METHODS & PLACES

Some ideas how to start and where to look

3 METHODS

➤ Coolhunting. Observe and interview people who you think are setters.

➤ Extrapolation. Based on your understanding of lifestyle trends and design trend patterns you extrapolate future design drivers.

➤ Delphi panel. Ask group of experts their opinions about future developments.

➤ Combine qualitative with quantitative.

TREND SPOTTING PLACES

➤ Theatre, especially productions in which the costuming, set design, or choreography are important elements.

➤ Travel destinations that involve new concepts in the hospitality industry.

➤ Design schemes featured in major films with exotic locales or set in stylish time periods.

➤ Toys, games, and amusements.

➤ New gadgets, applications and breakthrough technologies.

WEAK SIGNALS

➤ Weak signal is a very early sign of future fashion.

➤ Claims of weak signals are mostly wrong calls since they are difficult to spot and easy to misunderstand.

➤ Weak signal is typically a ridiculous, stupid, intriguing notion, to which others laugh, even aggressively.

➤ Pay attention to overreactions, especially towards unimportant and insignificant.

C O L O U R F O R E C A S T I N G

• colour forecasting is used to optimise operations of whole set of industries, to synchronise manufacturing, design and marketing.

• the color marketing group (cmg, 1962), the color association of the united states (caus, 1915) and intercolor (1963?) are the big associations forecasting colours.

COLOUR

FORWARDS

COLOUR

LOYALS

COLOUR

PRUDENTS

SETTERS MAINSTREAM CONSERVATIVES

Adoption of colours follows pattern:

C O L O U R T I M I N G

• forecasts are published before target season:

• colour- and raw material producers: 4-2 years

• product design: 3-1 years

• in-buyers: 1 year-6 months

• consumers: 3 months

I II IVIII

Intercolourmeeting

Yarn fairs

Cloth fairs

Clothing,interior

fairs

Clothing,interiorstores

December +6 months +6 months +6 months +6 months

Forecasts are refined from raw ideas towards specified information in e.g. four stages.

I N P R A C T I C E

• the official reports (e.g. intercolour colour maps) serve in-house designers as “confirmers” rather than information since the design process has already started and colours chosen when the official report is published. most designers do some forecasting but very few do entirely without “outsourced” forecasting simply because forecasting takes time.

C O L O U R F O R E C A S T I N G I N T E A M

1. current colours + inspiring observations

2. brainstorming session

3. each suggests a colour board

4. team negotiates new colours

5. final set for the season is communicated through organisation.

6. + refining palette against official reports

C O L O U R F O R E C A S T I N G A S S O C I AT I O N

• intercolour members are design and trade professionals. association uses delphi panel.

1. individuals of each country team forecast palettes

2. country teams negotiate country’s palette.

3. country teams meet twice a year, present palettes.

4. mixed country teams negotiate new palettes.

5. new palettes are presented, refined and published 2-4 years before season + updates closer to season.

HTTP://WWW.ICFIN.COM/DOWEBEASYCMS/SIVUSTO/DOKUMENTIT/ARTIKKELIT/MODIN_ICFIN_1314_WEB.PDF

C O L O U R PA L E T T E D E S C R I B E S

1. the exact value (light --- dark)

2. the exact intensity (bright --- dull)

3. (hue + value + intensity = colour)

4. specific names (notation for actual production)

5. inspiring thematic names (“cafe au lait”) communicating

6. theme (luxury), season (autumn), color key (warm), color family (brown), color value (light)

I N D I V I D U A L F O R E C A S T I N G

• For motivated and intensively visual person it is possible to produce seasonal colour map based on one’s own personal likings.

• Some have made this business, e.g. colourist Heti Gervis (product design and colour consultancy Hargreaves-Gervis) whose “approach to colour is developed out of her own personal aesthetic.”

• “ I lay out my colour palettes as a series of stripes, and whereas a big company such as Trend Union might offer 50 new colours for the season for the designer to work from, I will give eight colours that all work together.” “I put colours that go together, that look new, rather than saying, as the trend forecasters might, ‘this season it has to be red for this or that reason’ ”.

• Heti Gervis does 4 palettes a year and it takes 3 weeks to work out the direction where the new colours will be heading. (from Marnie 2007)

• More relaxed and social approach: colorlovers.com >>