Neon

Neon colours can be difficult for commercial use in the home, but at Maison we saw some really innovative and inventive ways of using these shocking brights with subtlty. Backlit mirrors, spray-paint effects, trims and tassels brought acid lime, orange and flouro pink bang up to date.

Above left: Stationery with neon elastic by Hay, above right; backlit ‘Moonlight’ mirrors by Richard Hutten

Above left; neon trim tableware by Rosenthal et Sambonet, above right; blankets and throws with neon tassles by Sylvie Thiriez

Our Visionaire story for Spring/Summer 2012, published back in March 2010, highlighted this important trend for subtle use of neon colours being mixed with pastels.

Above; pages from our Visionaire trend from our Spring Summer 2012 publication, Lifestyle Trends for the Home. 

White

Above;  vases and receptacles by De Buyer

With texture playing such an important role for ceramics and textiles, the palette becomes a neutral backdrop so that the detail of an object can be studied and appreciated. The transfer of textile effects onto hard goods continues to be important, as we see complex knit stitch constructions imprinted and etched onto porcelain.

Wood with Colour Splash  

Above left; Coatstands by Sentou, above right; La Corbeille Editions.

Pale, unvarnished wood was paired with high voltage colour splashes in matte laminates, powder coated metal and glossy paints.

Copper Tones

Copper and bronze tones were important for lighting, decorative accessories and outdoor products. Look out for a multitude of finishes from hammered effects through to highly polished metal.

Above images; Eclectic by Tom Dixon

Above left; outdoor planter by Poterie Goicoechea, above right; bird house with copper roof by Esschert Design.

Chartreuse

Above left; planter by D&M Depot N.V/S.A, upholstered chair by D&M Depot N.V/S.A

This yellow-green shade peaks for Summer 2012, which we saw on tableware, outdoor accessories, soft furnishings and kitchen appliances.

Palm Springs

Evidence of our Palm Springs trend for Spring/Summer 2012 was in abundance at the show,  you can see more of how this trend is manifesting itself in a full report coming soon on our blog. Ensure you subscribe to our blog to ensure you don’t miss our reports!

Pink, turquoise and teal greens were mixed together in textile prints and glassware, with graphic stripes, chevrons and hexagon motifs bringing a 1970s edge to the look. 

Above pages from our Spring Summer 2012 publication, Lifestyle Trends for the Home, published in March 2010. 

Our next Maison et Objet report will be published next week, covering surface and shape trends.

January 2012 saw Trend Bible partnering with Clarion Events for a third time to create bespoke trend concepts and physical trend features for Top Drawer, the UK’s leading event for design-led gifts, lifestyle and fashion accessories held at Earls Court Exhibition Centre earlier this month. After months of concept development, build design, prop sourcing and making, we finally brought our trend features to life for visitors to Top Drawer Spring…

We created 4 phyiscal trend features for Top Drawer, focusing on sectors from the show which are seeing the most growth – Stationery, Children’s, Wellbeing and Fashion Accessories. In addition to the features, we designed and produced Product Cards to accompany the 4 features, helping buyers to Shop The Retail Trend at the show.

Image of Trend Bible product cards courtesy of Flourish Studios

Top Drawer Show Director Raj Gill said of the show: “From behind the scenes to at the scene, Top Drawer and Trend Bible worked hard to serve retailers with the most exciting and pertinent trends for 2012/2013. Top Drawer scored an impressive 34% increase in visitors last week, and it was a visibly busy show with an audible buzz. The launch of Home alongside Top Drawer also hit the nail on the head with buyers, offering the latest on-trend homeware. Lots of new foreign buyers were tempted by the on-trend design-led exhibitors on show. In fact, the combination of both shows saw a whopping 79% increase on 2011. London has always been a key destination for design, and now has cemented its place for design-led products at Top Drawer and Home. The synergy between Top Drawer and Home was a winning formula that has set a precedent for future events from Clarion Retail, and we are excited to be a part of it.”

