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“X” Marks The Spot! #17
By Le Vin Chin, with additional material by Ania Dardas
Regular readers of XYMARA.com know that one of our remits is trend research. Our Newsletters contain exclusive trend research papers, our online design magazine, INMYX, contains a regular selection of articles under the category “Tendencies”, our Spotlight section contains regular input from stylists across a whole spectrum of industries on their trend color palettes; and it all culminates in the major releases of our Color Trend Vision concept, wherein we forecast trend colors two to three years into the future for various industries, including architecture, automotive, electronics, packaging and other industrial products and purposes. But do companies look at trending in the right way? Is there a right way to use it? Kevin McCullagh of Plan offered his experiences and tips in a great piece on Core77 recently.
| Of course, there are many other color trending organizations. We featured two associations in our last edition: the Color Marketing Group and the Color Association of the United States. This time, we’d like to highlight two of the professional agencies who offer services in this field. First up, NellyRodi offers styling support and analysis, consulting on design, graphic design, the world of fashion, beauty and lifestyle, alongside sociological analysis of consumer behaviour. | “X” Marks The Spot! in Paris ... ... at the Maison&Objet design fair |
Then there’s Carlin International, which offers strategic communication, trend tracking and brand consultation. Both of them – of course – generate trend color palettes throughout the year to keep their users up-to-date on color directions for the next two to three years’ seasons.
Notes on Design is our featured design site this week. The site is jam-packed with articles on design and designers, under the broad categories of “Inspiration”, “People” and “Resources” and features up-to-the-minute blog entries on current design news items. [Editor’s note: Much like XYMARA.com!]
“X” Marks The Spot! in Paris ... ... at the Musée du Quai Branly | But Notes on Design also offers great support for design careers and education, as befits its affiliation with the Sessions Online School of Design. This interest in presenting services, resources and experience towards, for example, getting gigs, or offering advice on intellectual property, gives Notes on Design a street-level approach to its pieces on the broad and topical design and trend issues of the day. |
Coating 2008, in Indianapolis, USA, from September 23 to 25 at the Indiana Convention Center, promises its visitors it can supply the methodology and information behind the industry’s latest buzzwords: green technology, energy efficiency, cost reduction, quality improvement ... It’s North America’s most comprehensive trade fair for the finishing industry and you can take advantage of the expertise on offer not only for one-to-one meetings but also in the three-day congress that covers diverse subjects such as lean finishing cells, electro-coating in multiple colors, ovens and curing, and many more.
We talked about Gary Hustwit’s worldwide smash, Helvetica, in “X” Marks The Spot! #6 and now he’s back at work on a film with a topic equally dear to our hearts, industrial design. Objectified will chart the stories and the processes behind industrial design, with a truckload of designers being interviewed. The film will only come out in 2009, but we’re already in eager anticipation! But what is “design”? | “X” Marks The Spot! in Paris ... ... at the Centre Culturel Suisse |
Alice Rawsthorn – who would surely have a better idea than most – has written an intriguing paper (“What defies defining, but exists everywhere?” International Herald Tribune, August 17, 2008) on the ways the concept of design is used. Its roles, if you will, or what design does.
Finally, a bit of fun: Yamaha’s au design project features a number of fun concept phone designs. The website’s only in Japanese and takes an age to load, but each model’s animation and concept phone is a joy!