Where design trends come from
We all want to know what the future holds. Many of us rely on horoscopes that claim to reveal the coming year. Similarly, designers scramble on the web to interpret design trends and tendencies in any field by reading the stars, the flight of birds or as the aurispics did by applying the ancient art of divination by eviscerating the previous year’s trends trying to figure out what has not yet been totally fulfilled and is therefore worth reintroducing in the year to come. I confess that I, too, read a number of reports on the year’s trends only to be confused and discover to my surprise that the Pantone of the year is purple. Which then I don’t like that Pantone of purple at all and I doubt I will ever propose it in any project.
This year, instead of going crazy on trends to burn everyone else on the clock so that I could say, “I told you it was a trend,” I decided that I would wait a few months to see if indeed the ones I had identified as trends actually are. More than anything else this year I would like to investigate not the trend itself but what are the reasons why it was formed and came to life. Yes, as long as every year we think that a trend is self-created or descends on the designer world like a deus ex machina but that is not the case.
Unfortunately, we cannot ignore the fact that for 2 years we have been living in a space-time bubble that never happened before, which takes the infamous name of Covid-19 emergency, and although we were completely unprepared, we were fortunate to be able to become experts in remote activities. This has brought about many social and individual behaviour changes that have, for better or worse, brought about a 5- to 7-year leap forward in digital transformation. The vast majority of the Western world thinks that our lives now depend on technology, and indeed the virtual domain has become an all-encompassing space where we can access the purchase of all kinds of goods, education, entertainment, community building, and wellness, health, work, and more. In essence, we have replicated in the virtual our routines, interests and obsessions that even virtually continue to haunt us. Could this be the prelude to the next revolution named the Metaverse?
01. Metaverse
As tedious as it may be to talk about the Metaverse, it is hard to shy away from one of the keywords of the moment. We have many ways to define the metaverse, the most quoted being New Internet, Democratized Virtual Society, Convergence of Physical and Virtual Realities, Persistent Virtual Spaces, Digital Twin of Our World, or perhaps it is just a new business opportunity. We are witnessing a phenomenon where the line between gaming and the entertainment industry is blurring. According to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics firm, the video game market is estimated to double to become a more than $300 billion industry by 2025. According to the company’s latest report, “Video Games,” the market will grow from $131 billion in 2018 to $305 billion in 2025. To better understand these figures, we only need to consider that it is three times the figure of the global movie industry, which was $101 billion in 2019. Can we safely say that the multiplatform game Fortnite is the new form of entertainment comparable to the sum of the Hollywood industry and Meta channels? This new world that promises to be a new revolution is already taking shape in style and design. The imagery of an immersive digital world must of necessity come to terms with cinematic references. We are currently translating even unknowingly the Metaverse through these visual and aesthetic references and archetypes. We are witnessing the proliferation of aesthetic trends characterized by the use of vibrant, glowing colours reminiscent of the aesthetics of the settings of films such as Tron. The boundaries and semantics are all yet to be defined, and although the shapes that are used are abstract, rounded, and sometimes borderless as if to emphasize the freedom that potentially characterizes an environment in which there are no boundaries. The textures used are more like holograms and the interfaces use design trends such as:
Glassmorphism.
It stems from Neumorphism which imitated extruded plastic surfaces originating from a single layer. Glassmorphism, on the other hand, uses different semantics that are manifested in the use of transparent multi-layers with a frosted glass effect that floats in space without boundaries. The use of bright colours serves to highlight the blurred transparency effect. The ability to see through elements and layers allows users to perceive and establish, through depth, the hierarchy of elements that characterize the interface. In essence, objects are layered as might happen in the real world.
Abstract & Round shapes
A metaverse is a place where boundaries are blurred and can be moved and interpreted at will. Forms are abstract and insubstantial. There is a predisposition not to take a clear position toward geometry so the tendency is to use round shapes that are not defined in detail and change in both shape and colour.
Holo & Neon
Interfaces in the Metaverse take the form of holographic elements floating in a vacuum whose hierarchy is given by the use of overlapping layers. The cinematic references here are many. Probably the challenge to overcome here is to create a language that is easily understood and that is accessible. The learning curve of this new place to interact runs the risk of being very high and excluding all those who are not used to interacting with complex systems even though the possibility of imitating reality is enormous. It is up to us see to create a place that facilitates or complicates interaction.
