Homebuildlife Macro TrendsAutumn/winter 2014/15

Moving on from N.D.A., this trend looks at what is real or genuine. We live in an image-driven world, with every detail of our existence documented in photos, which are then circulated worldwide through social media and the internet. These images evolve and are manipulated through filters — enhancing, dissecting, deconstructing, distorting, interweaving, tearing apart, stripping back and layering the originals. These photo manipulations are affecting the way we think about reality, and about design, causing us to question the value of “real” and “authentic” scenarios and products. What is an image and what is an object? What is the “real” real?

What’s driving this trend?

This search for authenticity has lead to a recent debate sparked by the New York Times on the validity of the street shot as a representation of “real” fashion. The line between the person and the pose, the authentic and the fake is increasingly blurred.

PERSON/POSE

What’s driving this trend?

Data becomes art as artists use information, intelligence and statistics to drive a new design direction. Artist Laurie Frick creates large-scale installations based on collections of her own personal data.

What’s driving this trend?

An anti-Instagram aesthetic is emerging, with designers and artists experimenting with creations that look unreal but are in fact unaltered, un-doctored, and undis-turbed. #nofilter is a Tumblr where people showcase images that are defiantly unaltered by digital filters.

Research & Reference

Hermès scarves by Hiroshi Sugimoto

Inspired by the prismatic colour seen in Polaroid photographs taken in the morning sun, Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto has created a collection of silk square scarves for Hermès. Each limited-edition scarf shows a different colour gradient, from brilliant yellow to rich blue, and asks the enigmatic question 'why must science always cut up the whole into little pieces when it identifies specific attributes?'

Arik Levy: Nothing Is Quite As It Seems

In Arik Levy’s Paris exhibition, Nothing Is Quite As It Seems, the designer presents a range of pieces that play with light, shadow and space. The faceted shape, Levy’s signature, is used across the exhibition, with structures formed from non-regular geometries and paintings featuring pixelated images.

Research & Reference

Machine Knit Glitch Blankets by Phillip Stearns

Images captured by intentionally short-circuited digital cameras are used to create these soft accessories by Phillip Stearns. The glitched photographs taken by Stearns are woven or knitted into photo blankets, turning cold digital glitches into warm, emotionally engaging textiles.

www.phillipstearns.wordpress.com

Reflection Range by Kim Thome

RCA graduate Kim Thome’s Reflection Range uses glass and two-way mirrors to create bold, colourful designs and visual questions for the viewer to explore. Tables, mirrors and cabinets are decorated with fluoro colour and layered geometric patterns, adding a depth of illusion to their surfaces.

www.kimthome.com

A playful approach to geometric shapes and facets brings a new sense of space and proportion to objects and interiors. Products and places become true experiences.PLAYFUL PERSPECTIVES

MOOD

The old is layered with the new, as the infinite pixelation play and pixel craft from S/S 14’s New Digital Aesthetic evolves into endless pattern possibilities in multiple dimensions.

NEO PIXEL

MOOD

Through multicoloured ombré patterns, complex colour is created through plays of light and material. Materials transmit and distort light and colour, to magical effect.COLOUR FILTERS

MOOD

Digital glitches move from mistakes to masterpieces. We even interpret nature in a Photoshopped way, and it looks magnificent.GLITCH REALITY

MOOD

Optical patterns create mesmerising illusions and stripes evolve into three-dimensional forms.ILLUSIONS

MOOD

Kaleidoscopic impressions are created with fine threads, iridescent materials, and tricks of digital colour and light.SPECTRUM

MOOD

Reflections, shapes and mirrors make us wonder what is real - through the power of illusion.REFLECTING REALITY

MOOD

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Colour

Mid-tones sit alongside ultra-bright RGB hues, and ultra-shades of colours, such ultra-violet and ultra-blue, are key. Deepest, darkest blue replaces black, while silver mirror effects create new perspectives.

COLOUR

PANTONE® 18-3840

PANTONE® 19-3953 PANTONE® 11-4800 PANTONE® 18-3945 PANTONE® 19-4022

PANTONE® 13-0752 PANTONE® 17-6153

PANTONE® 16-5515 PANTONE® 18-1662 PANTONE® 18-4252 PANTONE® 17-1462

PANTONE® 18-2333

Key Colours

Core

Directional

Accents

KEY COLOUR

Colour Usage

Colours shine through the dark in ultra-hues that go beyond fluorescent.SATURATED SHADES

COLOUR USAGE

RGB hues bring a playful, post-Memphis feel to the season.DIGITAL BASICS

COLOUR USAGE

Geometrics are treated in 2D, 3D and transparent ways.MULTI-DIMENSIONAL COLOUR

COLOUR USAGE

Mid-tones and vivid hues create plays of perspective.OPTICAL BRIGHTS

COLOUR USAGE

Concentrated and diluted tones result in a wonderfully warm and happy effect.MIXED TONALITIES

COLOUR USAGE

Pockets of warm brights liven up cool winter whites.POP UP

COLOUR USAGE

Matt chromePainted surfaces (i.e. wood and canvas) with flat, minimal textureNatural woodWide-weave corduroyPlain cotton weavesShort-pile velvetMetallic fabrics & fibresIridescent weaves

Coloured glass & perspexClear glassFrosted glassMirrorColoured concreteUltra-shiny or ultra-matt ceramicsSuper-shiny metal with colour-spectrum finishesWater droplets magnify surface texture

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Key materials

KEY MATERIALS

ReflectiveIridescentHigh-shineMatt metalMatt colourTransparent Frosted

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Key finishes

KEY FINISHES

Paused & interrupted patterns3D renderingMagnified patternsOmbré shading from neutrals to brightsShards of lightLayered patterns

Pointillist pixelsInfinite geometricsOptical illusionsManipulated, marbled spectrumsPhoto-real vs digitally-renderedIrregular glitch

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Key patterns

KEY PATTERN

Elliptical 3D-2D play on shapeFlat-packedFine frames

Irregular facets3D pixelsFaceted shapes layered with patternBoxyConcentric circles & squares

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Key shapes

KEY SHAPE

Key takeawaysThe value of “real” and “authentic” images and products

Dissecting everyday life into facts and data

Art and design that celebrate glitches and ruptures

Youth move towards images that are not manipulated - an anti-Instagram aesthetic

Commercial products explore the idea of realism and illusion

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KEY TAKEAWAYS