Habitat Trends Report 10/11

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HABITAT TRENDS REPORT 10/11

Texts: David Gobert Teigeiro Silvia M. Rodríguez Vives Pepa Casado D’Amato Carmen Jover Espí Raquel Gálvez Orejuela Jesús Navarro Campos Vicente Sales Vivó Cristina Revert Carreres

Design and layout:Pepe Gimeno • Proyecto Gráfico

In accordance with the provisions establis-hed under current legislation, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transferred in any form or by any means or process, whether electronic or mechanical, including digital format, renting or leasing, without the prior written authorisation of the copyright owners.

All the images remain the property of their respective owners and have been reproduced with their consent.

© ITC, AIDIMA and AITEX, 2010. ITC, AIDIMA and AITEX reserve all rights, in par-ticular to the reproduction, distribution, public communication and transformation, whether in whole or in part. The information and data in this report have been duly verified; however, ITC, AIDIMA and AITEX accept no responsibility for their use.

ISBN-13: 978-84-95077-40-0

Legal Deposit: V-1999-2010

Autonomous Community of Valencia, May 2010

Indexof contents

PRESENTATIONPrologue by the Honourable First Vice-President of ConsellLetter from the directors of ITC, AIDIMA and AITEXPresentations of ITC, AIDIMA and AITEXThe Habitat Trends Observatory® teamWhat is the Habitat Trends Observatory®?What do we understand by trends?

IN SUMMARYHabitat: the general situationDiagram of trend evolution Table summarising accepted trendsTable summarising trends for 08/09Table summarising trends for 10/11Guide to using the Report

HABITAT TRENDS 10/11New ClassicsSublime by HandThe EssentialsOnce upon a FutureEveryday SolutionsBasik & RawMind the Green

MARKET KEYS 1. Brand universes2. Discreet luxury 3. Here and now 4. The consumer at the helm 5. Desire for simplicity 6. The alternative consumer 7. Reinventing the green model

SOCIO-CULTURAL KEYSA. The value of emotionsB. The frugal societyC. The multitasking generation D. Digital natives E. The need for rationality F. Change in attitudesG. Eco-behaviour

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Prologue by the Honourable Regional Minister of Indus-try, Commerce and Innova-tion and First Vice President of the Generalitat Valencia-na

In today’s society, the speed with which changes occur complicates the forecaster’s task; however, prediction is essential in taking decisions, embarking on strategies or deciding on major changes of direction for the future development of societies, indus-tries and individuals.

It is my pleasure to present the second edi-tion of the Habitat Trends Report produced by the Habitat Trends Observatory® with support from the Department of Industry, Trade and Innovation of the Generalitat Valenciana through the Institute for Small and Medium-sized Industry (IMPIVA) and the European Regional Development Fund FEDER.

This project has been carried out jointly by a team of experts from different fields from the Furniture, Wood, Packaging and Related Industries Technology Institute (AIDIMA), the Textile Technology Institute (AITEX) and the Institute of Ceramic Technology (ITC), all members of REDIT, the Institute of Techno-logy Network in the Autonomous Communi-ty of Valencia.

This multidisciplinary team, in consultation

where necessary with prestigious external collaborators (from the areas of sociology, psychology, design, marketing, commu-nication, etc.), has carried out an in-depth analysis of multiple habitat-related aspects, with a particular focus on three determining factors: socio-cultural, aesthetic and market factors. These factors are understood to be complementary and, considered together, provide a broad picture of our habitat and at the same time trace the movement and stimulus of trends in this field.

This study by the Habitat Trends Observa-tory® therefore provides Valencian com-panies with privileged information for the design and development of innovative pro-ducts that will satisfy the needs of today’s citizens. Having thoroughly sounded out the mood and lifestyle of the modern consumer, it offers a multitude of tools with which to generate innovation as a strategic competi-tive weapon.

The Habitat Trends Report 10/11 identifies and describes several of the predominant trends that are, in turn, linked to a series of socio-cultural and market keys. It provides us with comprehensive information on how trends identified in the previous study have evolved; we learn how certain lifestyle trends have transformed, or what were then undefined, emerging trends have now become firmly established. It offers a wide range of examples, and refers closely to the market and communication throughout, placing the trends within their corresponding socio-cultural framework.

The first edition of this project met with great acclaim and quickly became a ‘classic’ for hundreds of professionals, not only in the Autonomous Community of Valencia, but across the whole of Spain. This publication also aspires to become a valuable support as a day-to-day tool for Valencian companies in their endeavour to successfully achieve the conditions to improve and expand their competitive status to the full.

Vicente Rambla Momplet Honourable Regional Minister of Industry, Commerce and First Vice President of the Generalitat Valenciana.

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Letter from the directorsof ITC, AIDIMA and AITEX

A Chinese proverb says that at the heart of every crisis is hidden a great opportunity for those who know how to find it; to this we should add another maxim, attributed to Albert Einstein, which states that we cannot change things by always doing the same. These two phrases point to the way out of the present crisis: opportunity, attitude and creativity.

Since mid 2007, the economic environment has transformed habitat-related sectors (in some cases leaving deep scars). The cons-truction bubble eventually burst, taking with it all other sectors of production and almost bringing about the collapse of the economic principles on which our society operates. What began as a financial crisis soon turned into a social crisis, with repercussions affecting the values and behaviours of citizen-inhabitants. Out of this competitive and market environment the present Habitat Trends Report 10/11 was born, the leitmotif of which is palpable throughout its pages: market opportunities exist if we are able to understand how the recession affects social values and what repercussions it has on the markets, and essentially, on what habitat-related manufacturers are producing.

Although it is important to safeguard the day-to-day operations of the company, loo-king toward to the future is imperative. The trends presented in this publication provide a current picture of the state of habitat-related sectors in Spain today. In some cases this may be a continuation, with slight varia-tions, of the trends identified in previous years, while in others these trends go off in strikingly new directions. In general, what is noteworthy throughout is the moment of enforced reflection in which the consumer society is immersed: the need to combine hedonistic and emotional consumption with the efficient and rational use of resources imposed by the present context. Compa-nies and consumers alike, everyone is now subject to the same rules.

Once again, every effort has been made to produce a publication that companies can use as a tool, and for that reason it appears in the form of a work manual. The Habitat Trends Report 10/11 revisits previous trends and updates them with a view to the coming years. Similarly, this edition covers the pre-dominant trends of habitat-related sectors, trends that are reflected in mass consump-tion but, as they are no longer emerging trends, are not usually dealt with. In this way, we have attempted to present a com-prehensive overview of the habitat-related milieu in Spain.

This publication would not have been possible without the institutional support of the Council of Industry, Trade and Innova-tion through various funding programmes coordinated by the IMPIVA. We hope this work will inspire future company projects, based on an improved knowledge of the social reality, creation of new valuable pro-posals and inter-sector cooperation between habitat related companies.

Carlos Feliu MingarroDirector of ITC-AICE

Vicente Blanes JuliáDirector of AITEX

Mariano J. Pérez CamposDirector of AIDIMA

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The Institute of Ceramic Technology (ITC) is a state-subsidised partnership constituted through an agreement between the Ceramic Industry Research Association (AICE) and the Universitat Jaume I of Castellón, which was set up to respond to the needs of com-panies in the Spanish ceramic tile cluster. Throughout its 40-plus years of activity, it has coordinated cooperation between the university and industry, the results of which are reflected in the high levels of develo-pment in the Spanish ceramic tile manu-facturing sector. The ITC provides support for companies through R&D&I and other activities designed to make the sector more competitive.

Today the ITC is able to extend its scope of activity to other processes and materials. Of particular note are its undertakings in the sphere of energy efficiency, in reducing the environmental impact of industrial activity, in surface functionalisation and in develo-ping new technical and aesthetic features in products associated with the broad habitat-related sector, as well as other industries such as high-technology tools, advanced ceramics, the car industry, petrochemical sectors, etc.

The work of its Design and Architecture Area (ALICER) focuses on various design related fields: products, ceramic systems, design management, etc. Because its team is made up of professionals from a variety of areas (architecture, design, communica-tion, IT), it is able apply a multi-disciplinary approach to its projects.

AIDIMA, the Furniture, Wood, Packaging and Related Industries Technology Institute, is a private non-profit research associa-tion with legal status as an Association of Companies, operating both at home and abroad. Founded in 1984, it is recognised by the Spanish Interministerial Commission of Science and Technology as a Research As-sociation and as a Centre for Innovation and Technology. AIDIMA’s mission is to boost the competitiveness of the Spanish furnitu-re, wood and related industries sector, and the packaging and goods transport sector, in aspects related to quality, technological innovation, training, information, safety, environment and improved management, particularly in the areas of design, produc-tion and marketing and in consolidating export activity.

AIDIMA is a member of REDIT and FEDIT and forms part of the OTRI network. It is a member of the Board of Directors of AENOR (Spanish Association for Standar-disation and Certification) and participates on various standards committees (UNE, CEN, ISO). In the field of packaging, it is a member of IAPRI (International Association of Packaging Research Institutes) and of EFPRO (European Fibre and Paper Research Organizations). AIDIMA is recognised by the European Union as a Centre of Excellen-ce for the wood, furniture, packaging and related industries sectors and participates in European R&D and training projects and in activities for the dissemination of innovative technologies.

AITEX, the Textile Technology Institute, is a private non-profit association created in 1985 on the initiative of the textile industry business community and the Generalitat Valenciana through the Institute of Small and Medium-sized Industry, IMPIVA, and is a member of the Institute of Technology Network REDIT.

AITEX’s main objective is to enhance competitiveness among textile companies by promoting modernisation, stimulating R&D&I, introducing new technologies, im-proving quality and generating knowledge in the areas of design and the market.

To achieve these aims, the Institute carries out technological research and development activities, provides advanced technical servi-ces through specialised laboratories with the highest national and international accredi-tations and recognition, and offers consul-tation and dissemination in areas related to design and the market.

AITEX also designs tailor-made training services for companies and has its own sur-veillance and technological transfer tools.

In summary, all the Institute’s programmes and activities are designed to support the textile industry and respond to its technolo-gical needs.

AIDIMA currently holds the presidency of INNOVAWOOD, the European Association for R&D and Training in the Forestry, Wood-working and Furniture sectors.

AIDIMA has an established track record in following trends in furniture, market analysis and strategic planning, and research into consumer patterns and distribution in the short, medium and long term through the Furniture Competitive Intelligence System. AIDIMA has participated in the Habitat Trends Observatory® since it began in 2005.

