In the first part of our series of design
industry predictions for 2014, leading industry figures tell us what
they think will happen in branding, graphics and illustration,
interactive, product and financial performance.
Branding
‘
Visually:
The March of Mobile: brand designers will increasingly need the
magnifying glasses out to create crafted and elegant solutions for
smaller screens. Just as album covers shrunk from 12” vinyl to 12mm
boxes on iTunes the visual platform for a brand is the new shrinky-dink.
Strategically: Demand for significant programmes of change that
lift an organisation, product or service to a new business level, rather
than simply lift the face. The logo designer will continue to find the
phone ringing less and less.
Socially: The rise of mass
customer-powered customisation — Twitter, Facebook, Weibo are not fads…
they shape the way brands operate and will build from asking what people
think, to using personal public data to give people what they love.
Politically:
The great power-cut. After an attack on banks the energy companies are
next on the list. Expect gas, electricity and water brands to get a
kicking and respond with a raft of softly-softly brand activity.
Digital: Everything as a service. Forget ownership. Access is what we’ll see more of. Music was just the first to switch.
Summary: We used to be
reverential when it came to brands. We are now
referential.
Trust is eroded, we seek peer reviews, on and offline, before we commit
to anything from banking to bags, bread to bass, bowling to bling. The
brand ideas we produce tomorrow that can inhabit those conversations,
will fuel business success.’
Simon Manchipp, executive creative director, SomeOne
Graphics and illustration
‘We’ve
seen a growing demand for traditional hand-crafted illustration
techniques, including watercolour, ink and pen, which we expect to see
continue in 2014. Colour palettes are becoming simplified, with fewer,
bolder tones applied. Strong typographic headlines, especially 3D
rendered, are also becoming dominant in all types of media, from
magazine covers to large outdoor media.’
Tom Robinson, co-founder, Handsome Frank
Interactive
‘Flat
design emerged as a big trend for 2013 and there’s no sign of it
abating. One of the drawbacks of flat design is the removal of common
cues or “affordances” that imply interaction. Combine this with the lack
of real estate on most smartphone displays—which necessitates a lot of
hidden functionality—and you’re left with users frantically jabbing or
swiping the screen in the hope that something reacts. To get around
these issues, animation is going to play an increasing role in the
interaction designer’s toolkit. Animation can achieve this by showing
users where hidden information lives, what elements on a screen can be
interacted with, and what actions are permissible next. However we’re
talking very subtle and purposeful animations, rather than the excesses
of the Flash community. Facebook helped legitimise this trend by
famously building the Facebook Home prototype in Quartz Composer. So I
expect to see a lot of interaction designers exploring traditional and
not-so-traditional animation tools in 2014. I know we have been, to very
positive effect.’
Andy Budd, founding partner and chief executive, Clearleft
Product
‘2014
will see the real upsurge and implementation of the cloud and the “air”
product. The accelerating layout of infrastructure and uptake of
ultra-high speed networks will inevitably open exciting opportunities
for an enhanced “always-on” society and see the realisation of
revolutionary interconnectivity. Devices will be increasingly reliant on
the cloud’s power (remote processing, storage etc.) and the role of the
coder in product design will be ever more important. They are the
future engineers. You’d currently associate 4G and the cloud with your
mobile devices. But just imagine how your day could be enhanced by
everyday products being able to talk to each other wherever you are and
whenever you want. This was concept, now it is really a reality. In
2014, the Cloud really could make a storm.’
Rowan Williams, designer, SeymourPowell
‘2014 is likely to be another tough year for design. A recent survey that we published,
The Financial Performance of Marketing Services Companies,
highlights a reduced fee-income per head. It also shows that a greater
proportion of fee income is being spent on staff costs. This, combined
with the usual post-recession pressure on salaries, could see staff
costs rise even further. On top of this, consultancies are having to
deal with the demands of the ever-changing digital landscape. As we
know, the individuals with expertise in these areas come at a price;
they are often freelance, which means they cost even more. This will
only exacerbate the problem. Consultancies have spent the last few years
trimming non-staff costs as much as they can, so I doubt there is much
room to make further savings to compensate. In light of this, directors
will need to make sure they find the best way to pass on any increased
staff costs to clients.’
Esther Carder, partner, Kingston Smith W1
[Mon, 6 Jan 2014-DesignWeek]