If you couldn’t make it along to the show, here’s a quick snapshot of our trend features; thank you for all of the positive feedback we’ve had from both exhibitors and audience, and a huge thank you to our team of stylists and the Clarion Events/So Group team for all of their hardwork.

Stationery Trends for Autumn/Winter 2012/13

We presented six trends for Stationery and Greetings at Top Drawer:

Luxe emphasises a new, luxurious element in Stationery and desk accessories with a focus on bronze, pewter and gold metallics.
Synth is all about confidence with colour; moving away from traditional colour groupings like ‘pastels’ or ‘neons’ and blending these together for a new bold look.
Monotype celebrates typography and a minimal, monchrome  graphic aesthetic.
Papercraft reflects consumers desires for products with authenticity, referencing hand-made, natural finishes.
Infrared focuses on layering shades of red from crimson to berry for a strong, contemporary look.
Patriot heralds 2012 as the year to celebrate the UK, referencing British icons from architecture through to royalty.

Above left; Synth stationery feature, above right; Patriot stationery feature, both by Trend Bible.

Above; Patriot and Papercraft trend features by Trend Bible

Above; Infrared and Monotype trend features by Trend Bible

Above; Patriot trend feature by Trend Bible

Here are a few exhibitors from the Top Drawer show that we felt reflected our key seasonal trends.

Undercover showcased their new collection of near-neon leather goods and stationery for Autumn/Winter 2012/13 – perfectly inkeeping with our Synth trend direction for Stationery and Greetings, below.

Exhibitors across all disciplines were well and truly embracing an overarching British trend at Top Drawer, with traditional British references like the London Bus mugs by Our Workshop, contemporary updates on this Patriot trend with London ‘Airfix’ style tea towels by Victoria Eggs, and postage screenprints and printed cushions by Annie Little all below.

Grow Your Own
Children’s Retail Trend for Autumn/Winter 2012/13

We presented a prominent Children’s trend direction at Top Drawer: Grow Your Own. This is an important trend for children’s products in Autumn/Winter 2012/13, as parents become increasingly aware of the benefits of home grown produce and nurturing through food. Children are becoming involved in growing and cooking food both at home and at school, which inspires a whole range of child-friendly garden and kitchen products. Think fun, vegetable characters motifs, one-colour garden gnomes and funky wheelbarrows, which work for both girls’ and boys’ product ranges.

Thank you to exhibitor Toby Tiger, who kindly loaned us wellington boots and raincoats for the Children’s trend feature.

Beauty Lab
Wellbeing Retail Trend for Autumn/Winter 2012/13 

Our Wellbeing trend feature, entitled Beauty Lab, referenced a slick, clinical trend direction for Wellbeing products in Autumn/Winter 2012/13, taking inspiration from the extremes of the beauty industry. This trend embraces a predominantly pastel palette, accented with neon flashes to create a very modern colour story.

Exhibitors Aromatika and Blend Collective’s product ranges were prime examples of how this trend direction can be implemented across product ranges. Their pared down packaging design showcases this clinical aesthetic perfectly, below.

Fashion Accessories Retail Trends for Autumn/Winter 2012/13

Our Fashion Accessories trend feature for Autumn/Winter 2012/13, focused on four seasonal trends:

Graphic Clash looks at a clean, graphic approach to fashion accessories after years of vintage references.
English Heritage showcases traditional British pastimes and motifs for 2012.
Beauty Lab is a slick futuristic story, showcasing silicone, rubber and perspex.
Faded Grandeur is a dark, brooding story looking at creeping botanical imagery and tarnished gold, bronze and copper.

Thank you to show exhibitors Pell Mell, CLICLOC Watches and Tyler and Tyler, who’s products we featured in our Fashion Accessories features, and an even bigger thank you to Liz Peck, an up and coming London-based propmaker who lovingly crafted the display hands which featured in all of the Fashion Accessories displays.

