HOLE IN the WALL

  Promoting their latest car Adam, the major automobile manufacturer Vauxhall encourages the viewer to ‘be himself’, what according to the ad means, to be creative, be an artist, have a tattoo, be different!  There wouldn’t be anything wrong about it, if the lifestyle trend based on the importance of expressing one’s personality, wasn’t fading away. Today, we live in a new digital / smart, and in fact, more uniform era. In 2013 people desire to be perceived as intelligent rather than creative, even if that means to look alike.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Vauxhall

That takes me to another point and that is, what have skiing and the business degree in common?

The ‘boring but sophisticated’ skiing replaced freestyle snowboarding as the sales of snowboards have dropped by 21% over the last four years while the sales of ski equipment have climbed by 3%, according to the Snowsport Industries America.  Higher education gains on popularity, despite the fact, that the tuition fees rose by two-thirds in the last 5 years.  35 023 students applied to Harvard and 17 000 to Oxford in 2013, with the average tuition fee cost being $52,652 per year in the US and £9000 in the UK.  Even this drastic figures do not stop students from applying to universities, because in the smart era nothing seems more reasonable than having an academic degree.  Art programmes are not in such demand as they used to be, because the Class of 2016 prefers to major in the business administration, biology and politics. Being smart surpasses being creative.

And our looks have changed too. 1 in 3 Britons and 32% of Americans regret having a tattoo, according to the British Association of Dermatologists and The Patient’s Guide. In 2013, 90% of employers stated that tattoo is no longer perceived as a ‘part of your personality’ and visible ink is undesirable in the hiring process.  Piercings, low baggy pants and heavy make-up are definitely out of fashion. In 2013 we aim to look chic and professional, dressed in the smart clothes.

Spending the spare time in libraries have become highly popular over the last years, mostly due to the free access to the Internet and variety of e-books and online magazines. Many hotels are building libraries in order to provide their guest with a ‘smarter solution’ how to spend their vacation.

In conclusion, whether you like it or not, 2013 means smart, and this trend is not going anywhere in the near future.

SledX1 

Hungarian student Gazdag Erno makes sledging more attractive with the new SledX1, designed especially for the use in lying position. These elegant sleds, with an extra light wooden structure, are available in five sizes for users of different heights and weights.

The Futuristic Game

The Futuristic Game, designed by Zsuzsanna Petrovics, is a great educational tool that tests your strategic thinking, attention to detail and problem-solving skills. Participants must place the coloured parts into the sphere, according to the description written on provided cards. The task is to create certain patterns by putting the colour-coded cones into the right section of the playing field, while keeping the 3D half sphere in balance.

Spitze

Czech designer Daniela Chroustova cuts and blends the wool with polyester to create a material that evokes the traditional lace pattern but at the same time allows the designer to create unusual silhouettes. This kind of textile is suitable for producing customised clothing as well as accessories and decor items and reduces the time of the garment production, because some steps can be omitted due to the unique qualities of the material.

They call us Gen- Y, Millennial, Tech-Savvy or Slash Slash Generation. Doesn’t matter how you name it, the meaning is the same. We are a group of young people that define ourselves by diversity of our experiences and passions, having not one but several identities lived on various social networks and being given almost infinite options to choose from when purchasing a new item (from chocolate bar to buying a house). Nisha Gupta, Youth Connection Strategic Storyteller at Saatchi & Saatchi New York, summed it up when she said that weare like ‘’little kids in an ice cream shop; so many wonderful flavours, so hard to pick between them all!’’

You probably going to agree with me that being a new brand on the market may not be very easy as acquiring new customers means coming up with creative ideas that must not only attract the attention but also convince customers to purchase the product and persuade them to come back.  Despite the high unemployment rates affecting Europe and the US at the moment, Millennium Generation keeps spending average $ 700 to 800 a month on discretionary expenses (according to the Forbes Magazine).  Psychologists and sociologists claim that growing up with the insecurity tied to terrorism and 9-11 attacks, we focus on instant gratification; living in the moment, often not thinking about ‘’what tomorrow will bring’’.