ITC AIDIMA AITEX

Presentationof ITC, AIDIMA and AITEX

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The Habitat Trends Observatory® Team

EXTERNAL EXPERTSIsmael Quintanilla Social psychologist, head of the Economic and Consumer Psychology Research Unit (UIPEC) at the University of Valencia.Arantza Vilas Textile designer and artist, and associate professor at the University of the Arts London.

AIDIMA ([email protected])Jesús Navarro CamposDirector of Corporate Development, AIDIMA.Director of the Dept. of Market Analysis and Strategy, AIDIMA.Vicente Sales Vivó Analyst in the Dept. of Market Analysis and Strategy.J. Javier Iborra CasanovaAnalyst in the Dept. of Market Analysis and Strategy.Cristina Revert CarreresAnalyst in the Dept. of Market Analysis and Strategy.Carmen Biel SanchisCentre for Product Development.

The Habitat Trends Observatory® is an organisation for generating and dissemina-ting knowledge on habitat-related trends. It has become an information tool to help companies take strategic decisions that in-fluence their activities (design, communica-tion, marketing, business strategy, etc.), by providing medium-term information for the Habitat Competitive Intelligence System.

The Habitat Trends Observatory® team consists of personnel from ITC, AIDIMA and AITEX, a substantial group of experts from different fields that, together, approaches the research from a multidisciplinary perspecti-ve. This study has thus been carried out by a broad-based group working dynamically, and enriching the information through the syner-gies between the knowledge from the sectors in which they operate.

What is the Habitat Trends Observatory®?

Observe and generate strategic information on habitat, market and environment

HTOHabitat Trends Observatory®

Competitive Intelligen-ce System

Company

Strategic and product innovation

Business development units

Make profitable

Design solu-tions focused on user

ITC ([email protected])David Gobert TeigeiroHead of the Market Area and Lecturer in the Area of Marketing at the Universidad Jaume I of Castellón.Javier Mira PeidroHead of the Design and Architecture Area, ALI-CER.Mila Payá SáezHead of Trend Department.Silvia M. Rodríguez VivesHead of the Habitat Trends Observatory® at ITC.Pepa Casado D’AmatoResearcher for the Habitat Trends Observatory®.

AITEX ([email protected])Vicente Cambra SánchezSub-director of the R&D Area.Carmen Jover EspíHead of Training and Responsible for the Innovation, Fashion and Clothing Manufacture Research Group.Raquel Gálvez OrejuelaHead of the Habitat Trends Observatory® at Aitex and Design Projects Specialist.Cristina Serrano GarcíaDesign Specialist.Lola Macías MañasMarket Observatory Specialist.

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Reliable, tested information: our resear-chers come from various specialist areas, we consult external experts, we explore a range of international sources, we keep a close eye on what is happening on the web and we attend a broad spectrum of European trade fairs, congresses and events in order to build up a comprehensive picture of all trend-related issues. We have also develo-ped our own methodology to analyse and summarise all the information we gather so as to offer exhaustive and useful knowledge to companies and designers.

Trend analysis: The HTO studies trends from an in-depth perspective, by thoroughly exploring their underlying motives and causes, revealing the concepts behind each one of the products proposed and finding out what needs it covers. In this way, the trends we describe show how design can connect with users’ lives, and thus avoid the rapid obsolescence of trend analyses that follow different approaches.

Trend application: trends must help firms and designers to come up with new propo-sals. By integrating information about trends into management systems, companies obtain an overview of how society and indi-viduals are evolving, and are able to antici-pate movements in the market, thus helping to define strategic courses of action that should be aligned with the organisation’s other functions (design, marketing, produc-tion, logistics, purchasing, etc). To this end, the HTO runs workshops focusing on the creative side of the innovation process that aim to achieve innovative results based on information about trends.

Knowledgeareas What do we understand

by trends?

Distribution and retailingCommunicationMarketingGraphic design

UrbanismArchitectureInterior designFurnitureCeramics

CoveringsLightingHome textilesHome automation

CultureSocietyEconomyTechnologyDemography and familyValues

Socio-cultural context

Habitat Communication and Market

Analysis

Information Application

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In summary

Seletti Palace Collection

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Habitat: the general situation

The reasons behind the dramatic changes occurring in our habitat over recent years lie in a series of transformations in the socio-cultural and economic context that have trig-gered different reactions among users and in the markets.

In particular, the international financial and economic recession has shaken many consciences and is seen by some social agents as offering an opportunity to redress excesses and return to a less ostentatious, more satisfying lifestyle. Ismael Quintanilla, an expert in social psychology consulted by the Observatory, highlights the shift in the value system towards greater rationality and collective consciousness as one of the effects of the financial and economic crisis on society. The recession has spawned an increased concern for values that affect the whole of society: concerns for the environ-ment, well-being, anti-manipulation and a greater capacity for empathy for the pro-blems of others. The alternative consumer has come onto the scene, a group which, according to Lipovetsky, now accounts for 15% to 20% of all consumers.

Emotional values are still important, but now they must go hand-in-hand with a greater efficiency across the board: com-panies must set appropriate prices for their products, and public administrations and citizen-consumers must tighten their budgets. Consuming still requires a touch of emotion and products will continue to be more than just products so long as they are capable of representing universally recog-nised symbols. The emotional component therefore remains important, but it cannot be divorced from the context of the crisis. In some cases it is even disguised behind an illusion of rationality in order to stay in line with the sensitivity of the times.

Users have also modified the philosophy underlying their consumer patterns, and are now looking for well-being without excesses in a move towards a more rational consump-tion. Consumers are attempting to avoid the superfluous in their purchases and this is also reflected in how product information is communicated. According to the study Understanding the Post-Recession Consu-mer, published in the Harvard Business Re-view, the trend for simplicity is accelerating with the economic crisis and will continue to grow in the long term as a result of changes in consumers’ habits.

>>>

Net de Mark. www.markproduct.com

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In recent years our living environments have undergone modifications to become yet ano-ther reflection of the changes occurring in our socio-cultural context. These variations are only to be expected given the circums-tances of continual socio-economic shifts and turbulence.

As in all areas of consumption, moderation and rationalisation have made a vigorous comeback in habitat-related consumer acti-vity, and this will be the main thread running through the definition of Habitat Trends 10/11. This return to moderation, which at first glance may appear negative for habitat-related companies, can also be regarded as a framework for new opportunities and possibilities, since users are redefining their needs, preferences and desires for their living environments, which more than ever before obliges us to think about what these present and future demands are.

This means that as users, we stop and think about our acquisitions or possessions; we require them to have meaning for us and to respond to a specific need or desire. Consu-mers are seriously examining the real value of objects, which represents a sea change in consumer behaviour that is particularly striking in the luxury goods markets. There is now a widespread practice of launching products with minimal risk; for example, the ostentation of previous years has given way to a habitat predominated by friendliness and simplicity, and in which the product’s capacity to provide a solution is also highly valued. We talk about a return to a more

natural, deliberate and reflective cycle. We are also exploring other channels that fill the desire for exclusivity and sophistication such as the use of handcrafted articles or limited editions of decorative pieces. This change in direction can be seen in design for living environments through a range of different values such as:

1/ The assessment of a product in terms of its usefulness and long life, with lasting aesthetics and quality.

2/ Increased transparency for consumers; in other words, the values transmitted by the company and its products are clear, coherent and credible at every stage of the process.

3/ The demand for products and services that give the user more autonomy (mobility, change, personalisation …) through extreme practicality, ease of use and comfort.

4/ The search for safe values, which remain stable and are considered as a good inves-tment, as key references in the world of design.

5/ Finally, the appreciation of products that incorporate a distinctive component such as singularity or representing something unique, but always from a reasoned and justified emotionality based on efficiency.

HK by Harri Hoskinen for Alessi. www.alessi.com

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Current trends Trends 08/09 Trends 10/11

FUNCTIONAL Contemporary functional

Natural functional

Press Start

Home Sweet Home

The Essentials

Everyday Solutions

IDENTITIESRustic

Renewed rustic

Ethnic

(G)Local Sublime by Hand

Connective Space

Once upon a Future

Green Balance

Mind the Green

Press Start

Home Sweet Home

Manifesto

New Classics

The Essentials

Everyday Solutions

Basik & Raw

20th CENTURYScandinavian design

Minimalism

Pop

Industrial

DIAGRAM OF TRENDEVOLUTIONThe diagram traces areas of activity where companies can evolve from their present position towards the trends of 10/11, to adapt to consumer demands.

However, this does not mean that companies might not move towards other areas of activity.

This evolution is more evident in textiles and ceramics.

CLASSICALHistorical classical

Renewed classical

Neo baroque

Excessive Objects

New Classics

Sublime by Hand

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TABLE SUMMARISINGCURRENT TRENDS

Introduction Manifestations Examples

Current trends: Refers to current styles produced by most companies and professionals in habitat-related sectors, and that therefore users largely recognise and identify.

IdentitiesAmbiances characterised by the use of craft processes and natural materials or by imitations of their finishes.This legacy dates back to past processes and resources from a wide range of origins (traditio-nal local crafts, colonial style, the Arts & Crafts movement, etc.). These resources are preserved intact; they may be updated or imported from other cultures.

Rustic: Reproduction of traditional products with legacies from various crafts.Renewed rustic: Updated by simplifying traditional imagery.Ethnic: Style that refers to decorative aspects from a culture or ethnic group.

Terracota Glass by Cerámica Decorativa.

Duna by Expormim.

Crochet by Manuel Revert.

ClassicalProducts with references to historical styles: Renaissance, Neoclassical, Baroque, etc. The decorative elements typical of these styles are either used explicitly, they are abstracted and stylised to give a more contemporary aesthetic, or they are reinterpreted in bolder, more creative ways.

Historical classical: Textual references to styles from the past.Renewed classical: Classical repertoire updated and synthesised.Neo-baroque: Reinterpretation of Baro-que from a horror vacui and hyper-decora-tion perspective.

Monteb by Azteca.

Comersan Antibes collection.

Event collec-tion, designed by the Amboan team for Amboan.

FunctionalItems for the home with a very familiar, everyday style that efficiently fulfil the function for which they were conceived. This style is based on a less rigorous reinterpretation of functionalism which the user finds more familiar. Two dimensions are apparent, one more practical and the other more decorative or figurative.

Contemporary functional: Highly functio-nal products that reinterpret styles such as functionalism to make them more familiar and commonplace.Natural functional: Incorporates figurative elements, especially natural elements, in functional products.

Fiber by Tau Cerámica.

Arbres, Milenio. Alta costura de Piel S.A.

Top 2008 by BM200.

20th CenturyObjects typified by their reflection of the roots of industrial design. They represent the principal movements and vanguards of the 20th century such as the Industrial Style, Scandinavian De-sign, Pop and Minimalism.