3D
Of course, in a place where anything is possible, the 3D design trend that has been accompanying us for years even in a two-dimensional world evolves and further asserts itself in the metaverse that was created to be enjoyed in 3D. As it offers unlimited possibilities to designers, it gives room for anything imaginable. We are probably looking out the door at the world that can potentially develop in the metaverse. From hyper-realistic 3D visuals that blur the line between digital and physical, to highly creative mashups with 2D elements. The partnership between 2D and 3D will perhaps be the point of convergence and contact of 2 worlds.
Digital Existences
We may not have realized it yet but the door connecting the 3D metaverse and the 2D digital world is already open and as might happen in the best 80s horror movies some of it is already among us. For the past few years, we have been witnessing the emergence of digital personas who are de facto Digital Existences living on social channels and impacting the daily lives, purchases, and thinking of their followers. There are various examples of virtual influencers, and their genesis closely resembles fictional characters in movies and books that come to life through the joint work of a team of CGI designers, stylists, and copywriters. Miquela wears clothes from companies such as Proenza Schouler, Coach and Balenciaga, and recommends hair products from OUAI to “keep my locks silky smooth.” She has more than 3 million followers-most of whom are Millennials and Gen Zers. Miquela also supports social causes such as Black Lives Matter and collaborated with Prada on a campaign for Milan Fashion Week. She has also released a few songs on Spotify.
You can follow her on Instagram, Discord, Twitter, Spotify and in the virtual villa.
02. Virtual possession
A digital version of Gucci’s Dionysus bag with a bee created for the Roblox marketplace sold for $4,115, surpassing the price of the physical accessory.
The virtual bag was on sale at the Gucci Garden, an experience created through a collaboration between the Kering Group and the online gaming platform. Here visitors could meet, have their avatars try on various items, and make purchases. In essence, buying digital clothes or accessories is not unlike the way we buy clothes in the real world as a form of self-expression or status. We are probably at the beginning of this trend but one that already sees several brands producing virtual-only products for a market that is going to define itself. Luxury after all has always winked at the virtual that people use to somehow augment who we are not always related to function and utility. If many luxury brands have accepted the challenge of parading in parallel on physical and virtual catwalks there are some brands that are born to develop only virtual products. Auroboros is one of some brands that develop only virtual garments, thanks to digital catwalks and immersive experiences while also offering users shopping experiences, thanks to virtual spaces where brands have the ability to sell both physical and digital items.
Virtual worlds do not abide by the laws of real-world physics, so it is possible to develop new levels of creativity, especially in clothing design using materials beyond fabric, such as water or steam. Take Zero10, for example, a platform where you can try on digital clothes, make purchases, and use them to create content on social media. There is also DressX, which allows people to upload real photos on which to imprint purchased clothes. Alongside the marketplace, for virtual clothes, there is an infinite universe of architecture that allows experimentation with forms and concepts for new spaces that have a social function. It is essential that those who will design these spaces have skills in both physical and virtual space design to be able to express to the fullest the possibilities that these two worlds offer. The opportunity presented is to create meeting points that can trigger relationships in both worlds.
03. Saving the world is not an option
Today’s environmental challenges require all of us to take responsibility for the direct impact of our work on the planet. For this, we need to change our mindsets, ask questions and devise solutions that focus on social and environmental sustainability. Every time we see a web page, check our email or check the Instagram wall we are producing Co2 and it is more than we can imagine.
According to some estimates, technology gadgets, the web and the systems that support them are responsible for about 4% of global gas emissions, roughly equal to those of commercial aviation. This is because 54% of the world’s population, about 4 billion people, use the web. Despite this, carbon footprints are still excluded from conversations about reducing emissions. Thinking about the end-user has helped us improve the experience, thinking about the impact of a product or service helps us improve the impact on our planet. Some examples of products with limited impact are there and can be counted among the virtuous examples. They do not solve the problem of course and are sometimes pointed to as marketing projects rather than a real desire to have a smaller footprint. Consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious every year. Most of us are willing to choose green solutions on a daily basis. It seems that it is possible to incorporate this “eco” aspect into digital products.