If you missed our Senior Trend Researcher Jill Hawkins’ seminar on Trends for Autumn/Winter 2012/13, you can find a downloadable version of her presentation here.

Did you visit home, Top Drawer’s co-located show? If not, click here for our report on emerging trends from the definitive new trade event for homeware and home accessories.

For more information about our Trend Features please contact the team at enquiries@trendbible.co.uk

January has been a whirlwind for the Trend Bible team, as the team broke off to cover the major interior trade shows in Europe and the USA to report back on the latest trends in home interiors on behalf of our clients.

First up in our busy UK schedule was home, London, a new trade event for homewares and interior accessories, running alongside the existing Top Drawer show at Earl’s Court.

Our Senior Trend Researcher, Jill Hawkins shares a snapshot from the show. To access our full reports, please contact us about our consultancy subscription services.

“The home show fills a gap in the trade show calendar in London, and provides an opportunity for buyers to shop for new products and see the latest trends. As well as the more established home interior brands, it was great to see some of the newer, up-coming brands we’ve featured in our trend publications there at the show,” explains Jill.

“There were really two main directions at the show; the first was for a cleaner, simplistic design led by strong colour, and the other was for nostalgic references within design,” said Joanna Feeley, Trend Bible Director. “Back in 2009, we published our forecasts for Spring/Summer 2012, with two key stories reflecting these two contrasting design angles; Visionaire, which has a clean, minimalist vibe, and Sentiment, which picks up on the nostalgic British references.”

New Minimal

We first spotted REThinkThings’ beautiful powder coated metal bird feeders at Design Event back in October 2011. With so much strong colour for summer, expect to see materials that take colour well trending heavily, like powder coated metals and glossy glaze ceramics.

Stackable, connectable components were also seen in abundance at the show, a trend we forecast would be big news for 2012. “This trend for stackable objects comes from a broader theme around saving space in the home, ” explains Trend Bible founder Joanna Feeley. “Products that can be easily stored to save valuable and limited worktop or floor space are on the rise, with homeowners getting creative with space in the home instead of moving up the housing ladder and buying more space. With a stagnant housing market, comes an incredible creativity for storage solutions and design.”

Jansen’s colour-blocked ceramics hit the right note this spring, balancing the traditional with a cleaner, slicker aesthetic set to influence tableware. As predicted in our Spring/Summer 2012 trend report, we’re seeing a riot of colour for the home and garden this summer, carefully underpinned here with black, grey and white.

Above is a spread from our Spring/Summer 2012 trend Visionaire, which began to look at this new minimal aesthetic influencing home interiors, blended with rustic, traditional elements.

Nostalgia

Ferm Living have been featured in our Kids Lifestyle Trends publications in the past and strike a clean balance between nostalgic and fresh.  We loved their quirk, robot character cushions, above, at home.

 Seletti’s presented patchworked and montaged traditional pattern for their tableware collection this season, keeping the traditional British tea party story alive for 2012.

Snowhome‘s collaborative prints with John Green Designs also referenced the ongoing love affair with all things British. 2012 is a pivotal year for Britain, with high profile events including the London Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee expected to influence design trends.

 This print is a fresh interpretation of modern British patriotism with words describing traditional British industries, pastimes and products making up a map of the UK. You can check out our own interpretation of this patriotic trend in our Stationery trend feature at the adjoining Top Drawer show.

Abigail Borg presented her latest homeware collection at the show, above, which referenced beautiful oversized garden florals like chrysanthemums and hydrangeas. We included English garden florals as part of our Sentiment trend for our S/S 2012 home interior trend publication, below.

One of our newest trend panelists – also featured in our trend books – is ceramicist Andrew Tanner who exhibited his latest collection at home.  It received rave reviews, and you can read Design Week’s right here. We loved this collection which delicately referenced nostalgic and traditional bone china tea sets whist still managing to look contemporary. Pattern appeared on the underneath of plates, handles of tea cups and spouts of teapots.

