January 2018 / Decoding the Creative Process


Located throughout the world, the Trendease Team continues to deliver our subscribers around the globe must-know market information and inspiration straight to their computer screens.

It is a new year, which means that Heimtextil is just around the corner and Trendease has exclusive coverage for you. In this issue we also look at decoding the creative process, the origins of design. Environmental change and social shifts are strong drivers of new movements in design from looking at responsible ways to produce to product innovation with a conscious. Mother nature inspires colors, prints, and fresh directions; heritage is rich. Get inspired with the January edition!

We attend over 100 design events a year on your behalf to bring you trend insights and design movements to help you maintain cutting-edge knowledge of the lifestyle and design markets. Currently we keep readers within 173 countries/territories in the know! Are you reading Trendease.com?

Show us what you’ve got! For editorial consideration please email editorial@trendease.com with your latest original designs. Upcoming Trendease Market Edge PowWows and Trendease.TV information can be found on the homepage.

REPORTING TO INSPIRE,
Jennifer Castoldi,
Chief Creative Director

Download our informative tri-fold brochure as a PDF file here.

Features and Articles

Meeting nook in the cosmos (with hidden messages in the prints)

Jennifer's January Jots

Frankfurt — Our history and heritage are the foundation to our future. Something as simple as translating a hand-painted floral from the archive into a digital file to print with bleeding-edge technologies to more complex issues like looking at the catastrophes of the recent past and understanding how design and thoughtful product development can be preventative measures in the future—these are topics covered in this edition of Trendease.

A Rich History of Wallpaper

London — With over 70 years of history in a rapidly changing industry where it is no longer your grandmother’s wallpaper, how does a company show that it is forward-thinking while still maintaining ties with its heritage? Printing with screens, cylinders, digital? Paper, paint, or textile? Toss in a little virtual reality and live, on-site hand-painting and you have got an experience to boast of a rich history.

A Year for New Print Trends

London — In a new year we are ready for new print directions. The diversity of selection means that there is something for (nearly) everyone. Classics get a modern makeover; the orient is represented in teals and trellises; geometrics are paired with botanicals; landscapes meet shibori in the mist; large-scale flowers are unapologetic; industrial colorways mix with masculine patterns.

Pasta Collection

The Wonder of Natural Materials

Worldwide — The world is changing faster than it ever has before. Innovators, both professional and educational, are coming up with healthier alternatives to bug-repelling textiles, leather, glue, and plastic all by using natural materials. These can be translated into fashion and home goods in the product development phase. Let the wonder of these natural materials inspire you.

Flux Rug

Efficient, Personal & Sustainable Threads

Multiple European Cities — It all starts with a yarn, which is woven or knitted into a fabric. This gallery looks at a number of recent textile projects looking at efficiency, personalization, sustainability, and innovation. Fresh, experimental materials ranging from reinforced tweed and netted fabrics to 3D weaving and embroidered layers of color span the entire spectrum of raw jute to plastic.

Technology That Understands You

Eindhoven — “Living without technology is unthinkable in this present society”. Just because somebody may be blind, autistic, suffering from dementia, or part of the ageing population does not mean that he or she needs to feel uncomfortable or misunderstood. Technology is advancing daily and here are just a few lifestyle product examples from a sensorial pillow to a sympathetic home of the future.

SPIDER SILK NECKTIE

Nature as the Top Influencer

Eindhoven — In the age of the Anthropocene there is no doubt that mankind has had an impact on the planet. It is time to think more creatively and responsibly. Product development is taking influence from mother nature and mimicking it to make a positive impact in our lifestyles and behavior. Spider silk, polar bear fur, octopus suction, hummingbird wings, and bioluminescent light are just some influencers you can learn more about here.

Be Prepared with Spit-Powered Batteries

Eindhoven — Disasters, both natural and caused by man, have unfortunately become more frequent. This has caused designers to look at ways in which their creations can help us to prepare for such calamities. From lamps that work on salt water, batteries powered by saliva, to bathrooms that turn urine into drinking water, like the Scout motto states, “be prepared”.

The Colour Experience

NEWSLETTER #597 - Heimtextil Extravaganza

Frankfurt — Trade show season is in full swing and Trendease is here to bring you a continuation of our Heimtextil extravaganza with six new features that have been published for our subscribers to dive into a world of textiles and materials as presented at the 2018 Heimtextil and within the 2018/2019 trends envisioned by FranklinTill under the theme ‘The Future is Urban’.

Heimtextil: Relax / Recharge

Heimtextil Trend - Relax / Recharge

Frankfurt — You learned about the color theory behind this theme in the Trendease DesignVision Sneak Peek titled ‘Colors to Relax and Recharge’ and in the ‘Color Experience’ area in the Heimtextil Theme Park. The stimulation of the colors blue and red differ vastly if it is a colored textile or wallcovering on its own (think pigment and being tangible) versus to the color as light, where blue like the daylit sky energizes and red induces melatonin like the sunset telling us it is time to get ready for the day’s end.

Heimtextil: Perfect Imperfection

Heimtextil Trend - Perfect Imperfection

Frankfurt — ‘Urban Craft with Lola Lely’ is another sneak peek on Trendease TV where you can see some creativity behind the Perfect Imperfection Heimtextil Theme Park trend that embraces imperfections and the human capital and ingenuity relating to skills of the crafts(wo)man. It’s been popular for some time now, but after a jaunt through events such as Heimtextil, Paris Deco Off, and Maison&Objet, it is clear to see that indigo designs are enormously on-trend now.

Heimtextil: Soft Minimal

Heimtextil Trend - Soft Minimal

Frankfurt — The move towards urbanization and smaller spaces means that Marie Kondo’s book ‘The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying’ is required reading for a growing population leaving the vast interiors spaces of rural life. To visualize that trend as a colorway and material inspiration Heimtextil called upon its Trend Table to stage a scene with exhibitors’ swatches from foamy wallcoverings to technical textiles.

Heimtextil: Adapt + Assemble

Heimtextil Trend - Adapt + Assemble

Frankfurt — Not at all like products on a mass production assembly line, the products within this design theme are meant to move with you, to be flexible, as the urban lifestyle oftentimes means moving home more frequently. What textiles would embody this direction? Simple constructions and geometric/graphic patterns and motifs come to life while being adjustable to new environments.

Heimtextil: Urban Oasis

Heimtextil Trend - Urban Oasis

Frankfurt — Biophilia is one of the biggest buzzwords these days and Urban Oasis is all about it! NDD, or nature deficit disorder, is a reflection of contemporary lifestyles, and despite not being a recognized medical condition, it occurs when too much time is spent indoors and makes people feel alienated from nature, but what if through design we can bring nature inside?

NEWSLETTER #598 - Motifs of Good Fortune

Multiple European Cities — This week’s newsletter focuses on a motif that we have noticed popping up at Decorex, Heimtextil, imm cologne, and Maison&Objet on a number of products: scarves, textiles, upholstery, bedding, and floor coverings. It has an assortment of meanings and diverse range of colors. What motif may this be?