 Thus, if you want to run a successful business you have to keep in mind that Generation Y wants to learn as much as possible but have fun at the same time. Browsing hundreds of websites daily, we are always on a hunt for new adventure and we can get bored very easily. I talked to three entrepreneurs based in Rotterdam, Netherlands who have developed successful business strategies in the effort to keep up with current trends in art industry and whose marketing communication, to a large extent, relies on creativity and innovation.

One of them is Alexandre Furtado, founder of Damage Playground store. It was one of the first things that caught my eye on my trend spotting mission as this place is more a creative hub than a typical shop. Alexandre got an idea to create a multifunctional space, where his customers would be able to buy not only clothing, but also books, furniture, music records and decor items from Europe, US or Africa. Damage Playground stands for the new approach to design by re-using space and therefore the area is partly being used as a gallery and occasionally happens to be transformed into temporary cinema or a club where you can have a drink on a Friday night.  Well, who doesn’t want to buy some nice clothing, watch a movie and have a drink? It is even better if you can do it all under one roof surrounded by like-minded people.

 At the time when fewer people are visiting museums, cultural adviser Johan Idema came up with an innovative marketing concept called Museum Minutes. The project, currently on display in Kunsthal Rotterdam, aims to extend an average time people spend looking at art (which is normally down to 9 seconds). Museum Minutes brings modern art into the spotlight in a unique way by allowing you to exercise on a treadmill or relax in a chair while appreciating the masterpieces and listening to the podcasts as original as hip hop and rap songs about Frank Stella’s paintings.

And finally, to keep the traveling and sightseeing more fun, Slovakian-born, Rotterdam-based entrepreneur Lubomir Okruhlica came up with what he calls ‘’Walking Monuments’’. It is a small handy guide-book that will take you through the desired city, pinpointing important facts about the history and culture of the town, but thanks to its interactive features it keeps you interested ‘’to stay in the game’’. After you visit all the places and solve the jigsaw inside the book, you will get rewarded at the local restaurant or cafe.

Slash Slash Generation wants to be educated and entertained at the same time and it is nice to see that many entrepreneurs invest to developing innovative promotional tools that push the boundaries of traditional marketing.  The question is ‘’what’s going to be next?’’

As we are going through the digital era there has been a lot of buzz lately around light-up clothing.  Probably it won’t surprise you if I tell you that LED fashion and textiles generating their own electricity or smart  materials that can power up your  phone or MP3 player are expected to be the next ‘must have’ products. Also, it’s no surprise that the eco-fabrics together with water-resistant apparel are certainly increasing in the popularity and have been forecasted as one of the biggest trends for 2013/2014. Despite all the mentioned above, this article is going to be about textiles, conductive fibres and green technologies. This time combined all together in the effort to develop new intelligent materials that will change your way of life.

Wandering the streets of Eindhoven, Netherlands looking for some emerging trends in the contemporary art at the Dutch Design Week 2012; nothing has caught my eye as much as the exhibition of former students at the University of Technology Eindhoven.  Wearable Senses is the name of the project that came up as an outcome of years of research on interactive systems that can be incorporated into clothing while remaining fashionable, recyclable and eco-friendly at the same time.  The result is not one but multiple objects that combine traditional craftsmanship with an innovative technology. Let’s talk about a few of them.

Textile Origami Bag is one of the latest designs of TU/e student Meerthe Heuvelings. One could be mistaken that it is just another typical female purse that can be easily purchased in any high-street store because of the modern but modest design of the item. Textile Origami Bag differs itself from other products by its ability to ‘’grow’’ and to adapt to your body according to your movements.  As a proud owner of this bag you can also adjust its design to your own desires. Furthermore, you don’t have to worry about harming the environment as it can be created using fully recyclable materials.

Even more fun is In2Waco – an interactive wall covering designed as a decor item for pubs, clubs and lounge bars. This item is able to perceive an external event and communicate the information to bystanders. By reading beats per minute and calculating the capacity of people per square meter it can indicate the music genre playing at the specific club or trigger people to come inside. All of that is simply done by inflating and deflating In2Waco air cushions hanging on the wall near the main entrance.  This product can be also used as a decor item when attached to the diaphragm pump what allows you to program numerous variants of different shapes and patterns the cushions will move.

