Today I was asked to contribute to an article for a magazine, and was asked how I think politics will affect taste, colour and design.
Politics may seem a million miles away from something as seemingly frivolous as colour, but you'd be surprised. Colour and design trends are inspired by social and cultural trends, and this very much includes politics.
Anything that affects social and cultural trends in turn affects colour and design trends. When we were forecasting trends for Spring Summer 2010 (back in November 2008!), we were very conscious that there would be a gaping hole in our research that we couldn't predict, and that was the election results. One thing we did know as we edged closer to May 2010, was that there was a real desire for 'change' and that this was more important than knowing exactly which party would win.
In terms of the colour trends that are forecast for Spring Summer 2010, it is all about fresh, vibrant, positive, celebratory colours. Green is important; we put this down to the desire to report 'green shoots' after the recession, and there are lots of trend directions that hinge on a consumer trend for wanting a 'fresh start' or a clean slate, so in fact white is very important in product design (beautifully anticipated by brands like Apple). After the depths of the recession, there is a sense that people want to move forward, to feel positive and safe, and this is reflected in all aspects of our life from politics to products.
Are these feelings you should be taking into consideration and communicating to your customer?
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It's funny that Apple are trying to get away from doing everything white (new macs etc are silver and black) whilst everyone else has just caught onto the white trend that Apple were doing.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how long it will be before everything is black and metallic?
I think Apple is going to take over the world, give it a few years. I love it!
ReplyDeleteI was reading an article the other day 'iApp therefore I am' and realised I do HAVE to have an iPhone.
Life not worth a damn, till you can shout out 'iAm what iAm'- somethings really are life changing and apple is definitely one of them.
As for politics, I think we're all becoming much more interested in it, younger people in particular. I think this year will be a very interesting one. A new year and a new government..
Waiyee