Industrial: Style based on the maxim ‘form follows function’, conceived to de-mocratise design.Scandinavian design: Style based on beautiful, functional and democratic design, with references to crafts.Pop: Style of mass culture. Aesthetic elements include rounded forms, acid colours, optical illusions, etc.Minimalism: Movement that pursues the essence and conceptualisation of any area related to art, architecture or design.

Bruko duvet cover by Atrivm.

Dagon by Land Porcelánico.

Geometric by Vicent Martí-nez for Punt Mobles.

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Home Sweet Home

Connective Space

(G)Local

Manifesto

Green Balance

Excessive Objects

Press Start

What it consists of Manifestations ExamplesWhere the trend is now

TABLE SUMMARISING TRENDS FOR 08/09 Trends 08/09: Review and evolution of trends identified by the Habitat Trends Observatory in the Habitat Trends Report 08/09.

Espacio Bisazza in Barcelona.

Flap by Fran-cesco Binfarè for Edra with Swarovski.

Madam Rubens by Frank Willems.

Excessive, expressive, passionate and impulsive products. Their irrea-lity and dreamlike nature affords them a provocative sensationalism. The product creates identity. Eclec-tic and varied aesthetics.

TransrealityRococo delirium

Consolidated and oriented towards markets with a predominant symbo-lic consumption, mainly in Asian or Eastern countries. The concept of luxury has changed dramatically in European markets and Excessive Objects are being replaced by New Classics and Sublime by Hand.

Flying Carpet by Emiliana Design Studio for Nani Marquina.

Hotel Fox in Copenhague.

Wall Invader by Radi Designers.

Spaces aim to surprise through everyday entertainment. Users participate by involving their own creativity in the product. Play is seen as a relationship strategy among those sharing a living environment.

Slow growing, since the creativity and hu-mour of this trend are giving way to real problem solving and the new practicality of Everyday Solutions.

Retro collageFictional spaces Everyday creativity

Algues by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra.

Soft Wall by Forsythe + Macallen for Molo.

Solid Poetry by S. Happle & F. Molenschot.

Products that provide physical and mental well-being. A habitat designed to encourage social relationships. Placebo for nature. Environments are simple, easy and intuitive in their relationship with users.

ExtrasoftBucolic nature

Consolidated and with a long future ahead. Complemented by The Essentials trend, based on similar principles, but more neutral and with a focus on quality and durability.

Z Island by Zaha Hadid for Dupont.

Interpolis by Studio Jungen Bey.

Wireless speakers by Inoda + Sveje Architecture/ Design Studio for One Off.

Trend proposing new ways of living through technology with the future in mind. It questions the way people live at all levels and in all ambiences. Pursues warm, intui-tive technology in its relationship with the user.

Supra-well-being Exploration

An emerging trend with great scope. Once Upon a Future takes a further step in the search for the home of the future, where the user plays an even more important role, since the objects in the home learn and evolve alongside its residents.

Flowerchair by Mareike Gast.

Hotel Básico by Design Hotels in México.

Suited for Subversion by Ralph Borland.

Questions habitat through provo-cation. Heterogeneous manifes-tations. The object is viewed as a transmitter of ideology, function takes second place.

Emerging. More accepted in independent markets. Basik & Raw represents a less experimental evolution of this trend, clo-ser to the alternative consumer, offering a response to the socio-economic situation and presenting more critical proposals as alternatives to consumerism.

ImperfectionProtestProject: Utopia

Seoul Communes 2026 by Mass Studies.

Kleensex® by Ana Mir, Emiliana Design Studio.

Ventilated facade by Tau Cerámica.

A significant ethical and social obli-gation on the part of companies. Commitment to people and the environment. Sustainable products to improve the habitat in aspects of energy saving and bringing nature into our homes and cities.

Sustainability Immediate nature Community

Consolidated with a long-term outlook. Another trend, Mind the Green, has emerged with the same aims, and repre-sents a paradigm shift in the concept of sustainability: it is no longer enough to consume less or cause less damage to society and the environment; we must find another way of working, based on the philosophy of benefitting the environment and individuals.

Ceramic latticework by Alejandro Zaera (Cerámica Decorati-va) for the Spanish Pavilion at the Aichi Expo.

The object as an expression of a specific culture. Unique products that establish an emotional rela-tionship with the user. Incorporates local into global. Revitalises crafts and cultural exchange.

Growing, particularly in aesthetic aspects. The resurgence of crafts has evolved towards Sublime by Hand, where the figure of the artisan-artist has gained importance and local aspects become less relevant.

Cultural explorationCrafts revisited

Made for China by OPOS Designers.

Bovist by Hella Jongerius for Vitra.

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What it consists of Manifestations Factors driving the trend

Socio-cultural keys Presence in the markets

Market keys Where the trend is now

Aims to create ‘new design clas-sics’, signature pieces destined to become cult objects with their origins in industrial design.

This trend represents a new way of appreciating exclusivity, in which the traditional know-how of the artisan works in harmony with the designer’s creative and personal reinterpretation.

Based on good design, aims to im-prove individuals’ quality of life. Ob-jects must therefore be impeccable, long-lasting and above all, useful, in that they satisfy our functional or emotional needs.

More than ever before, products are becoming a service, a link with the information around us. It is here that we communicate with our objects, and they interact with us and learn.

This trend is based on the new situations users find themselves in. It proposes dynamic, ingenious and practical products that simplify and facilitate daily activity. Here, everything that is multifunctional, co-llapsible, modular, transformable and polyvalent is retrieved and rethought.

Extremely simple and austere yet functional and creative products are proposed as solutions to consumer weariness. It takes a friendly and sympathetic approach the user.

Theories such as Cradle to Cradle, Dreamtelligence or Co-design en-courage us to think much more crea-tively about a shared future. It aims to find practices and processes that are not only less harmful, but also more beneficial for the individual, society and the environment.

Changes in society, heightened as a result of the economic downturn. A new negative attitude to consuming has contributed to a rise in more critical responses exploring viable alternatives to the present model of consumption.

This trend stems from the increasingly widespread concern about the short and medium term consequences that today’s li-festyle might have, not only for health and the climate, but also in terms of economic and political changes.

This trend is being taken forward by indepen-dent designers, since it involves high levels of creativity and these are people motivated to do things differently (Apparatu, Atelier 522). Some companies are also launching collections based on this philosophy (Muuto and ABR Producción Contemporánea).

Firms such as Philips, Whirlpool or Soun-dpower, manufacturers of goods related to energy consumption, are taking this trend forward. Less well-known design professio-nals, such as Jin Kim or Frederic Ruyant, are also contributing solutions aimed at changing habits or product life cycles.

Emerging. This social and ho-listic understanding of sustai-nability has great potential for development in the medium and long term.

Emerging with a clear future since it presents alternatives that mar-kets can absorb, particularly at a time when users are demanding this type of product.

Form follows solution

The naked object

Nothing is destroyed, everything is transfor-med

Rethink and change habits

Cradle to cradle

Linked to the significant changes in lifes-tyles. Teleworking, social relationships, increasing mobility or the need for up-to-date information mean that individuals de-mand technological products to link the life they lead in the domestic setting with their life in the street, the city or in cyberspace.

One of the main reasons behind this trend is the changing structure of the family and its increasingly diverse formats that have appeared in recent decades. The gradual shrinking of living space has also led to greater appreciation of these solutions.

Firms producing for consumers with average purchasing power are proposing creative solution for domestic spaces. Examples include Campeggi, Segis or designers such as No problem, Matali Crasset or La granja.

Great potential for growth and market penetration, as this trend is in line with the general feeling that consumption needs rethinking through a practical lens.

This trend is being developed by infor-mation technology and communication companies such as Nokia, firms with strong innovation departments looking to the future like Philips or Electrolux, and design or experimental technology studios.

Emerging. Closely associated with the level of implementation of technologies in society and the continuously falling prices of technological products.

This is the result of a very specific juncture, in which consumers have shifted from an attitude of exhibitionism to proposals based on simplicity and honesty. The post-recession consumer has clearly expressed a demand for simplicity and durability.

Companies and designers are in-creasingly adopting simple language and creating highly durable products. Examples include firms like Deesawat, Geaforms, Hay, Xam, Woodnotes, Tapiovaara design – Aero design fur-niture, Bonestil, Brikolor, Ercol, Pinch, Fjordfiesta, etc.

Growing and with great poten-tial scope in the market, since their neutral, familiar and high quality products can reach a large number of users.

Consumer scepticism about short-lived, fleeting fashions. Pursues justified value, quality and durability of a product without forsaking luxury. Taste for more timeless, and especially more justifiable aesthetics based more on styles than fashions.

Appreciation of authenticity, reflected in the search for extremely high quality and a strong artistic and manual component. Scepticism about industry, leading to greater appreciation of handcrafted items than manufactured mass produced goods. Social demands based on a discourse that prioritises local over global.

Well-known brands such as Vitra, B&B and Moroso turn to artisans to create sublime products of a very high quality; this is the haute couture of the habitat sector. By star-ting from the premise of local production, designer-makers have also found a niche in this market.

Growing in the furniture and decoration sectors. Emerging in furnishings and home textiles.

Design leaders aiming at the luxury market like Capellini, Cassina, Poltrona Frau, Kar-tell and recognised designers such as Kons-tantin Grcic, Tom Dixon or Petter Knudsen are names associated with a return to the roots of design.

Emerging. More advanced in furniture and interior decoration. Has scope in luxury markets.

New rigour

Creativity Labs

The value of time

The Extra-Ordinary and the Super-Normal

Invisible objects

Objects that evolve and learn

TABLE SUMMARISING TRENDS FOR 10/11

The Essentials

Once upon a Future

Everyday Solutions

Basik & Raw

Mind the Green

The frugal society

The multitasking generation

Eco-behaviour

Eco-behaviour

The need for rationality



The frugal society


The value of emotions


Change in attitudes

Digital natives

Digital natives


Change in attitudes

Change in attitudes

Discreet luxury

Desire for simplicity

Brand universes

Discreet luxury

Brand uni-verses


The alternative consumer

Here and nowThe consumer at the helm


The consumer at the helm

Here and now

The alterna-tive consumer



Reinventing the green model


New Classics

Sublime by Hand

28 29

The Essentials

Mind

the Green

Basik &

Raw

Everyday Solutions

Once upon

a FutureThe Essentials



Brand universes

Each trend is associated with one or more socio-cultural and market keys. The links are given on the first page of each trend section and guide the reader to the keys that complement the information on each trend.