Last but not least is the Soft Interiors project by Paula Kassenaar. Tiny wires are woven inside a lightweight semi-translucent material. The cloth has the ability to generate and store its own electricity, giving about four hours of light when fully charged. One could argue that this is just another LED design but Soft Interiors is also a multi-functional product that can be used as a curtain, fashion accessory or decor item.

Not only that the Tu/e students are emerging talents to watch but also these design projects indicate the new era of ‘’perfect smart textiles’’ that have the ability to fuse functionality with high-end fashion, innovation and sustainability. 

http://wearablesenses.net/

There has always been some kind of artistic obsession with the human body.  Different shapes, silhouettes, skin colours as well as history, social norms and myths tied with this topic have been the main source of inspiration through decades.  21^st century brings no difference; body and sexuality still fascinate us. What’s new is the way this concept is portrayed in today’s society. Modern art brings us new image of the human body, which is less serious and more fun. Let me introduce you few artists who are being judged for blurring boundaries between art and pornography. Their controversial work made them famous, admired and often criticised.

Dian Hanson, known as ‘’sexy book editor’’ is an American artist specialising in pornography.  She worked as an editor and writer for various magazines. As she says, she has always been interested in sexual and psychological peculiarities. Her aim is to challenge difficult subjects, figure out the psychology behind it and get the best material for her readers.  She is an author of The Big Book of Breasts, The Big Book of Legs, The Big Book of Pussy and The Big Butt Book.  One may think that her art is a bit shallow, but her collection of photographs is backed up with years of research and practise. No wonder that these books are best sellers with great reviews from critics and high ratings from customers. You would be mistaken if you thought that these books mean to dishonour female body. The purpose is to celebrate the nudity and beautiful curves.   

Bas Kosters is an Amsterdam-based fashion designer, who caught the public eye with his eccentric style. He is also known as ‘anti-fashionista’ who challenges fashion norms and tastes of the audience. His mission is to explore the definition of beauty and to make outstanding clothes with a strong message. His latest collection called UGLY is inspired by artificial ugliness and weird aesthetics.  The most desired pieces of this line are ‘’penis pants and t-shirts’’ made out of unusual materials with genital-inspired prints.  These items are really one-of-a-kind pieces with prices as £120 for a pair of trousers or £330 for a jacket.  The main message behind this collection is to challenge the beauty boundaries of the human body and also to lighten up our wardrobes.

 Brooklyn-based photographer Henry Hargreaves is known mostly for his books 3D Breast Book and 3DD Deluxe. He understands the world we live in today and makes his art very up-to-date by publishing these books in a 3D format. Images appear as 3-dimensional when viewed through the included special glasses, using the process of anaglyph imaging. These books are celebrating women of all shapes and sizes, but the main purpose of the book is simple - ‘’to have fun’’.

We can see that ‘nudity as an art’ is more light and fun these days in comparison with classical portrayal of artists such as Leonardo da Vinci.  What is important is to pay closer attention to the messages behind the artwork and to see how these pieces represent and mirror the world we live in today. This is the only way to understand how art influences our lives and how this will transform into future changes in lifestyles and trends.

‘’TO ME FAIR FRIEND YOU NEVER CAN BE OLD FOR AS YOU WERE WHEN FIRST YOUR EYE I EY’D. ONE LOVE.  (W. Shakespeare, Sonnet 104)

LOVE as a synonym of happiness, sadness; excitement, madness, beauty and hatred. Love has always been part of our lives that creates the best and the worst moments in our lives and unforgettable memories. One can fall in love with people, places, art, nature, music…you choose.  All of the above at once is expressed in the unique eyewear collection by Austrian designer Andy Wolf called nothing else than ‘’One Love’’.

The combination of precise craftsmanship with high-quality materials and attention to the detail makes the glasses one-of-a-kind pieces .The cooperation between the designer and  Mark&Julia  ‘’retro’’ brand made one of the best show at Vienna Fashion Week 2012. Katharina  Plattner, designer and managing partner of Andy Wolf, explains that each piece is made with love what is apparent in the use of innovative colour palettes and design finishes.  Retro chic/ modern/ timeless is the style of the brand, whose products are sought after by teenage as well as 70-year old customers.

If you missed the Vienna Fashion Week you can still buy the glasses at Hall of Frames in Stuttgart (21-22/10/2012) or Hong Kong Optical Fair in Hong Kong (7-9.11/2012).