Trends that were big in 2010
Functionality is becoming one of the defining quality issues of modern industrial design. The trend now is that “cheap and functional” equates to “quality and useful”. This is partly a result of an explosion in the design market, with very large numbers of designers in active competition, and a new consumer market which is much better informed and decidedly choosy about its purchases. Everything from designer modular carpets to the latest phone app and electronic gizmo is now being directed at moving targets in the marketplace.
Goods and services especially designed for these new and emerging markets often include several of the following characteristics:
- Basic, No Frills designs with fewer features, to keep prices low and be competitive in the market.
- Simpler, or easier to use for consumers. This particular design principle is responsible for many of the very easy to use products which have come on the market in recent times.
- Energy efficient (often purely Green energy sourced) cheap/easy to repair and/or waste-reducing. The Green technology is definitely making major inroads into mainstream markets, and demand appears to be increasing on a longer term basis.
- Robust, as some of them are used in rugged conditions.
- Good, original design and new ideas, another byproduct of the “democratization” of industrial design. This is also a phenomenon of the current market, where consumers can compare multiple brands of the same type of product with a few clicks on a computer.
- Aimed at helping owners to generate income, or allow users to create self-sustaining usage modes.
- Maturialism: The term “Maturialism” means “Mature materialism”, based on acknowledgement of the experience levels of consumers. The old approach is if anything a major turnoff to consumers, considered patronizing and “dumbing down” to an unacceptable level.
2011 Top Macro trends coming up
The signs are that a new overriding macro trend is keeping up with the culture. The general perception among marketers is that design and culture are now interacting faster than ever. With direct access to consumers, and consumers having direct instant access to multiple brands, demand is now a lot more fluid, and more mobile.
That means designers have to be more agile in adapting to market demands within the context of their core consumer base, particularly in the younger market, where trends can vary from mega to mirage.
Good example: Trends in hotel design
The hotel design market is a very high cost, high maintenance, super-competitive design field. Consumers can pick from literally tens of thousands of hotels around the world, and every aspect of design has to work. Everything, from the carpet to the décor, has to be based on market concepts, and targeting consumers.
The result of the new design paradigms for hotels has been a move to niche market designs with a lot of character, incorporating sustainable products and low cost, low maintenance value features like modular carpets, custom design features and most importantly, costed to the cent.
This approach is largely style based, and has a lot in common with the major trends forecast for 2011, targeting the lifestyle culture with products and services.
Add A Comment