trendwatching.com is set to release their 2008 Trend Report on September 28, 2007. The report has an early-bird price of $499, which is just ridiculously cheap. The trends are primarily social and cultural, i.e., they don’t cover significant technology trends like cloud computing, mobility, and richer interfaces. The focus on broader trends helps identify directions for larger brands. The list of historical trends is just a great summary of emerging consumer trends. Combined with Springwise, these are great tools for understanding people and the next big thing.
2008 Trendwatching Table of Contents
- Eco-Embedded
- Ecommerce, The Sequel
- Story Suppliers
- Really Real
- Vicarious Consumption
- Virtual Value
- Uber Obscure & The Next Small Thing
- Edited/Curated By
- Meconomy
- Happynomics
- The Global Brain
- Forever Trends
- Nations Lite
- Insperience Economy
- Status Spheres
- Faster Fashion
- Brand Bulters
- Acce$$
- Snack Culture
“Great design always connects with people. Designers inspire, provoke, validate, entertain and provide utility for people. To truly connect, designers need to have compassion and empathy for their audiences. Designers need to understand the relationship between what they produce and the meaning their product has for others. And they need to observe the people they are designing for in their own environments.” – Cheskin
There are a lot of insights in the trend reports. The trendwatching.com report really provides a compact way to interact with the detailed ethnographic, sociological and economic data. Cheskin describe the sharing of insights as the final outcome of ethnography research.
The insights that are generated through ethnographic research are useful to the whole team and to the client's whole organization. Storytelling and information design can be used to communicate the value of the work and the possibilities it holds for creating something wonderful. – An Ethnography Primer [PDF]
Storytelling is an art. I think it’s time to read up on using it as a tool in business.