Andrew also launched his Augmented Reality plate, above, which truly captures technology and brings it to a new medium. You can see a video below.

Coming soon is our round-up of home’s co-located show, Top Drawer, where we created bespoke trend features. We also thought this report by Rumour PR was a pretty good round up of the show too…

In Summer 2011, we conducted our Trend Panel, inviting industry experts to share their opinions and research which informed our trend directions for Autumn/Winter 2013/14. The results of this are published this week in our our A/W 2013/14 Kids Lifestyle Trends books which are available directly from us or from our network of global sales agents.

Each book contains four key trends, 40 cotton colour swatches with nearest Pantone referenced codes, inspirational fabric and wallpaper samples and a unique combination of our own styled and photographed imagery teamed with carefully selected product shots. Our blue chip clients are retailers, brands and manufacturers who use our trend books to help them accurately forecast future trends up to 22 months ahead of the season. Our books cover trends appropriate to baby/nursery through to tween market with palettes that are flexible amongst a variety of age ranges.

“Our kids’ lifestyle trend books are completely unique to the Kids’ trends marketplace and internationally recognised as THE design tool for buyers and designers in the kids lifestyle industry,” explains Trend Bible founder Joanna Feeley. “We take a real no-nonsense approach to trends and firmly believe in making trends perform commercially.  Our kids trend books are completely bespoke to the kids industry as we believe kids respond to their own set of influences and are not simply watered down versions of adult influences.”

“Anyone can develop the traditional ‘pink for girls, blue for boys’ colour palettes, but we’re about bringing a broader, more interesting collection of inspiration to the table. We’re seeing a growing demand for this from our clients who include department stores, board game manufacturers, nursery furniture companies, fashion brands, health brands, holiday resort groups and computer game programmers.”

Our books include:

• Four key trend directions specific to the kids interior and lifestyle industries (including toys, games, garden, accessories)

• 40 colour swatches with nearest Pantone® TPX and TCX references

• Beautifully styled original inspiration

• Sourced product imagery from the world’s most innovative tastemakers

• Actual samples of materials and fabrics

• Key item analysis per story

• CD including inspirational images, digital colour palettes so that you can quickly colour drop into your own prints

•  A quick reference ‘Take Away’ shopping guide summary PDF

Contact us enquiries@trendbible.co.uk for prices and subscription offers or to arrange an appointment to see our books.

In Summer 2011, we conducted our bi-annual Trend Panel, inviting industry experts to share their knowledge, opinions and expertise for the Autumn/Winter 2013/14 season.  This month we publish these findings in our Lifestyle Trends for the Home trend books. These are available to buy directly from us or via our network of global agents.

Each book covers four key trends for the season and contains 40 cotton colour swatches with nearest Pantone referenced codes, inspirational fabric, wallpaper and surface samples and a unique combination of our own styled and photographed imagery teamed with carefully selected product shots. Our blue chip clients are retailers, brands and manufacturers who use our trend books to help them accurately forecast future trends up to 22 months ahead of the season.

“Our trend books are internationally recognised as THE design tool for buyers and designers in the home interior industry,” explains Trend Bible founder Joanna Feeley. “We take a real no-nonsense approach to trends and firmly believe in making trends perform commercially. The trends we develop are the result of 6 months hard work for the team, and we’re constantly refining and tweaking these to make sure they work for our clients in our limited edition trend books.”

Our books include:

• Four key seasonal trends specific to the home interiors industry

• 40 colour swatches with nearest Pantone® TPX and TCX references

• Beautifully styled original inspiration

• Sourced product imagery from the world’s most innovative tastemakers

• Actual samples of materials and fabrics

• Key item analysis per story

• CD including inspirational images, digital colour palettes so that you can quickly colour drop into your own prints

• A quick reference ‘Take Away’ shopping guide summary PDF

Contact us enquiries@trendbible.co.uk for prices and subscription offers or to arrange an appointment to see our books.

Well as some of you will know, Trend Bible are official trend partners of  Top Drawer London, and develop bespoke trend concepts for their audience twice a year.