SOCIO-CULTURAL KEYS

MARKET KEYS

HA

BITAT TR

END

S

The frugal society


Discreet luxury


The frugal society



The multitas-king generation

Digital natives

Digital natives

The multitas-king generation







Change in attitudes

Eco-behaviour

Change in attitudes

Change in attitudes

Brand universes



Here and now


Here and now




The alternati-ve consumer

Discreet luxury

The Essentials

Once upon a Future

Everyday Solutions

Basik & Raw

Change in attitudes


Eco-behaviour

Mind the Green

New Classics

Sublime by Hand

GUIDE TO USING THE REPORT

30 31

New Classics

Le Corbusier collection by Cassina.

32 33

Luxury is gradually moving away from notions of exhibition, attracting attention or surprise, towards safe values like the quality and excellence of rationalist design.

This may be due to an attitude befitting of the times in which we live, in which the consumer seeks out objects with a justified value. In this case, while brand and signatu-re design are still crucial, they are directed towards the creation of ‘new design classics’, signature pieces destined to become cult objects grounded in the roots of industrial design.

The pursuit of product value and quality has found its direction in the origins of design, and the principles of the Modern Movement are once again being explored. We now hear talk of integrity of design, in terms of ‘form follows function’, although augmented by the new industrial manufacturing processes and the introduction of new materials capable of generating a wide range of previously unima-ginable solutions.

Within this trend we are witnessing a return to the origins of design in the modern period. The value of rationality applied to household objects is making a comeback, providing solutions resembling those from movements like the Bauhaus School*.

Bauhaus School: School of design, art and architecture founded in 1919, that laid the foundations of Industrial Design, based on the notion of highly rational responses to problems. It also spread the idea that every ob-ject is designed and spread the discipline into different fields.

Le Corbusier collection by Cassina.

Table B by Konstanti Grcic for BD Ediciones. Table, inspired by the firm’s classic shelf unit Hypóstila, in production since 1979, with a simple appearance and materials like wood and aluminium, behind which is hidden a complex technical development (a long piece of extruded aluminium with a minimal profile). Here, high-technology is combined with various manual processes.

Ac lounge by B&b Italia.

New Classics

34 35

Rationality goes beyond ephemeral fashions because it centres on the function of the object. This trend presents practical solu-tions that take into account processes and materials and the future use of the product. These are the considerations that turn a design into an icon. We already know the references of design; now we have to create the icons of the future.

If recipes for icons existed, the basic ingre-dients would be updated versions of those used by Le Corbusier or Marcel Breuer. Designers familiar with industrial processes, new materials and methods of production, who start with rigorous design and enginee-ring principles in their approach to creating products for our living environments; this is how high quality products are created, items that are easy to use and long lasting, noted for their discreet, sober appearance. They have impeccable finishes and dispense with any superfluous decoration.

Here design uses technological research and focuses on advances in manufacturing pro-cesses and in the properties of each material to create extremely useful products.

For a product to be considered good, it must have a proven track record; in the case of ha-

The new rigour

bitat, our attention turns to the icons of de-sign, celebrated objects that have remained successful over various decades, demonstra-ting a timeless aesthetic as well as quality. In the end, the person who acquires these products is convinced their value is safe, and it is factor that makes them cult objects. Firms re-edit their most lasting, quintessen-tial pieces, frequently incorporating more contemporary elements. Indeed, renowned designers are reinterpreting these icons of design, always improving the product in one way or another or updating processes and materials, but leaving out their own personal touch so as to remain true to the original creator.

Homage is thus paid to those who, through their work and formal research, have created styles that are still with us today and have helped to democratise the design of pro-ducts for the home. Their creations form part of our collective imagination and are percei-ved as the origins of modern production.

Some companies and professionals create products based on these values of rational design, explicitly reclaiming their icons, while others, less explicitly, recall and apply rationalist principles to create sober, timeless and extremely high-quality pieces, probably because they are regarded as fitting into today’s top end markets.

Pressed Glass Bowl and Screw Table by Tom Dixon. Objects created with a particular eye for reclaimed materials and manufacturing processes; the Pressed Glass Bowl is made with a process normally used for other industrial products (car headlamps) while the Screw Table is inspired by materials (iron and marble) and processes used during the Industrial Revolution.

Stella tables by Nathalie Dewez for Habitat.

Vanity chair by Stefano Giovannoni for Magis.

New Classics

36 37

Lámpara Troag by Luca Nichetto for Foscarini.

Periods of economic recession generate fear in the markets, leading to more conservative behaviour. Consumers choose products they can be sure will provide satisfaction, and classics are therefore always a safe bet. In various interviews, writers were asked how the global recession had affected the publis-hing business; some of our most celebrated authors reported a rise in sales of their books, possibly regarded as a safe option compared to other more risky purchases (understood as younger, unknown writers).

Consumers are therefore sceptical about transient fashions, but at the same time they are attracted by aesthetics and style

Factors driving the trend

Archivald. Poltrona Frau.

and consequently opt for what are conside-red to be more timeless and, above all, more justified aesthetics, based on styles rather than fashions.

Moreover, this trend stems from the spread of design culture at a global level, although more intensely in Europe, where decorative arts museums have long been established in capital cities such as Paris or London. There is no doubt that design is now considered as art and it is not uncommon to see exhibi-tions devoted to exemplary designers, or leading furniture and clothing collections from the history of design. This phenome-non has spawned a fetish for the classics, which have become collectors’ items and have engendered a taste for objects from the beginnings of industrial design.

Jade by Christophe Pillet for Porro.

Radar by Piero lissoni for Cassina.

New Classics

38 39

To a certain extent, New Classics is related to the Excessive Objects trend analysed in the Habitat Trends Report 08/09. Although conceptually these are clearly different trends, they have one factor in common: the potential consumer. Like New Classics, Excessive Objects was aimed at individuals with high purchasing power.

In Europe today the high end consumer shuns neo-Baroque or ostentatious trends in favour of simplicity and a natural feel, which are considered more contemporary

Presence in the markets

both socially and economically. During the current recession, many voices have reflec-ted on luxury and waste, and as a result a significant sector of society is now seeking out simpler products, yet still of excellent quality. Inspiration in design classics meets this new need.

On the other hand, the Excessive Objects trend, although in a later stage of evolution, continues to be important, particularly in Asian countries and in the new economies that, despite the effects of the economic

Fronzoni Color Collection by Cappellini.Series of chairs and tables designed in 1964 by A. G. Fronzoni, now re-launched in a new colour version.

.

Betts carpet from Naturtex in collabora-tion with Félix Diener.

crisis, still have a buoyant upper class whose consumer patterns are based on personal pleasure.

The companies driving this trend are design leaders, focused on the luxury market, and therefore with a strong brand image. Names associated with this return to the origins of design include firms like Capellini, Cassina, Vitra, Poltrona Frau, Magis, Muji and Tho-net, Roche Bobois, Kartell, Molteni, Driade, Flos, Cattelan Italia, Ligne Roset, Minotti, Poliform, Zanotta; and renowned designers such as Konstantin Grcic, Tom Dixon or Petter Knudsen.

Calligrafie by Cotto Veneto.Ceramic collection to mark the centenary of the publication of Tommaso Marinetti’s futurist manifesto.

Fronzoni Color Collec-tion by Cappellini.

Sand sofa by Lievore Altherr Molina for Andreu World.

New Classics

40 41

Sublime by Hand

La crisis en la literatura: www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/ editores/ponen/peor/elpepucul/ 20090207elpepicul_1/Tes

B&B Italia: www.bebitalia.it

BD Ediciones: www.bdbarcelona.com

Konstantin Grcic: www.konstantin-grcic.com

Nathalie Dewez: www.n-d.be

Habitat: www.habitat.net

Stefano Giovannoni: www.stefanogiovannoni.it

Magis: www.magisdesign.com

Capellini: www.cappellini.it

Felix Diener: www.felixdiener.com

Naturtex: www.naturtex.es

Luca Nichetto: www.lucanichetto.com

Foscarini: www.foscarini.com

Christophe Pillet: www.christophepillet.com

Porro: www.porro.com

Andreu World: www.andreuworld.com

Other references

Latent

Decorative objects FurnitureInterior design

ArchitectureTextileCoveringsLighting

Emerging Growing Current

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New Classics

Piero Lissoni: www.lissoniassociati.com

Cassina: www.cassina.com

Poltrona Frau: www.poltronafrau.it

Tom Dixon: www.tomdixon.net

Cotto Veneto: www.cottoveneto.it

Crinoline Outdoor seating by Patricia Urquiola for B&B Italia.

42 43

This trend reflects a new way of appreciating exclusivity, in which the artisan’s traditional know-how is blended with the designer’s personal and creative reinterpretation.

Each product has a story, a unique perso-nality and ancestral wisdom, so universal, sterile and industrial language is therefore rejected. Its purpose is to give each product a popular vocabulary that is already part of our collective imagination, through the filter of the designer’s own language.

In fact, ‘manufacturing’ has shifted to ‘making’, and this requires time, something that the user appreciates. These products can not easily be processed industrially and indeed, are not designed to be mass produ-ced. Exhibitions such as Origin: the London Craft Fair, held annually since 2006, testify to the resurgence of interest in the new artisan-designers, which grows year on year.

According to Arantza Vilas, textile designer and artist, and associate lecturer at the Uni-versity of the Arts London, “luxury is being

reconsidered and redefined through a return to its original sources: the exclusivity and the importance of the product’s origins, part of the value of the purchase lies in the direct relationship with the artisan who made it. These are designers, architects and artists who, through their work, deliberately break down the barriers between art and design, culture and commerce. They do this by crea-ting unique pieces and special editions for a market increasingly concerned not so much with the story of luxury brands, but with the stories behind the objects they buy: where they come from, the artist-designer behind the product, the materials and processes used in their creation”.

Thus, the user places greater value on authenticity, as seen in the search for extremely high quality and a substantial artistic and manual component in which the perceived and real value of the product come together.

Spanish Pavilion for the 2010 Shanghai from the Miralles-Tagliabue studio (EMBT).

Sehnsucht piece from the Echos collec-tion by Pour les Alpes with the colla-boration of Swiss artisans Greta Valer Jenaz and Elisabeth Davatz Fanas. The work pays homage to the Swiss Alps and alpine culture using various craft techniques, in this case lace, which they interpret in an extremely creative way. The delicate silk and cotton lace took over 200 hours to make and is protected behind a piece of transparent glass to ensure its stability.

Cibola Pendent: Shallot by Dominic and Frances Bromley for Scabetti.

Sublime by Hand

44 45

Creativity Labs

This & That by Fabrica for Secondome. Limited edition of blown glass domes in which various designers incorporate everyday items, such as bicycle handlebars, into the sophisticated and elegant beauty of glass.

1-2. Tak Cheung.3. Sam Baron.4. Jade Folawiyo.

Sublime by Hand

Decorative figurine by Louise Hindsgavl (Danish Crafts).

