old technology that has been reinvented. Houses are an example of culture, customs, design, materials. Houses are fascinating, each tells a story of its inhabitants, purists and eclectics alike.
There is an Interesting hybrid of what we are pulling together - we are harping back to nostalgia but looking contemporary. Innovation goes hand in hand with design. Art meets craft for inspiration.
The future technology means our world is going to get smaller, cheaper, lighter, and faster with more functionality.
Colour
We need to stand out from the BLAND with strong simple messages. There is so much confusion due to so much information we need to keep it simple. Whether we choose to take the route of refined classic elegance or energetic youthful playfulness, the key consideration is about simplicity. Make a simple statement and it will be a strong one.
A selection of Fashionbytes
Colour Palettes for Spring/Summer 2009 presented in Resene colours.
Sand dune - “…new season of neutrals, things that are aged or weathered, have raw beauty and a whimsical nature of sand, salt and sun bleached drift wood, organic and peaceful...”
- Greys, sandy neutrals and chocolate moving towards mochas etc.
- Neutrals moving away from grey with more taupe tones increasing.
- Can be contemporary but can also be quite nostalgic.
- Silver is up-trending, looking very new with the neutrals.
- Greys have a more lilac or mauve cast to them.
- Evocative of nature.
- White becomes key for contrast in these naturals.
- Enormous amount of white - we are not feeling that confident.
- Chocolate is not key and is now a basic.
- Much more subtle tones.
- Painterly effects across all the palettes.
- Gold is stable.
- Fabric - any yarn that sits in the natural world - cotton, wool blends, linen, cashmere, mohair.
- Hand painted and splattered anything that is looking natural.
- New treatments and contrasts for timber accents.
- Wallpaper end - retro feel, retro vintage finishes. All around natural sticks, twigs, branches, trees.
- Contemporary tie-dye.
- Watercolour flowers and floral jacquards in soft neutral colours are key.
- High shine continues in satin and duchesse weaves.
- This palette ideal for longer term palette - 5 years +.
- Theme of taking something quite contemporary and adding a twist - lace cut outs.
- Peaceful and organic, beauty of natural timbers and leather remind us of nature’s imperfection.
- Black and white is very strong and endures as a decorating classic.
- Spots return as stripes retreat.
Resene colour palette:
|
|
|
|
|
Resene Alabaster |
Resene Blanc |
Resene Double Otter |
Resene French Grey |
Resene Imagine |
|
|
|
|
|
Resene Mondo |
Resene Pristine Lavender |
Resene Spun Pearl |
Resene Triple Rickshaw |
Resene Wafer |
|
|
|
|
|
Resene Quarter Kalgoorie Sands |
Resene Quarter Rickshaw |
Resene Quarter Rickshaw |
|
|
Seaspray - “...of re-engaging with nature, of spring gardens and spring florals and new grass with dew on it, the feeling of renewal… fresh, airy and harmonious...”
- Fabric - from natural palette all the way through to synthetics - no restriction of this.
- Softer and cleaner than last season - a time of going back to basics.
- Very cool palette almost glass like, soft blues and greens.
- Blue end works well with plush.
- Fresh, fun and whimsical but can be quite sophisticated depending on what you team up with them.
- Ditzy prints.
- Green end is quite grassy and fresh - the colour or rebirth.
- Grounded with neutrals brought into it.
- Dimities and classic liberty florals contrast with weave plaids and ticking stripes.
- Big splashy prints.
- Blurred flowers for painterly effects - Monet’s Garden at Giverny.
- Large hopsack weaves.
- Colours of the forest.
- Weightless furs as decorative highlights.
- Very clean very cool.
- Can be sophisticated when teamed with neutrals.
- White remains key and is a grounding colour.
- Transparency as we re-invent with glass.
- Spots - abstracted or with stripes.
Resene colour palette:
|
|
|
|
|
Resene Amulet |
Resene Aqua |
Resene Boston Blue |
Resene Caper |
Resene Chinook |
|
|
|
|
|
Resene De York |
Resene Delta Blue |
Resene Geneva |
Resene Gulf Stream |
Resene Regent St Blue |
|
|
|
|
|
Resene Tusk |
|
|
|
|
Gossamer - “…very fresh, very sheer, very magical, delicate and rosy, dazzling colours of freshness and renewal, an antidote to the coolness of winter…”
- Warm end of palette.
- Pinks are very fleshy and fruity like, not as obvious as the pinks of the past.