We thought we’d share a few ‘behind the scenes’ shots that we’ve taken over the past six weeks while we’ve been building and creating props to make exciting physical interpretations of the trends we think are most important for this winter. You’ll be forgiven for finding them a little abstract- we’re simply trying to pique your curiosity and all will be revealed this Sunday at Earl’s Court, London. See you there!

We provide two future trend seminars over the course of the 3 day show, you can see our trend seminar for Autumn/Winter 2012/13 presented by our Senior Trend Researcher, Jill Hawkins; Sunday 2-3pm, Tuesday 1-2pm. Click here for a full seminar list. In addition to the seminars we conceptualize and create inspirational trend areas for each area of the show; Fashion Accessories, Wellbeing, Kids and Stationery.

The above image shows some of our covered and collaged wheelbarrows (yes! wheelbarrows!) as work in progress, these are going to really come to life in our kids trend area….our stylist and trend editor Anri  Hamilton spent days  crafting these especially for the event. The original collages were made by hand by our in-house print designer Louise Parr.

Above; frames for our fashion accessories trend feature, which covers four important trends for winter 2012.

Please come and see our work, and pick up a FREE product guide at the show which tells you how to buy into each of these looks at Top Drawer, and lists the key stockists. You can also book a FREE retail surgery slot with our senior trend editor Jill Hawkins, advising you on how to make trends right for your company.

Top Drawer, 15-17 January 2012 is a retail trade event which brings together an inspirational showcase of over 700 carefully selected British and international suppliers to the convenient central location of Earls Court, London.

Presented in five easy-to-navigate zones, Gift, Fashion, Stationery &Greetings, Children’s and Wellbeing, Top Drawer is the perfect opportunity to source bestselling products and preview spring 2012 collections. For a full list of suppliers and their contact details see our Exhibitor List.

Opening Hours:

Sunday 15 January: 9.30-18.00
Monday 16 January: 9.30-18.00
Tuesday 17 January: 9.30-17.00

Visionaire

One of Trend Bible’s key looks for spring/summer 2012 is the candy coloured, neon-bright clash of man-made and natural design aesthetics.

The natural, raw materials of wood and hessian complement the femininity of yellow and pink neon plastics and acrylics. Like an ‘80s roller disco at the Young Farmers Club, it somehow works and portrays a fun, vibrant and youthful atmosphere.

The yellows, pinks and contrast of circular, round shapes with sharper edges adds to the playful aesthetic and provides a warming, energetic mood to ease us out of the winter doldrums and into the fresh hope of spring.

To achieve the look in your own home, go for curvaceous, frivolous furniture with accents of bright colour. The January sales are a good place to get the look for less: focus on funky, design-led chairs, round stools and tables combining bare wood with oranges, yellows, pinks and reds. Or try your local tip for salvageable furniture that will look better than new after a slick lick of neon paint. I’ve put together a Wishlist of Colour Fresh Furniture at mydeco.com that embody the bold Visionaire look:

Looking at Trend Bible’s predictions for spring/summer 2012, I’m left feeling positive and excited about the coming year! Forget ill-conceived resolutions of bad habits you’ll never actually give up (are the ‘occasional’ chocolate and red wine dinners really that bad for me?) and look to the coming year planning what you WILL achieve. 2012 is looking bright!

We’d like to thank all of our clients, representatives, subscribers and readers for your continued support through 2011 and we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy 2012.