21 3 4

Artisans’ workshops have beco-me centres of creativity where designers learn and express themselves through the product. The final piece is the result of experimenting with age-old materials and techniques, but also from incorporating new materials and processes, for example rapid prototyping techniques or 3D printing.

In fact, this return to roots, rather than reminiscing about past golden ages, is regarded more as a chance to experiment, to benefit and learn from the artisans’ know-how.

The artisans’ methods are clearly seen as offering an opportunity to experiment directly with their materials and techniques. The designer’s subjective creativity sets out to explore these possibilities by complemen-ting this know-how with today’s techniques and materials to improve the quality of the final product or extend the potential of the finished item.

The value of these products lies in their striking, personal aesthetic or conceptual language, and in the singularity of one-off pieces or limited series. No single aesthetic predominates since the trend is based on the philosophy of creative expression. Granny lamp by Pudelskern

design for Casamania. Photograph: Markus Bstieler. Lamp inspired by the Tyrolean secular tradition and culture; the wool is

Bucho paper side table and Africa chair by Rodrigo Almeida. This Brazilian designer steeps each project in his own culture, in which many cultures coexist (European, Asian, African …), all of

produced by a small family business in the Tyrol, and the lamps are hand knitted by a workers collective in the Netherlands.

which he is influen-ced by and creatively interprets in a fusion of traditional craft techni-ques and contemporary elements.

46 47

This trend involves a return to a much more natural, unhurried production cycle. Crea-ting an object takes time, since it is made to last, to remain with us throughout our lives and perhaps be passed on to the next generation.

Products are designed to the highest stan-dards, with quality and durability at the core of the design. The highest quality materials are used, together with precise finishes, as the work that goes into these objects is of a sublime quality, incorporating know-how, care and patience, all of which are time consuming.

In addition, this trend involves a return to

The value of time

Aventurina by Argenta. Adaptation of ceramic glaze based on the aventurine effect commonly used in artistic ceramic processes and industrial processes.

Set interpretation and Volant armchair by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso using the ma-terial Alcantara®, which is transformed, pleated, crea-sed, rippled and distorted to reinterpret this piece.

made-to-measure, tailored products, and the chance to select, review the work and follow and even take part in the whole pro-duction process. The idea of having to wait, part of the process of creating a limited edition, is valued.

The ANSOAP study ‘Consumer behaviour and crafts’ highlights certain factors that cra-ft buyers value in their purchasing decisions; these can include limited series (exclusivity), manual and non-intensive production pro-cesses (unconnected with the industrialised system), the quality of materials, their his-tory or the regional connection (prioritisation of local over global).

Sublime by Hand

Crinoline Outdoor seating by Patricia Urquiola for B&B Italia.

48 49

The (G)local trend (Habitat Trends 08/09) highlighted the importance of globalisation from a dual perspective: negatively, by which local cultures are annulled or dis-solved, and positively, by which cultures are transformed and adapt to new times. Although this perspective continues to be valid, a series of socio-political transforma-tions have led to a new outlook for the trend Sublime by Hand. “The financial crisis that began in the United States over a year ago has brought to light some of the dangers of global interdependence and has disrupted many trends that fall under the umbrella of globalisation, but the process will proba-bly continue, although more slowly and somewhat more awkwardly and unequally than in recent decades” (Thomas Fingar, ‘Challenge and alternatives: factors and decisions that will determine our future’).


The global economic recession, which because of this interdependency has sent shock waves across the whole planet, has led to a call for change based on the ‘local before global’ discourse. Crafts and the personal have benefited from this discour-se. Furthermore, the much debated crisis of the capitalist model has led to a certain feeling of scepticism towards industry and has raised the value of crafts over manufac-tured or mass produced objects. “Traditional crafts are now having a notable impact in this recession, and while the activities of these artists and groups were, until recently, regarded as entertaining, they are now ack-nowledged by both market and consumers, and the importance of local products and product origin are highly valued” (Arantza Vilas, textile designer and artist, and asso-ciate lecturer at the University of the Arts London).

That individuality is one of the fastest growing values in today’s society is a widely held opinion in sociological and psycholo-gical circles. Some, such as the sociologist Ulrich Beck, claim that western countries have experienced a deep-seated social shift towards individuality since the end of the Second World War. This individuality has made consumers more demanding in their search for objects that directly connect with their lives. The artisan therefore has a greater capacity to respond to this new user demand, by providing unique products with their own story that are a far cry from the industrial mass production model.

Kirchschlag Collection by Atelier Areti.

Vasi Litigati by Mario Ferrarini for Bitossi.Sublime

by Hand

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The growing numbers of designer-makers*, particularly in the United Kingdom, has sig-nificantly changed the relationship between craft and design and has spawned a new class of products that fall between the two worlds and, consequently, between two very different markets. A new craft consumer has emerged who is also knowledgeable about design. This consumer has high spending power and values the uniqueness of a product. The Victoria & Albert Museum’s exhibition, Telling Tales. Fantasy and Fear in Contemporary Design, covered some of the DesignArt devoted to the work of recognised design-makers or designers like Ron Arad, Tord Boontje or Marc Newson. “A significant aspect referred to in the exhibition catalogue is the importance of the connoisseur, which adds intellectual value to these products: the maker’s brand, the label and the signature, numbered editions, exotic materials, high-quality production and source documentation are essential ingredients for the connois-seur, and are just as valid for antiques as for contemporary design. These are intangible qualities that add a quantifiable value to the object. Designers have greater autonomy than the industrial design model affords them and greater creative freedom than they can expect when working on commissions for industry” (Arantza Vilas, textile designer and artist, and associate lecturer at the University of the Arts London).

On the other hand, well-known flagship firms such as Vitra, B&B (Outdoor) and Moroso in-


creasingly turn to artisans and expert makers to create products that are sublime, extre-mely complicated to make and of exceptional quality: the haute couture of habitat.

From an industrial or business perspecti-ve, the approach taken by Alfons Cornella (Infonomia) to the concept of industry 3.0 is of particular interest, and reflects on what direction western manufacturing industry should take: “How can small manufactu-ring companies prosper in an environment where giants are collapsing? What types of manufacturing can we expect to flourish in the next few years?” Cornella concludes that industry has to reinvent itself, and that this reinvention can take various paths, including what he refers to as “industrial crafts”. The key factors for anyone setting out on this path are specialisation and the ability to be unique. A good example of this is Shotoku Glass, a firm that started out producing light bulbs; the company’s extensive knowledge about glass gave it the necessary skills to make other products using the material, such as its ‘e-glass’ series, a collection of glass tumblers made by reusing the glass from fluorescent light tubes, carefully made by expert artisans, which has won various awards including the Annual Traditional Arts and Crafts Challenge Awards in Japan. Another example is the Qui-rico Company, which works in a similar way to offer a unique, handcrafted product.

Designers, creators and artists are, without doubt, at the vanguard of this trend; com-bined with the companies’ craft skills, they often add the value of singularity to these star products. Names include creative labo-ratories like Fabrica, highly prestigious and celebrated designers such as Hella Jongerius, Fernando & Humberto Campana, San Baron and Tord Boontje, international artists like Joana Vasconcelos and upcoming names

in design like Rodrigo Almeida, Stefan Schouten & Carole Baijings, Cordula Kehrer, Christien Meindetsma, Katherine May, Emily Barletta, Soojin Kang, Marie Retpen, Esther Coombs, Ikuko Iwamoto, Helene Uffren, Torbjorn Andersen, Aldo Bakker, Shary Boyle, etc.

As well as generating a whole new range of products, this relationship between artisans and designers has also improved commu-nication about products, as reflected in the proliferation of designer-makers associations offering their products on the web. Platforms such as Hidden Art, Dutch Design, Cockpit Arts and Artesania Catalunya in Spain offer support in promoting and marketing craft products with a high design content.

At the same time, this trend has also been significantly advanced by the increasing number of events and exhibitions promoting crafts and craft workers from all backgrounds such as Danish Craft or Polska Folk at the last Tent London (London Design Festival).

This type of work is increasingly seen in museum shops all over the world. Designer-makers’ creations have also been accepted on the traditional design circuit, in shops, museums, galleries, events, etc.

Love triangle patchwork chair y Opposites attract chair de Katherine May. This textile designer creati-vely revives the traditional craft of patchwork to make upholstery fabrics and quilts using any recyclable mate-rial (ties, shirt cuffs, doll’s dresses, etc.).

A Continuous chain by Soojin Kang. This piece incorporates the beauty of traditional crafts and old materials in a contemporary context and explores the emotional relationship between people and objects. In a world of fast consumption, the collection underli-nes the significance of hand made.

Sublime by Hand

Designer-maker: The designer-maker is a new artisan with more institutional-based knowledge about design processes, who combines craft with the discipline of industrial design. He or she does not reproduce industrial finishes or items, but borrows certain te-chniques and knowledge from the field of design that can help to improve his or her work and the processes involves.

52 53

The Essentials

Other references

Rodríguez S., Casado P. (2009). Nuevas Formas de Habitar. AIDIMA, AITEX e ITC-AICE, Comunidad Valenciana.

Origin. The London Craft Fair: www.originuk.org/venue.shtml

Hidden Art: www.hiddenart.com

Knitted Landscape: www.knittedlandscape.com

Fabrications: www.fabrications-hackney.blogspot.com

Html Patchwork: www.open-source-embroidery.org.uk/wiki

Kwangho Lee: www.kwangholee.com/main.html

Fabrica: www.fabrica.it www.fabricafeatures.com

Sam Baron www.sambaron.fr

EMBT: www.mirallestagliabue.com

Louise Hindsgavl: www.louisehindsgavl.dk

Tak Cheung: www.fabrica.it/fab-tv/video-tags/ tak-cheung

Secondome: www.secondome.eu

Harri Koskinen: www.harrikoskinen.com

Moroso: www.moroso.it

Patricia Urquiola: www.patriciaurquiola.com

Alcantara: www.alcantara.com

Katherine May: www.katherinemay.com

B&B Italia: www.bebitalia.it

Atelier Areti: www.atelierareti.com

Scabetti: www.scabetti.co.uk

Pour les Alpes: www.pourlesalpes.ch

Pudelskern: www.pudelskern.at

Soojin Kang: www.soojinkang.net

Rodrigo Almeida: www.rodrigoalmeidadesign.com

Bitossi: www.bitossihome.it

Argenta: www.argentaceramica.com

Danish Crafts: www.danishcrafts.org

Casamania: www.casamania.it

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Furniture by Brikolor

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What takes precedence in this trend is the idea of ‘good design’, which revitalises its true purpose: to improve individuals’ quality of life. Everyday objects must be impeccable and above all ‘useful’, in that they meet our needs, whether functional or emotional. Their durability is also valued, and quality is therefore important and is achieved by applying excellent manufacturing processes that may sometimes involve artisan-derived processes; their refined, highly familiar aesthetic takes its references from Scandi-navian design.

