trend

You are currently browsing articles tagged trend.

Bicycle Cycle

August 26, 2009 in Inspiration, Interesting Finds by wendren | No comments

Is it just me or are bicycles becoming the new must-have accessory? All sizes and all forms but the older the better it seems (for once). This music clip posted by astulabee hit home with it’s mix of 80’s music and bicycle love.
.
Here are some bicycle etsy finds:
Bicycles
1. ‘We are so good together’ linocut print by PerlaAnne 2. ‘Super bicycle diagram’ print by SweetRide 3. ‘Address stamp -olivia’ by RubberStampPress’s shop 4. ‘looking good’ photographic print by SweetRide 5. ‘Giraffe on two-high-bike black shirt‘ by darkcycleclothing 6. ‘Bicycle Cameo – Illustrated Bicycle Brooch‘ by craftyfolk’s shop 7. ‘Bring It‘ photographic print by SweetRide

Li Edelkoort’s trend forecast 2010 – 2050

March 13, 2009 in Conversational by wendren | 6 comments

Li Edelkoort is definitely a high highlight of the Design Indaba ‘09. She is a proclaimed trend forecaster with amazing insight. I scribbled away like mad with her presentation but here is a sum-up of the things that stood out for me.

✿ We live apart and want to be together. Li described it in two words “humbleness” and “togetherness”. An example is the rising number of farm/organic markets. We want to come together and meet. We want real relations. Isn’t this wonderful!?! I think so. We are reconnecting, wanting and needing to return to old values, traditions, craft, gardening – things that are wholesome and truthful (perhaps I am taking it a bit far now).

biscuit-millPhoto’s from the The Neighbourgoods market every Saturday in Salt River.

✿ Li also spoke a lot about the financial crisis and how it is affecting things. Angie Hattingh from ifashion put it really well: “What Li notes as being different about this current crisis is the world’s reaction to it. In the past financial crises were marked by a return to basics ideology. Fashion was marked by minimalism – a sort of atonement for the sins of our excesses. This time the crisis is not of our making – blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the financial institutions. So we have nothing to atone for. But we have been presented, instead, with the opportunity to re-centre ourselves, to narrow our focus to our local environment and to project our dreams of our changed future.”

✿ Story telling and animation in design was and is very important and follows from the trend pointed out above.  This also resonated with the notion of how we are finding ‘animated’ objects fun. At the Design Indaba Expo I found Vanilla Concrete’s ceramic creatures to be a perfect example of this. Plush toys have started popping up every where and although they are cute, you have to agree that they are rather unusual and some even weird – but still, we all want a plush friend. They invoke our imagination. But, how about making a ceramic plush? Suddenly all the soft and cuddlyness is taken out and it is in reverse: A ‘concrete’ something is made animate. I so badly wanted to take Milla home with me (far right).

vanilla-concreteLeft to right by Vanilla Concrete: Frumpie ceramic; Frumpie soft toy and to the right is Milla ceramic. To read about the frumpie personality and/or if you want to buy one click here.

✿ Grey, grey, grey … how many times can you say grey…..? As Li puts it, we are in a time of indecision and we are “ready to embrace a time of hope and well being”. Black and white are neither and thus grey is the perfect positive balance. Li even showed a on-the-street video by Bill Cunningham (New York Times Photographer) about the presence of grey at the New York fashion week.

P.S. Yellow is apparently the new pink (a perfect complimentary colour for grey).

My two MOST exciting observations were:

1. Li did NOT speak about bling or glitz. I have never liked all the glam so on a personal level, I was excited to hear that it is not going to be a big feature in design.

2. The presence of grey as a trend is also a long term trend. In fact Li  seemed to feel that we (civilisation) are turning over a new leaf. This new way – where we go backwards to go forward and where we seek the ‘human element’ as technology features more in our world (as she put it “we want to be unplugged but wired at the same time”), is a trend that will be around for the next 40 years! I am SO EXCITED about this. Trying to keep abreast of change is exhausting and to hear that season trends are only going to blur more and become one is a relief. Long ago 100 years went by with one trend now we do not even have 100 days with a big trend. Isn’t this refreshing information.

