Design Directions

Translating consumer trends into actionable designs, colour palettes and materials.

Biofabricated Futures

A revolutionary sustainability breakthrough, biofabrication is the engineering of biological products. This report explores its market evolution and future potential in transforming materials to drive commercial success

Design Directions

Design Directions

Glitch

Designers are taking inspiration from digital glitches and re-interpreting mistakes and malfunctions on-screen into details in textiles, graphics a...

Design Directions

We See Beauty

For many beauty brands, social responsibility is a way of doing business. For We See Beauty, it is its business.The project, encompassing a charita...

New York : Brooklyn : Brandstanding

Design Directions

Geo Luxe

An artful high-low use of materials is influencing luxury product and interior design.

Interiors : High Low : Culture

Design Directions

The 2063 Project

Sunday lunch is a time-honoured tradition in the UK. And today more people are making sure that the meat they buy is free-range and that their vege...

Food : The Rebel Dining Society : Insects

Design Directions

Kinetic Nature

The poetic properties of nature are being emulated through kinetic design.

Weather : Sound : Senses

Design Directions

The Scent of Space

Unless you have a few hundred thousand Earth dollars, euros or pounds in the bank, you may never experience the smell of space.But Dr Marek Kukula,...

Perfume : Factional : Edu-tail

Design Directions

Milan 2013: Part 2

Designers at this year’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile experimented with integrating novel functions into intelligently crafted products. LS:N G...

Furniture : Lighting : Science

Design Directions

Passport to Sparkle

Finding customers is one thing, but keeping them is another. At present, Millennials – those born between 1982 and 1991 who have an estimated spend...

Tactile : RO New York : Passport To Sparkle

Design Directions

Milan 2013: Part 1

Colour and vibrancy were prevalent at this year’s Milan’s Salone Internazionale del Mobile. Scientific processes as well as rough and ready product...

Furniture : Synthetic : Sublime Materiality

Design Directions

Afrofuture

As advanced economies struggle in the Turbulent Teens, brands and designers are looking outwards rather than inwards. They are questioning Eur...

Milan : Africa : Local

Design Directions

Galactica

The resurgence of curiosity about the substance of space and the solar system, as explored in our Re-enlightenment Rising macrotrend, is crossing i...

Gastronomy : Food Deisgn : Space

Design Directions

The London Distillery Company: Bespoke

It is easy to blend your own spirits online thanks to sites such as Alchemist Dreams and Whisky Blender, but distilling has always b...

London : Bespoke : Alcohol

Design Directions

Fashion Week Overview A/W 2013

Collections on show during this season’s fashion weeks displayed strong feminine qualities in super-sweet candy colours. New style references have ...

Oversized : Conservative : Minamilist

Design Directions

Above and Beyond

Luxury hotels can feel a bit stiff and hallowed. We rarely see the human side of hotels, and what is going on behind the scenes.

Experiential : Art : Immersive

Design Directions

Kaleido-metric

A sugary pastel psychedelia is being explored in retail design, with furniture and visual merchandising inspired by 1980s colour palettes, sunlit c...

Memphis : 1980's : Flatforms

Design Directions

Dior at Harrods

Step inside the Harrods store this month and you will find a distinct festival feel – a Christian Dior dove grey-coloured kind. Lifts are decorated...

Heritage : Dior : Harrods

Design Directions

Paris Fashion Week A/W13

Sophistication and beauty were key this season during Paris Fashion Week. Designers played with aspects of masculine dress, revived 20s underwear a...

1920's : Masculine : Oversized

Design Directions

Commodity

Finding the perfect fragrance can feel impossible. After hours of sampling, instead of acquiring the ideal perfume you can end up with just a pound...

Perfume : Kickstarter : Crowdfunding

Design Directions

Milan Fashion Week A/W13

The collections on show during Milan Fashion Week featured an abundance of glamour and luxury, combined with a return to fur and an introduction to...

Religion : Sport : Sonic Landscapes

Design Directions

Miss Ko

Ridley Scott created a vision of what future Asian dining could be like in Blade Runner. It was Harrison Ford sitting in the rain on a smoggy stree...

Branding : Restaurant : Paris