The trend typically rejects fleeting fashions, the need for ‘design novelty’ and ‘design for design’s sake’. In this way product life cycles become normalised, in that the item we acquire for our home can remain with us throughout our lives.

This is an intermediate zone, where the status conferred by an image of an icon is not the objective, but rather its excellence, quality, durability, comfort, ease of use, are prioritised together with familiarity and friendliness.

This ‘good design’ can be summarised in the 10 Laws of Simplicity devised by John Mae-da, a researcher at the MIT (Massachusetts

Institute of Technology). “Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the me-aningful”, such that this trend is based on a reflection about the role of design and how it can solve problems efficiently through solu-tions that are simple to use but sometimes complex in their conceptualisation (“simplici-ty and complexity need each other”).

Rocking Chair by Charlotte Guisset for VIA.

Marcello chair by Nathan Yong for Ligne Roset.

Lamp from the Sweet collection by Paola Navone for Gervasoni.

Furniture by Brikolor.Photo: Niclas Löfgre This firm’s ambition is to manufacture furniture with a guaranteed emotional and technical durability of 300 years.

The Essentials

56 57

Clover by Kensa Kuoshiro.Redesign of a traditional object, a terracotta plant pot, with a modern slant shows how commonplace objects continue to make excellent products.

These manifestations are based on con-cepts coined by Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa in their exhibition Super Normal at Twentytwentyone Store in London at the end of 2006. They call for design responsibi-lity towards the user and his or her well-being, and the simple and sensible purpose of this type of product is thus to be useful, accessible and long-lasting.

This trend is a tribute to all the anonymous objects (whether handmade or manufac-tured) that have served as examples of good design with no other initial preten-tions than to be useful and affable (without being coupled to a strong brand image or a renowned designer) and that form part of our everyday collective imagination. Familia-rity is therefore one of its attractions and because of this, it is not particularly innova-tive from an aesthetic point of view; rather, it goes back to these everyday objects, with the result that its products are intimate items closely related to the user’s own per-sonal memories.

Another important feature is the quality of the materials and processes used, the re-liability of the product and its expected long life. These products are sympathetic becau-se they take into consideration not only the use of the object, but also the user: rounded or curved shapes, quieter colours that are easy on the eye, and perfect finishes. While they borrow from Scandinavian design, they are updated to meet new needs and take references from Japanese design.

The Dutch designer Richard Hutten des-cribes his products, which include normal chairs, tables and decorative objects, as “no sign of design”. This is because, he says, “in some way, we are already used to them; I work with archetypes and give them a twist. So on one hand they appear very fa-miliar and on the other, they are surprising”. (Source: Viewpoint 21: 131).

This simplicity is not only found in the product’s form, but also in its use, which takes into account the principles of design for all* and provides beneficial and healthy features.

The Extra-Ordinary and the Super-Normal

Design for all: is the intervention on environ-ments, products and services with the aim that everyone, regardless of age, gender, capabilities or cultural back-

Axor Urquiola by Patricia Urquiola for Axor (Hansgrohe). The core concept of the bath is “poetry of security”; according to Patricia Urquiola “it thrives on per-

ground, can participate in our society with equal opportu-nities. (Definition taken from the Design for all foundation, www.designforall.org).

sonalisation, on the many small memories and personal objects that make a room into a home”.

Trio by Camila Kropp for Iittala.

The Essentials

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We cannot begin to understand the huge transformations in trends without referring to the socio-economic context of recent years. The Essentials has arisen out of a set of very specific circumstances in which con-sumers have moved from a more Baroque, exhibitionist perspective to one of simpli-city and honesty in the products they buy. The post-recession consumer has clearly expressed a demand for simplicity. “Down-turns are stressful and typically increase people’s desire for simplicity” (Paul Flatters, former head of analysis and research at BBC News).

The uncertainty caused by the socio-econo-mic situation and fears that the standards of living enjoyed during the recent eco-nomic boom years may be unsustainable have generated adaptation or adjustment behaviours, according to the social psycho-logist Ismael Quintanilla. In other words,


individuals are tending increase their income or reduce their spending by changing their consumer patterns. In all events, there is an evident change both in the motivations for buying and in the issues considered when making a purchase, which in all cases are governed by prudence.

What we now find is the smart shopper (Omnicom Media Group), an expert shopper who compares prices and is faithful to a brand as long as it provides clearly superior quality. On the other hand, the threat of a domestic crisis in our immediate individual circumstances means we prioritise the price variable when making purchasing decisions. However, even more important than price, at least in Europe, is product quality, which for 67% of the population is considered to be a ‘very important’ variable.

Textile collection (100 years, Cabriole, Elements) by Tord Boontje for the Danish firm Kvadrat. This collection of upholstery and curtain fabrics is created by methods devi-

Meknes and Creta Collection by Antonio

Wilma Bench by Donna Wilson for SCP Furniture. This textile designer works with the principles of craft, sustainability and quality products and finishes, by

using natural wools and cottons and endeavouring to keep production in the United Kingdom.

Importance of various aspects of products in purchasing decisions

30 2Product quality

47 42 8 2Product price

14 25 37 23Brand

34 49 12 4The product’s environmental impact

Source: Eurobarometer. Flash EB Series 256, 2009

Very important Rather important Not very important Not at all important DK/NA

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The Essentials

sed by the designer in which manual tracing is transferred to the fabrics by digital printing, laser cutting and abrasion techniques.

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The Essentials is a trend with great poten-tial for market penetration as it responds to highly rational criteria. Simplicity, in line with the general attitude of the market; quality, as promised by the product; and the presentation of long-lasting objects with an extended useful life.

Today the market is becoming polarised with increased consumption of both high and low price products, while spending on interme-diate price goods has fallen considerably (data for the period 1994-2004). This means that users are opting either to buy objects from low price ranges and own label brands, or to make purchases based on the criterion of quality.

The user/consumer of this trend not only finds these products to be useful, in the broadest sense, but also sees them as an investment.

Brands such as Vitra, Thonet or Roche Bobois, leaders in quality and know-how, consolidate their products with this concept of simplicity referred to above.

In addition, a growing number of firms and designers are adopting simple language and manufacturing products that are made to last. These include firms such as Deesawat, Geaforms, Hay, Xam, Woodnotes, Tapiovaa-ra design – Aero design furniture, Bonestil, Fokus Fabrik, Brikolor, Ercol, Pinch, etc.


Amongst designers, this trend has been adopted both by well-known designers such as Tokujin Yoshioka or Nendo, and by other collectives and designers like Johanna Gullichsen, Benjamin Hubert, Constance Guisset, Kensa Kuoshiro, Innovo-design, Outofstock, Design Incubation Centre, Miki-ya Kobayashi,

Marteen Baptist, Marina Bautier, Joost van Bleiswijk, etc. The reason why this trend has been taken up so horizontally and in such diverse ways by different types of compa-nies and design professionals is simply that all of them feel strongly about reaffirming the principles of design; championing what is useful, functional and what contributes to improving quality of life for people in a simple and anonymous way.

Earth by Héctor Ruiz-Velazquez for Saloni.

Restoration of the Casa del Condes-table in Pamplona by Tabuenca & Leache, Architects.

Mint Kitchen, produced by Rauzas Company. This firm’s furniture collection (kitchen, bedroom, etc.) follows the concept of a simple, comfortable and dynamic lifestyle and gives users the choice from a range of basic modules to create their own compositions.

Source: “The vanishing middle market”. McKinsey 2005

MIDDLE

Market average

Nominal growth of products and services in tier relative to market average for those products and services, 1999-2004

NO FRILLS/VALUE

8.7

-5.7

4.2

HIGH END

The Essentials

CIVIS’AGORA. Safety and confortable surface for pu-blic space. CIVIS´AGORA is the fruit of years of research in developing products through Person- Oriented Design. It consist of ceramic convergins designed to offer an integral solution for the urban habitat following criteria of ergonomics and accessibility.

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Flatters, P.; Willmott, M. (2009) “Understanding the Post-Recession Consumer”. Harvard Business Review, July-August.

The Laws of Simplicity: www.lawsofsimplicity.com

Las Leyes de la Simplicidad (Spanish): www.nerv.es/blog/las-10-leyes-de-la-simplicidad

Design for all: www.designforall.org

Twentytwentyone Store: www.twentytwentyone.com

Nathan Yong: www.nathanyongdesign.com

Ligne Roset: www.ligne-roset.com

Mint: www.mintfurniture.co.uk

Rauzas Company: www.rauzas.com

Pinch Design: www.pinchdesign.com

SCP Furniture: www.scp.co.uk

Donna Wilson: www.donnawilson.com

Brikolor: www.brikolor.tumblr.com

Gervasoni: www.gervasoni1882.it

Paola Navone: www.paolanavone.it

Other references

Antonio Ferre: www.aferre.com

Kensaku Oshiro: www.kensakuoshiro.com

Patricia Urquiola: www.patriciaurquiola.com

Hansgrohe: www.hansgrohe.es

Tord Boontje: www.tordboontje.com

Kvadrat: www.kvadrat.dk

Iittala: www.iittala.com

Saloni Cerámica: www.saloni.com

Tabuenca & Leache Arquitectos: www.tabuenca-leache.com

Tau Cerámica: www.tauceramica.com

Via: www.via.fr

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Sonumbra by Loop.pH.

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In this trend, the habitat attempts to reflect an interconnected community in which the limits of the tangible and the virtual almost touch and at times blur into each other. In this context, design becomes the interface that attempts to bring low tech* within everybody’s reach. We see how container is gradually losing ground to content; more than ever before the product is becoming a service, a link with the information around us. The challenge lies in imagining the futu-re in order to design it.

Here we communicate with our objects, which in turn, interact with us and learn. In the field of computing this is known as the Internet of things, a term coined by the Auto-ID Lab, a research group working on radio frequency and emerging technologies based in seven universities worldwide, including the prestigious MIT (Massachu-setts Institute of Technology). The idea is as simple as its application is complicated: it refers to the possibility of connecting all objects to Internet by radio frequencies, thereby enabling each object to use exterior data to improve the way it works and thus according intelligence to every object that surrounds us. A good example is that of the St. Anthony Falls Bridge in Minneapolis (USA), one of the first smart bridges to be built; its numerous sensors provide real-time information about traffic, weather condi-

tions, the weight it is carrying, vibrations, expansion and contraction of the structure, etc., allowing the bridge to react automati-cally to any situation.

