View on Trends
Human behavior is defined by several factors—the natural and the nurtured. The natural comes from genetic make-up, which is also derived from the inherited behavior of its predecessor. Meanwhile, the nurtured comes from the environment to which the individuals are exposed to. When we talk about trends, which many organizations try to conclude every year, it is a reading of general development, change in a situation or in the way that people are behaving. This means there’s a possibility of shifting what would be inherited and exposed to these individuals.
Pantone annually published their Color of the Year. Very Peri is the Color of the Year 2022.
With trend forecasting or research organizations revealing their insights to the world, it’s to help companies or any endeavors navigate the society. To create strategies that will help sustain businesses or help them enter a market. However, in using those insights, businesses essentially want to push the consumption of their products. Although this can be viewed as a way to keep the economy going or growing, trends should be responded critically in the era of ecological sustainability. With the buying of products comes waste that should be managed and the carbon footprint of production and distribution that needs to be retributed.
For us, certain ethics need to be developed and followed in responding to trends.
Critical Assessment
As we mentioned above, trends should be faced with a critical mind. Although the trend research organization has done its job in trying to formulate trends and critical insights meticulously, we should not forget to always question it.
Media clippings of L’officiel Design, 2019, displaying selection of products from Milan Design Week.
Creatives, especially designers, should always believe that everything is an assumption because these trends are guidance. None is one size fits all, and not all trends should be followed. There are geographical factors that can override these trends, where the society of one neighborhood can be highly different. We should come back to the tools we’ve carried in our profession: to set our creation intention and goals and prove our assumptions.
Society First, Businesses Second
What if following trends means you have to scrap hundreds of meters of your products? What if following trends means you have to lie about the value of your products? Trends often create a sense of Fear of Missing Out, both among consumers and producers. As consumers, we often drop the things we have in hand to get our hands on a new product that we probably don’t need yet. Just because it’s on-trend. Unaware of the impact of our hasted consumption, we create waste faster than the world can manage. As the producer, we must consider how the impact on society in the longer term would be? If it engulfed society with calamities in the end, are we still following that?
In addition, the producers often forget to continue crafting themselves to be better, more efficient, effective, or more usable. Just because trends say something totally different from what we’re doing. This brings us to the third ethic towards the trend we’ve considered.
Learning and Honing Our Own Identity
Let’s assume you, the reader, have a packaged food business. Imagine if you’re to follow trends every year, you have to change your product packaging every year. If last year’s trend says people are into bold illustration and typography, and people like hyper minimalism this year, should you follow this and create confusion for your consumer about your identity? What is your personality? Who are you serving, really? And what is your value?
This happens with brands that still haven't reflected on themselves and understood who they actually are. It’s indeed part of your responsibility as the producer to fulfill demands, but to learn about yourself is as essential in the longer term.
