One of the first things I noticed upon arriving in Berlin was the fabulous graffiti. It’s everywhere- and one can find all sorts- slaps, tags, throw-ups, stencils… even the newer graffiti trends can be found- yes! Knit bombs!! Here are some I spotted…
Due to its novelty and fast-paced evolution, trend spotting has been given many different names, definitions, and connotations. For the purpose of this analysis, I have defined trend spotting as follows:
As you know, I published a book on trend photography for fun, and since I’m not really out to sell it or anything, I thought I’d share the text and some of the photos with you. Hence I’ll publish it bit by bit over the next couple of weeks or so. I’ll start with the intro- here goes!
This Pylones water boiler is rather intriguing
For the past six months, I did a fair amount of research on the trend spotting industry, and put together a relatively informal analysis. In the next couple of days, I’ll publish the analysis, bit by bit, and make the entire piece available in its entirety on this site. Today, I’ll start by sharing the intro. We’ll go forward from there!
As beer is a carbonated drink, it has always needed a sealed container, and as the drink can be traced back to the ancient Sumerians, beer bottles have a surprisingly long and rich history.
While wandering around Berlin’s Charlottenburg Palace a week ago, I came across a group of Lolitas (both goth and sweet) setting up for a picnic in the gardens. I was so pleased! In the past, I have only seen Lolitas in more contrived situations outside of Japan (where one may expect to see them anywhere), such as around a Lolita clothing store, or at an anime convention or Japanese culture festival.
Printer cartridges- expensive, occasionally messy things that they are- have been the bane of our existence- but not for very long.
Many trend spotting consultancies publish books on trends or the trend spotting process to augment their product offering, establish a reputation, and (if the book is good enough) establish another income flow.
mode…information is a German-based Global Network for Trend Inspiration that specializes in fashion, textiles, design, architecture, graphics, and lifestyle. It offers online services, color trend products, and “more than 1000 specialist publications for textile, fashion, colour, graphics, product design, interior, architecture and lifestyle.”
mode…information’s customers include manufacturers, service companies, retailers, graphic designers, freelance designers, institutes, associations, and design schools.
Though mode…information covers all sorts of trends, it demonstrates a particular emphasis in color, via its distribution of PANTONE® products, for example. To insure the quality and accuracy of its color predictions, mode…information has established alliances with “the world leaders in colour management solutions, X-Rite with Pantone Europe and Clariant.”