- Emergence of lilacs coming out of jewel tones of the past and up-trending.
- Pretty and subtle.
- Coolness to some of the more wintery colours.
- Vintage florals, ginghams, anything natural, cotton silk, angora.
- Very much around light weight and textures.
- Stylised geometrics in fantasy motifs.
- Made gutsy by putting back with basics of black and white.
- Take sweetness out by teaming with lime green, or black and white.
- Plum and deep red can be added as well.
- Contemporary when sharp tones are added in.
- Very watery.
- Very large scale florals.
- Quite a sweet colour palette but can get attitude with green and plum.
- Can work in solids or weaves.
- Lots of interest and lots of colour.
- Can be used with lots of black.
- Feminine palette tradition but is becoming more masculine.
- Traditional Asian influences - Japanese inspired.
- Over scaled paisley.
- Often very monochromatic.
Resene colour palette:
|
|
|
|
|
Resene Alluring |
Resene Blossom |
Resene Cabaret |
Resene Cheeky |
Resene De Janeiro |
|
|
|
|
|
Resene Goddess |
Resene Hot Purple |
Resene Illusion |
Resene Prelude |
Resene Soapstone |
Bloomsbury - “…of gardens and florals. Perennial gardens at the end of summer, wind blown, wind burnt and brown tinged… the beautiful faded end when gardens become magical…”
- Clashes of colour together.
- Big over scale florals, bold florals.
- Sweetness taken off by adding gingery tone.
- Deep. much more jewel tones that what we have had in the past.
- Morocco and the Middle East.
- Shine and interest.
- Oversized blurred effect.
- Bold florals, ikat inspired and tribal weaves almost ethnic inspired.
- Fair trade textiles - very beautiful; some classic designs are becoming very contemporary.
- Deep purple up trends and appears fresh.
- Classical floral prints.
- Dark plum can add vibrancy.
- Gauguin inspired super-sized florals.
- Can be used as accents for much more neutral schemes.
- Layers of sheer colour.
- African and South Pacific.
- Gardens continue to invade our living spaces.
- Colours used for accents to neutrals looks.
- Not all florals have to be traditional.
- Black and white come in as relief.
- Memory and invention classic designs re-coloured.
- Some colours as highlights back into contemporary interiors.
Resene colour palette:
|
|
|
|
|
Resene Antique Brass |
Resene Belladonna |
Resene Dancing Queen |
Resene Funk |
Resene Maestro |
|
|
|
|
|
Resene Matakana |
Resene Rendezvous |
Resene Scarlet Gum |
Resene Spirulina |
Resene Tandoori |
|
|
|
|
|
Resene Venice Blue |
Resene Wave Rider |
Resene Whiteout |
|
|
Calypso or circus brights - “…the tropical fruits of limes, guavas and melons of hibiscus and orchid flowers… the hot raw colours of Mexico and the Mediterranean of high energy brights and the spirited rhythm of calypso music…”
- Anything goes the brighter the better.
- High energy synthetics.
- Very painterly.
- Summer inspired fabrics.
- Used again for ephemeral pieces.
- Fabrics - anything goes.
- Designers continue to reinvent.
- These are traditional colours for some cultures.
- When you want to get something noticed.
- Anything ephemeral - paper flowers, decorations.
- Creative high level of buzz, optimism, where we feel happy.
- Ideal for key pieces.
- Solid colour - continuation of two dimensions in painterly effects.
- Patchwork junk - memory and invention.
- New versions of Moroccan and Indian tile patterns.
- One colour back with white or solid colour or anything goes, all the colours can be thrown together.
- It’s about understanding the end use.
- Green has moved to a cultural colour - sustainability.
- Sophisticated when teamed back with black and white or teamed back with black, white and silver.
Resene colour palette:
Resene Bondi Blue
|
Resene Canary
|
Resene Extrovert |
Resene Hopbush |
Resene Hyperactive |
|
|
|
|
|
Resene Java |
Resene Lucky Break |
Resene Primetime |
Resene Red Red Red |
Resene San Marino |
|
|
|
|
|
Resene Spritzer |
|
|
|
|
Finally some hot tips from London
- Anything jungle.
- Anything animal.
- Anything gold - continuing trend for golds.
Colour - throw it, spread it, splatter it, dry it, gloss it, wet it, dilute it, care for it and abuse it. Use loads of it and put movement and energy into the process.
View 2009 seminar notes
View 2007 seminar notes
View 2006 seminar notes
View 2005 seminar notes