Italian design duo Formafantasma has unveiled an essential website designed to reduce carbon emissions. Designed in collaboration with Italian agency Studio Blanco, the website features reduced images, essential typefaces that define its look & feel, and a logo created with standard Unicode symbols. The homepage is visually and functionally inspired by the essentiality of Wikipedia. Larger images require more energy to download; the site initially loads small images that users then have the option to enlarge if they wish. The visual language of the site was inspired by early websites but was chosen for energy efficiency and not to follow graphic design trends. Visitors can choose to switch to a dark mode with a black background instead of a white background, while the home page features a simple table of contents with no images. In this way, the site requires less energy to load on computers and smartphones, reducing carbon emissions. In addition, the site is hosted by GreenGeeks, a platform that uses renewable energy to power its servers.
Volkswagen Canada is making web browsing more energy efficient as part of the positioning of its new all-electric ID4 crossover vehicle through an initiative called “The Carbon-Neutral Net.” It is doing so by reducing the amount of data embedded in pages with a web experience focused on its sustainability efforts, reducing them to the bare essentials, with only black-and-white text and images recreated with ASCII text. The pages are designed to require less energy to transfer information, thus reducing the digital footprint from an average standard of 1.75 grams of CO2 to 0.022 Grams.
Browsers are also adapting to this trend.
Brave blocks cookies, and ads, saves Mb connection, is faster, saves time and pays in cryptocurrency if you see ads.
What can we do about it? First of all, become aware that as designers we do not always have a positive impact, especially on the planet, and when designing we can use a style that does not compromise with the quality of design but pushes on some styles or solutions that go in the direction of sustainability.
Huge Type Design
Typography can be a wonderful expression of the personality and vision of a design project. However, choosing a typographic style can be difficult, so it is necessary to know how to wisely use styles and trends without overdoing it so as to achieve a design in which the lettering is also an aesthetic element as well as conveying a message.
New Grids
Designing digital products that are compatible with lower C02 consumption without falling into banality can be done and it is enough to use simple structures made from a combination of text and images but that through an unusual and asymmetric grid can be interesting to non-trivial. There are many such examples and they usually pertain to brands that are alternative to the mainstream but with a very powerful aesthetic value. So one has to wonder why most brands do not embrace this form of design and combine being aesthetically enjoyable, current, and simultaneously.
Minimalism & Old Style
This drift toward minimalism and simplicity of digital products in addition to improving their usability and decreasing the cognitive load of end-users might raise some perplexity in marketers accustomed to other aesthetic canons. There are very simple and effective ways to approach custom while keeping the digital product minimal and appropriate to the environment. One successful example is the texture that mimics the folds of paper typical of billboard posters used by the online magazine NYLON.
04. Remote / New Normal
In today’s always-on work environment, 84% of Millennials said they have experienced burnout in their jobs.
The generation most affected is the under-35 generation also according to research by Bain & Company, which shows that young Italian workers are the most stressed in Europe and among the most stressed globally after Japanese and Brazilians.
By 2028 about 60% of managers or directors will belong to the millennial generation or Generation Z, and surely having experienced such a negative work environment will force changes. It is unlikely that these future managers will want to persevere in the direction of the current working world that still has the imprint of previous generations that based on the data we are seeing today has not built a healthy environment for the next generation.
Now more than ever, companies are open to the idea of hiring a remote workforce, and it is predicted that by 2028, 73% of all teams will have remote workers. Many argue that people who entered the workforce between 2020 and 2022 have never experienced a real work environment. But what does reality mean? Perhaps in light of the current situation, reality needs to be rewritten. Probably in the near future, we will see a new form of supply given by digital platforms born to manage the remote work of teams. The end of the pandemic, at least in the West, will decree the beginning of a class struggle between employers and workers because the temptation to get everyone back in attendance the old way will be great. The history of labour is now all to be written. We only hope that not only profit-related logic will prevail but that our superstar entrepreneurs can think about the welfare of business holistically.
If social networks are a mirror of our society then we need to start worrying. As of early December 2021, TikTok’s hashtag #mentalhealth had 21.6 billion views. How should we interpret this trend?