According to the sociologist J. A. Díaz, “there has been a significant shift in attention away from a certain techno-centrism towards the individual and his or her flexible relationship with technology; away from considering the huge potential of technology, towards consi-dering users’ real needs”.

Another key issue is the experimentation and exploration of the range of possibili-ties offered by new technological advances in materials and procedures, no longer the exclusive domain of the technologist. Design professionals are becoming increa-singly keen to participate from the outset in the conception of innovative materials and processes, as reflected in the proliferation of multidisciplinary collaborations that enrich this creative process.

Once upon a Future

Low Tech: machines or systems that do not use modern or highly sophisticated technologies. The concept appears as a counterpoint to High Tech, and typically requires fewer resources, is easier to main-tain, costs less and has a lower environmental impact than other comparable technolo-gies. (Source: Wikipedia).

Tactility Factory and Girli Concrete by Trish Belford and Ruth Morrow. This surface covering is the result of a jo-int collaboration between an architect and a textile designer. It aims to turn hard into soft by using textile and ce-ment techniques and technologies to create hybrid surfaces. The resulting surfaces are aesthetically unique and their thermal and acoustic capacities differ from those of traditional cement.

Wablog by Nodesign together with Jean-Louis Frechin and Uros Petrevski. Gadget that enables communication between people using minimal signs and move-ments to signal their presence

or to perceive the presence of a person nearby, to send comments or messages via networks like Twitter or Facebook, etc.

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Lumiblade Mirrorwall by Random International for Philips.

The importance of the object itself is losing ground to content. Design efforts now focus on content and how the user will interact with the object. This is much more obvious in technological objects like the Apple iPad. According to Wired, the appearance of gadgets like iPad will gradually lead to the disappearance of the device’s materiality, to the point where we will not perceive the mechanical part. This is already seen in the transfer of these criteria to objects in the home, from electrical appliances, through textiles or surfaces, to lighting, a trend that will continue to grow.

This invisibility is not related to minimalism; in other words it is not a question of aesthe-tic choice, but rather it is based on giving precedence to space so the user can interact with it. The user therefore takes charge of constructing the object, its contents and its appearance.

Invisible objects

An example of this is the Lumiblade Mi-rrorwall (Random International and Philips): when it is switched off, it is completely invisible, like a mirror. Once it is switched on, a series of OLEDs turns it into a softly lit surface, but when the user approaches the surface, the OLEDs directly in front switch off, forming a mirror in the shape of the person. The system also recognises move-ment and reacts immediately, following the person as he or she moves.

This interaction with the user occurs intuiti-vely, in such a way that the learning process is fast and above all, logical, since it is based on commonly assumed gestures that are very closely linked to those generated through the use of gadgets and other elec-tronic devices (telephones, touchscreens, etc.).

ADW! by La otra Cristina Serrano. This piece of intelligent furniture, designed for transit areas, looks like a simple picture, but it detects the presence of a person and

Wallmount by Philips. Using the same OLED-based technology (Organic Light), Philips have created a series of lighting objects that vary in intensity with a sim-ple movement of the hand.

Once upon a Future

lights up the room. At the same time, an illuminated message appears, previously introduced via Internet or text message.

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Today, we are one step closer to interaction; going beyond intuitive technology, resear-chers are now exploring how technology and objects can evolve according to our moods, “guided by our feelings, with a logical sen-sitivity, not only intelligence and reactions” (Biennale Internationale Design, Saint-Étienne, 2008). Companies like Philips are working on the emotion detection processes they believe will play an important role in the interfaces of the future.

Objects that evolve and learn

Nanotechnology is also gaining inroads in scientific spheres: as well as making previously unimaginable advances in areas like health, communications, energy and the environment, it is enabling objects to develop according to the use we make of them. Extremely flexible products will be created that can even be used as an elastic ‘second skin’.

People will not only be able to influence the content of the object, but also its very shape, intuitively, through their emotions and through the way they use it. Indeed, according to sociologist J. A. Díaz, “the term intelligent is now accompanied by appro-aches such as ‘the conscious house’, ‘inte-grated environments’ or ‘living, interactive environments’ ”. Various configurations exist in this new context of intelligent:

Morph Phone by Nokia. Nokia Research Centre in collaboration with the Cambridge Nanos-cience Centre. This device explores the potential user benefits of nanotechnology in, for example, mobile phones. Based on the same principle as a spider’s web, the terminal’s flexibility allows it to take on different shapes depending on

• Homes that contain intelligent objects: these homes contain single stand-alone appliances and objects that function in an intelligent manner.

• Homes that contain intelligent, communi-cating objects: these contain appliances and objects that function intelligently and also exchange information to increase functio-nality.

• Learning homes: patterns of activity are recorded and data is used to anticipate users’ needs and to control the technology according.

• Attentive homes: the activity and location of people and objects within the home are constantly registered and this information is used to control technology in anticipation of the occupants’ needs.

(Source: taken from ‘Inside the Smart Home’ by Richard Harper (Ed.) Springer-Verlag 2003)

the user’s requirements. Its integrated sensors also enable it to self-clean, absorb solar light and recharge, and it can detect environmental conditions (such as air pollution or whether or not a piece of fruit needs to be washed before eating).

Once upon a Future

Sonumbra by Loop.pH. This urban lighting system, created with electroluminescent textile fibres, was designed to respond to the activity of people moving around it or

standing near it. It generates a rhythmic, harmonious luminous pattern from the visitors’ move-ments, or motionless presence.

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In the Habitat Trends Report 08/09 we noted the importance of advances in ICTs (Infor-mation and Communication Technologies) to the development of trends of a technological nature. This observation is even truer today, since in the period 2000-2009 worldwide Internet use has increased by 380.3%, and in more developed countries the index of the population with an Internet connection ranges between 52% and 74% (Source: Mi-niwatts Marketing Group).

On one hand, home automation has taken giant strides since the 90s. Today, much is heard about home networking, and automa-ted home that is also connected to external networks to provide a contextualised service within the home. For example, this would allow a newly built house to be connected to neighbouring homes so as to gather all the data necessary to start functioning (year-round weather patterns, mains water and electricity systems, rubbish collection times, etc.).

The sudden freeze in the new-build cons-truction sector will entail a decline in the installation of home automation systems,


since installation is much more costly in already existing buildings. However, there will be an increase in the demand for home products that incorporate this type of smart applications, whether in furniture and decoration or in home alterations. This new context of access to technologies stemming from the development of the Information Society “is the main catalyst for a series of wide-reaching social transformations. The availability of new technological media will transform values and attitudes, and in turn, culture and society itself”. (Libro Blanco del Hogar Digital).

Although it is true that a series of techno-logical developments are driving the Once Upon a Future trend, the situation goes beyond technical factors alone. One of the most important issues is the major change in the lifestyles of the individuals who live in the home. Combining teleworking with per-sonal projects, social relationships between people across great distances, increasing mobility in daily life or the need for up-to-date information at any moment are some of the reasons why people demand techno-logical products that can link the life they lead in the domestic setting with their life in the street, the city or in cyberspace.

“The home has gone from being a closed space reserved for family interaction and the closest social relationships, to an open space with a connection channel capable of breaking down the borders between internal and external. The home has thus become a space […] with the potential for carrying out any social or economic activity” (J. F. Teza-nos and J. Bordás). While the development of the home was formerly based on bricks and mortar, a construction revolution, the new revolution will be based on the techno-logical component and the equipment that goes with it.

Glowing Lampshades by Kathy Schicker for Puff and Flock. These printed lamps give off light in the dark when they have been exposed to solar or UV light.

Once upon a Future

Light Touch by Light Blue Optics. Interactive projector that turns any flat surface into a touch screen.

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Furniture by Martela in collaboration with PowerKiss. The surface of these pieces is capable of recharging mobile wireless devices.

Digital console system for Compac work surfaces. The system enables incorpo-ration of controls for the cooker’s functions into the surface using 2H technology from Zeyron Technologies.

It goes without saying that the cost of these products raises a barrier to technology ac-cess; however we are witnessing a reduc-tion in the price of technological products (such as the Waspmote sensors from the Zaragoza company Libelium), which is bringing us closer to the time when these barriers will no longer exist, particularly in the domestic sphere. “[…] the home will be particularly open to the impacts of changes associated with the technological revolution, and transformations in the logic underlying manufacturing systems, in the orientation of consumer patterns and in communication and cultural innovations will have a notable presence in the houses of the future” (J. F. Tezanos and J. Bordás).

Products related to this trend are abundant in all markets today, from the rapidly esta-blished tradition of technological access in Asian markets, particularly mobile phones, to Europe and the United States where Internet access is widespread. Data from the Spanish National Institute of Statistics give us a picture of the type of homes in which Internet connections are most frequently found. The higher the number of occupants in a home and the larger the population of the city, the greater the likelihood that it will have a device to access Internet and a broadband connection. However, it is more likely that the Once Upon a Future trends user will resemble the prototype Internet user: male, between 15 and 34 years old, with university or higher level education, student or salaried worker and living in areas with more than 100,000 inhabitants (J. A. Díaz Martínez. Tecnologías de la informa-


ción en los hogares españoles).

How are technologies introduced into socie-ty? Undoubtedly, the Once Upon a Future trend embraces what Everett Rogers calls ‘Innovators’ and ‘Early Adopters’, in his book ‘Diffusion of Innovations’. Although this is a relatively small group, it plays an influential role in transmitting and spreading innova-tions and changes in the rest of society.

It is not easy to predict what time horizons we might expect for this trend, but accor-ding to data gathered through Delphi sur-veys “the smart home will have a significant presence in Spain between 2030 and 2040” (Díaz: 27).

This trend is emerging notably in the home, although not with regard to technological objects, commonly used ICTs and enter-tainment. Lighting and electrical appliances and to a lesser extent furniture, textiles and surfaces are its main applications in the domestic setting.

Firms most closely associated with this trend are typically those with well-esta-blished research departments working on technologies and future processes (Philips, LG, Corian, etc.).

It is also interesting to note the increasing number of creative collectives (designers, architects, etc.), often working together with technologists, who are experimenting with radically new materials (see the boom in materials banks worldwide) and the new uses, understood from the user’s perspec-tive and experience, that new technologies offer. This is the case of Il Gu Cha or collecti-ves such as the Design Incubation Centre.