:)

The new trend : Asking, Talking and Making

October 28, 2008 in Conversational by wendren | 8 comments

There is a definite positive trend for young people (aged 20-35) to learn the more classical and traditional female skills such as garment making (not just sewing), cooking, jam making, appliqué, embroidery, flower-arranging, jewelry making … the list can go on an on with all the skills that sound lovely but feel as though they have missed a generation.

This is in fact the case: In an article in Mail Online this is explained by looking at how the role of women in the last few decades has changed. Women decided to become ‘business women’ in the 80’s and traditional skills like sewing became ‘uncool’ (buying clothes and spending (ie consumerism) was more cool) so many never bothered to learn. Now there is a whole generation of women who have never learnt to knit and ’schools’ are bringing back domestic science. Companies/organizations, such as the Make Lounge, are also offering courses on ‘how to’ and it is hard to miss, but Etsy after all is built on this ethos.

There are a few things I find interesting about all of this:

  • In a recession we all turn to ‘making it’ rather than ‘buying it’. So is this a trend becuase it skipped a generation or is it a trend becuase we are in a time when we need to be able to do it for ourselves?
  • Are we wanting to learn becuase it is novel or genuinely to learn the skill to use it? Is it not just another thing that women have to do/be to be ’superwomen’?
  • Is this a new trend or just an extension/development of the individuality trend? We all realize that usually consumerism = mass production and unless you can afford to buy bespoke pieces you will not get something unique or original in the shops/conventional shopping spaces. To be able to make it ourselves gives us not only the satisfaction of personal achievement/accomplishment but also a completely unique and perfect for you item.

I think this is encouraging and exciting. I am young and being able to sew has never been on the top 10 things that I tell people. It has always been met with a “oh!?!” and I know they are quietly working out if I am cool or not. Perhaps becuase I went to design school and was on the same floor as the Fashion Design students that I know a lot of young people who are proud they sew for their living but I would agree that the ‘taboo’ around knowing these skills is evaporating.

The Design Process

September 25, 2008 in Conversational by wendren | 3 comments

It is almost impossible to not realise that the method and process of designing has grown in importance over the last few years. We all want to know the ‘story’ about a design and how it came to be etc.

I love stories: love telling them and reading them. To me, they are part of the design, part of the product BUT there is an interesting flip-side to this coin and Jessica Helfand (editor and author of the blog Design Observer) made me realise it and notice it.

At young design institutes the danger of this empahsis of ‘the process’ or ’story’ is very clear. The designer’s name might as well be written in black marker all over his/her work because his/her life experiences are highly reflective in his/her work. The process of design has been glorified and proclaimed as ‘the design’. This is no longer objective and yet it is presented as such. Jessica Helfand puts it very well: “The design student, after considering so deeply the intangible forces framing the interpretation of visual form, comes to believe that the very act of interpretation is itself form”. She asks “…when did the mirror of autobiography become our canvas, our public lens to the world?”.

I agree with Jessica Helfand. The method of design, the process and the story is important, but it is not more important than the design and should not be misunderstood to be the design. The design should speak and be able to stand alone. The process or story is simply the designer’s journey and yes, the trend is to know the ‘story’ behind the design, but it is only after the world has noticed the design do they start asking and inquiring about you, your story and your design process.

So understanding this, I will continue to tell my story, the story of a product and show the process of the design because I think it is important and interesting. However, the intention is not to make the process the design but to rather offer insight into it. The process is the shadow to the design and not the design itself.

Helen Musselwhite’s fabulous Art

July 8, 2008 in Featured by wendren | 4 comments

I’m always on the look out for inspiring artists and Helen Musselwhite is one of those that instantly drew me.

Helen uses bold colors, strong graphic lines and familiar images and creates fictional almost fantasy scenes. She describes her work has having a distinctive hand crafted quality with hints of mid century design, folk and ethnic art. I also think it has a fantastic contemporary feel as fairy-tale land is a definite fashion and design trend. …and if it was not, who wouldn’t like to live with unicorns, rainbows, bunnies and all other lovely, harmless and good things.

These artworks are hand cut, folded and scored using a wide range of papers and cards and then further worked to create patterned and textured surfaces. Helen then uses this to build scenes in box frames.  To visit her etsy shop click here.