July 2010 / Standards & Planned Obsolescence


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.

Standardized designs to meet the masses, planned obsolescence to make more money, and the concept of ‘eternal design’ when a product has not quite been designed, but has been slowly perfected over time; what is product development today? Trends involve more than color, motif, shape, and materials, they consider social and environmental movements. This month get a peak at textile inspirations and color stories for 2011/12, see new product innovations and interiors, tour Designer’s Days and Design Den Haag, meet the designer behind Cher and Elton John, plus more!

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 in 8,289 cities within 159 countries 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.
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REPORTING TO INSPIRE,
Jennifer Castoldi,
Chief Creative Director
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Features and Articles

Inspirational image from the 2011/12 MoOD inspirations book

Jennifer's July Jargon

Worldwide — This edition of Trendease considers the diverse aspects of what goes into making a product sell. Because there is more to a trend than meets the eye, literally. In time we will need to find the balance between standardization and planned obsolescence. We encourage you to delve into these thoughts and consider your place in design today, and tomorrow. The gallery within will also show you inspiration for future designs, both in color and underlying meaning.

Four Walls for a Fantasy

Worldwide — The four walls within any room offer a blank canvas to apply diverse tastes and creativity. It’s a dream come true with all of the designs available today! Walls today are covered with not only paper, but textiles, wood veneer, and walls stickers in repeats, murals, or stand alone graphics. Enjoy this gallery of new wall treatments for their aesthetic value, underlying meanings, and material innovation!

In Bed with Cher & Other Stories

Los Angeles — Our chief creative director, Jennifer Castoldi, recently had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with the internationally esteemed, award-winning interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard, to talk with him about some of his projects and his new line of fabrics launching this summer. Based in Los Angeles, Bullard has designed the interiors of Cher, Sir Elton John, Edward Norton, Christina Aguilera, Kid Rock, and Cheryl Tiegs, just to name a few.

Celebrating Design

Paris — Designer’s Days celebrated its tenth anniversary this June. For the past decade, Designer’s Days has become a summer event in Paris attended by designers, architects, interior decorators, brand ambassadors, amateurs, collectors, and inquisitive onlookers. Subscribers can “visit” the design circuit by reading through this feature and admiring the 90+ images.

Retail: The Fabric Essentials

Paris — The doors have just opened at 8 rue Hérold. The new textile shop, bearing the street’s name, is in the heart of Paris, between the historic Palais Royal quarter and the very fashionable Montorgueil district. Rue Hérold offers a relaxed, open approach to fabric in an assortment that is all about variety, value, and distinctiveness.

Pressed glass sets 1947

An Education on Standardized Design

The Hague — It is true that standardization can sometimes be a barrier to innovation, but looking at both sides of the coin, we cannot help but concur that standardization over the years has led to progress in the Utilitarian sense. From home products and fashion to architecture and automobiles; however, is this a sustainable model in today’s world, or are we moving too fast for standardization to develop?

A New Identity?

The Hague — We often think of design as it relates to home and fashion, but rarely do we consider how design is communicated and affecting our broader worlds of culture and government. The team running The Hague Design and Government program recently asked the international design community to develop a new symbol for Europe. Of the 1400 submissions received from 63 countries, here you can see and read about the meaning of the top 12 design suggestions.

Finding Hidden Treasures for All

Saint Ouen — Les Puces de Saint Ouen, just on the edge of Paris, bordering the Porte de Clignancourt, has been a fashionable destination since 1885 for collectors in their “Sunday best” to come and search for good buys among the bric-a-brac. Composed of approximately 15 markets linked together, there is something for everyone at Les Puces, even if it is just a stroll through the narrow alleys.

EcoChic: Dwell in a New World

Los Angeles — At home in the modern world, from modern furniture to the latest ways to bring sustainability into your home with greener solutions for energy, water and building materials, the Dwell On Design trade show at the Los Angeles Convention Center opened our eyes to new design directions for our humble abodes.

NEWSLETTER #320 - New Talent

Worldwide — This week’s newsletter looks to the future; the new talent entering the industry. From the Yale School of Architecture, ArtFuture Design School, Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts & Design, among other individuals from across the globe. Subscribers can view their latest innovations in lighting, seating, upholstery, and more within.

NEWSLETTER #321

Worldwide — Studying intercultural relations and the diversity and similarities of culture is fascinating, and a great pulse to keep one’s finger on if working on a global scale. Exhibitions, contests, social shifts, and worldwide textile design directions for the coming seasons are what fill this week’s newsletter.

NEWSLETTER #322

Vienna — This week’s selection of photos we share with you is whimsical, yet functional. It is a Viennese brand, designing and producing objects “for all of us with little fetishes, bad habits and compulsive actions.” Also within this newsletter, don’t miss the latest tidbits on new furniture, technology, sweet stuff and beer!