Image © Olive Loves Alfie

There has been a radical colour and print revolution in children’s design over the past few years that has given way to a shift in the choice of motifs and core colours that have traditionally been associated with boys and girls.  Moving away from the clichéd over use of pastel blue and pink/ pirates and princesses was something that I actively set out to challenge when I opened my store.  Taking this modern approach to styling gives parents new choices whilst allowing children the opportunity to express themselves more freely and to experiment with colour in a way that is in tune with the contemporary family home

I can sense a move away from bold wallpapers to either anaglypta or feature walls in plain colours or the use of more subdued prints.  Giant signs and letters, glittered typographic posters, accents of fluorescents, mirror balls, vintage beading and gold details evoke a bohemian feel with faded glamour of  the vintage circus.   New colours will bring a fresh tropical feeling to homes that juxtapose dramatically against darker shades of grey and black that people will begin to use with more confidence.  We will see colours transend both age and gender boundaries as the division between child and adult spaces becomes more harmonious.  We have just finished developing an Olive Loves Alfie soya based paint range that will give families a new perspective on colour that will be available in January 2012.

Seek out and revive mid-century school furniture like James Leonard’s ESA classroom chairs for children’s rooms.  Make a graphic statement and add a fun and practical design feature by painting the chair backs and the inside of desk lids in blackboard paint to write children’s names on or to give them an unexpected blank canvas.  Have fun with children whilst maximising the impact of colour and creating a sense of order in your home by organising shelves and cupboards into colour groups.  Introduce some depth to your home by painting a wall with matt blackboard paint encouraging creativity and organization. One of my favourite things when I was growing up was an old print tray on the wall of our downstairs loo.  It was home to a collection of tiny things from all over the world that were constantly being rearranged.  I think it gave me an interest in objet trouve, functional and utilitarian art that works so well in a non precious family home. Children are wonderful little collectors so identify something to collect together that can be carried through into a feature in your home that adds colour and a narrative to a space.  We have an on-going collection of badges that we add to an old standard lamp and the walls of our downstairs loo are constantly evolving with a multi coloured sticker collection that tell the story of our travels.

When I opened my store I wanted to find an alternative to the prolific use of licensed characters that were used to market children’s clothing and products.  Instead of surrounding our children with adult conceived characters I wanted to bring back the art of ‘make believe’ that encourages a creative and deeper exploration of the self.   Having an 8 year old daughter I have a particular focus to find a balance between the strong trend towards gender neutral design and one that celebrates modern girls with non clichéd sensibilities.  At Olive Loves Alfie we strive to recapture that magic through imaginative clothing, toys and home wares that combine a strong aesthetic, lasting quality,  progressive use of colour and fair production principals.

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We’re back in January 2012 to bring you some fantastic content from a whole host of guest bloggers.

Following it’s intergration into the London Design Festival last year, Origin: the Contemporary Craft Fair returned again this year, showcasing work from over 200 independent designer makers.

As trend forecasters, we find Origin particularly inspiring as it focuses more on texture and colour rather than direct application to product.

Concluding our round-up of events during London Design Festival, our Home Trends Editor, Anri Hamilton, reports back from Origin, highlighting innovative product across ceramics, furniture, metalwork and glass, to fashion accessories, jewellery and knitwear.

Tribal-Inspired

There were some wonderful examples of mark-making, ikat and traditional African craft techniques being used as inspiration for pattern on textiles and ceramics.

Tribal cultures were referenced for craft and technique, bringing traditional print textile treatments to interesting textured surfaces.

Colour Flash

Monochrome and  neutral palettes were accented with a flash of  vibrant colour  across lighting, ceramics and wall art. Neutral ceramics and earthenware in minimalist shapes were modernized with a tiny but electrifying colour pop, whilst other designs showcased a whole spectrum of colours. Bright, vivid colour brought optimism to the forefront at Origin – designers are creating products with an aim to inspire consumers and provide a much-needed injection of vitality to home interior products.

Texture

Above: ceramics by Piret Kandler 

As we saw at Design Event and designersblock, texture has been a key trend over a cross-section of disciplines during design trade shows this Autumn. At Origin, intricate and raised textures were enhanced by neutral colours – Piret Kandler‘s raised ceramics were presented in natural, colourless neutrals to allow the texture to shine through. Similarly, Gill Wilson‘s intricate Paperworks collection were formed using handmade paper in natural colourways, showcasing the texture, skill and precision of the work.