Source: E. M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 4th edition (New York: The Free Press, 1995)

2.5% 34%13.5% 34% 16%

Categories of Innovativeness

INN

OV

ATO

RS

EAR

LY A

DO

PTE

RS

EAR

LY M

AJO

RIT

Y

LATE

MA

JOR

ITY

LAG

GA

RD

S

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Díaz, J. A. “El hogar inteligente del futu-ro. Tendencias de cambio en las TIC en el entorno doméstico”. XI Foro de Tendencias Sociales. 2009

J. F. Tezanos and J. Bordás (2000). “La casa del futuro. Resultados de un estu-dio Delphi”. Fundación Sistema, Madrid.

Article in Wired “How the tablet will change the World”: www.wired.com/magazine/2010/03/ ff_tablet_levy

Future Vision Montage: www.officelabs.com/projects/ futurevisionmontage/Pages/default.aspx

International statistics on Internet penetration (Spanish): www.exitoexportador.com/stats.htm

Libro Blanco del Hogar Digital: www.sociedadinformacion.fundacion.telefonica.com/docs/repositorio// es_ES//TelefonicaySI/Publicaciones/libro_blanco/1.pdf

Smart Bridge in Minneapolis: www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/09/18/minnsota-bridge-opens.html

Random International: www.random-international.com

Philips: www.philips.com

Nokia: www.nokia.com

La Otra Cristina Serrano: www.laotracristinaserrano.com

Lumiblade: www.lumiblade.com

Other references

Everyday Solutions

Tactility factory: www.tactilityfactory.com

Loop: www.loop.ph

Light blue optics: www.lightblueoptics.com

Power kiss: www.powerkiss.fi

Martela: www.martela.fi

Nodesign: www.nodesign.net

Nokia: www.nokia.com

Compac: www.compacmq2.com

Zeyron Technologies: www.zeyron.com

Kathy Schicker: www.kathyschicker.com

Puff and Flock: www.puffandflock.com

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This trend mirrors the social change that now seems to be finding a response in our homes. The idea of living together, sharing, community, etc., has given rise to new solutions vis-à-vis space, home and objects, with the aim of finding a balance between individual and collective living in the context of sharing a home with others.

In Everyday Solutions, objects are valued according to their capacity to solve everyday problems. These products are created with users’ new situations in mind (smaller living spaces, multipurpose rooms, mobility, shared flats …). It proposes dynamic, inge-nious and practical products that simplify and facilitate everyday activity, and all that is multifunctional, collapsible, modular, transformable and polyvalent is retrieved and rethought.

According to the designer André Ricard, “creative activity is not about changing the appearance of the things we have inherited, and nothing else. Changing one form for another in something that is already good as it stands is very superficial and insignificant. We should expect creativity to go beyond that, to create new tools that changes in li-festyles demand at each particular moment in time”. (Ricard: 17)

The creativity in dealing with new (day-to-day) challenges is what Everyday Solutions puts to the test. Companies and designers must, first of all, show expertise in identi-fying problems and situations that can be solved or made much less complex, with a single aim of improving quality of life for the individual.

A recent phenomenon might be framed wi-thin this trend: products that were originally designed for users in emerging economies such as India, China or Taiwan are beginning to see a consumer demand in more mature economies. These objects tend to be smaller or incorporate fewer special features; they are more intuitive to use because they were initially designed for inexperienced users; they are more robust, more energy efficient and are backed by good design. Products like low cost netbooks, designed for countries in Africa and Asia, domestic water purifiers using jugs with built-in filters, or the microfinance model devised for poor countries are starting to be seen in countries like the United States.

There are various reasons why societies with more experienced shoppers have beco-me interested in these products: they are cheap, they are simple to use and intuitive, their good design is appreciated by more experienced consumers, and they are more sustainable than the premium versions they are used to (Source: Trendwatching).

Flip Table by Signe Baadsgaard, Architect MAA for Bolia A/S.

Pelican bedside table by Marc Venot, part of Via 2009.

This table has additional storage space accessed by a simple twist of the hand.

Drop by Leonardo Perugi for Cerruti Baleri. Transforma-ble seat/daybed that can be dismantled into three pieces for easy transport.

Everyday Solutions

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We are family sofa by Claus Molgaard and Ole Jensen. “For those unexpec-ted visitors who stay the night”, is how the designer describes this multifunctional piece that provides a solution to an everyday situation.

Invisible Bookshelf by Ovo Editions. Shelf size can be modified according to need.

As mentioned above, this trend is based on solving problems or improving situations in the everyday habitat. To this end, compa-nies and designers creatively, but with their feet firmly on the ground, try to put them-selves in the user’s shoes and not only solve obvious problems imaginatively, but also become expert detectives of situations that need considerable improvement to make them simpler and safer.

We are referring to “familiar, everyday objects that, thanks to their design, beco-me efficient and beautiful tools that make our lives easier” (Elisa Sáinz, CEO of DDI, Spanish state corporation for the develop-ment of design and innovation). These are 1000 in 1 products, collapsible, transformable objects, those that hide themselves away or simply hitherto unheard-of items. Yet this does not mean they are incomprehensible gadgets or implausible inventions; they aim to put practicality back in the domestic spa-ce, this time adapted to new needs, ways of living and the new home-based activities like teleworking, participation in social net-works, carrying out personal projects, leisure and socialising.

These tend to be products that start from basics and as the problem is resolved or the situation improved, their form and aesthetics emerge. Because these objects are designed with the end user in mind, the language they incorporate must be easy and user-friendly. This implies that utilitarian design considers function and aesthetics on an equal footing.

Form follows solution

These products are designed to optimise space and the functions of furniture, lighting and surfaces, and in the end, help to make the house a flexible environment, adapted to the user.

Moreover, in pursuing domesticity and practicality, a growing number of firms and hotels are creating much more familiar spaces, by giving them a homely feel in the way both materials and products are used. This approximation to the domestic sphere comes at a time when distances between public and private are shrinking and people are working as much at home as outside. In sum, what is aimed for is a closer relation-ship with the user.

Composite, by El Último Grito for Uno Design.

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Nue cushion carpet by G-Led.

Chambre d’Ami by Campeggi.

In the monograph New Ways of Dwelling we described some of the recent changes in the family structure. The average num-ber of household members has fallen, and relationships between family members have become more relaxed and equal, lifestyle patterns and the activities carried out in the domestic setting have changed. These new circumstances require new products to meet the needs arising in everyday situations.

One of the new, rapidly growing models is that of shared households (people living together who are not from the same nuclear


family). This arrangement is sometimes seen as an alternative to the increasing dehumanisation of relationships and indivi-dualism of recent years, and in other cases it is a lifestyle choice based on economic viability.

In either case, this arrangement is becoming widespread in today’s society and is lea-ding to a new structural and value system that prioritises notions of living together, community, sharing, solidarity etc., and as a result, ideas that favour and improve relationships take precedence over indivi-dualism.

In addition, the problem of space is ever more pressing and is growing with the gradual migration of the rural population into urban areas. Forecasts suggest that by 2050, 70% of the population will live in cities (Source: World Urbanization Prospects). Added to this, the size of the average flat is also shrinking. During 2008, it was 96.8 square metres, 1.5 metres smaller than flats designed in the previous year and almost 2 metres smaller than two years before (98.6).

Format 10/10 by Charlotte Lancelot.Wall covering made of felt and Kvadrat fabrics inspired by the typology of ceramic tiles that allows customers to choose and

Almost half Spanish dwellings are smaller than 60 m² (Source: Ministry of Develop-ment).

The recent economic crisis has also brought into question those products or designs that have no specific purpose and whose sales seemed to be guaranteed during the consumer wave of the recent boom years. The decline of the markets has caused users to take a rational approach and question the market choices they made and the reasons behind those choices. A new way of thinking has emerged based on a more justified choi-ce of products; there is a demand for objects that solve everyday problems, that improve quality of life, basic products that work and are useful, at reasonable or at least justified prices. This new idea of practicality is deter-

mined by times in which people are thinking much more rationally, in that functionality is valued and the purchasing process is more rational than emotional.

construct their own composition in the form of pixels of different textures and colours. It can also be used as a memo board.

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As a trend, Everyday Solutions has huge po-tential for market penetration since it falls in line with the general feeling that we need to rethink consumption in a more practical way. These objects do not set out to downsize as a way of saving, but as a more rational, sim-ple, environmentally friendly and intelligent way of consuming.

With the gradual permeation of design culture in society, people are beginning to look at objects through new lenses. They are more experienced in recognising good design in the lines stores carry: ergonomics, solutions to specific problems, etc. Con-sumers’ growing experience enables them to recognise objects that fit their needs; Everyday Solutions refers to products that


are adapted to respond to today’s require-ments.

It is precisely the firms that create products for customers with an average purchasing power that are beginning to propose creative solutions for domestic spaces. They are very aware of how important the quality-benefit ratio is to the user, as well as price. If any firm can be said to represent this trend, it is Campeggi SRL, whose identity has always been firmly based on providing solutions to space and mobility issues. This mission is increasingly visible in all types of companies that strive to meet these new needs, such as Danese, Soca, Segis, Alias, Ligne Roset, etc. Office furniture companies like Bene, Prooff or Sellex are also moving in this di-rection, as a result of the changes in working

Desapercibido by Fluye Estudio.Furniture covered in ceramic material, rendering it unnoti-ceable in situ. As it comes in modules, Desapercibido can be adapted perfectly to all settings. The cupboards appear to come out of the floor or the walls, and their dimensions vary according to space and use; they are available in modules or in specific pieces depending on the setting.

Built to Resist collection by Quinze & Milan and Eastpak. Designed almost as a sofa-backpack, it incorporates numerous compartments and is made with Eastpak backpacks fabrics.

Nuovoliolà 10 by Clei.

environment where more open and flexible structures are sought.

Independent designers are also re-exami-ning these solutions, as they offer a very at-tractive professional avenue in which chan-ges in users’ routines are taken as a starting point to propose new uses and functionali-ties. Examples include Arihiro Miyake, No problem, Thierry Bataille, Meysan Myahedi, Itamar Burnstein, Giulio Manzoni, Philippe Nigro, Joran Briand, Charlotte Lancelot, La granja, Matali Crasset, 5.5 Designers, Ga-briella Crohn, Diane Steverlynk, etc.

A further sign of this trend is seen in exhi-bitions such as those organised by asso-ciations like the VIA, which select projects related to this area of design work.

Exhibitions such as A la mesa! organised by the DDI and curated by Martín Azua, pre-sent accessible, highly up-to-date products that respond to this change such as Naran-jasecologicas.com, Menos es Más or Fagor’s bread making machine.

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Ricard, A. (2009). Artículo “Respetar lo inmejorable” from the compilation Articulando. Opiniones y reflexiones sobre el diseño. ADCV, Valencia.

World Urbanization Prospects: http://esa.un.org/unup

Geneviève Lefebvre and Marthe Marandola. “Cohabiter pour vivre mieux”. JC Lattès, 2009.

www.editions-jclattes.fr/livre/jc-lattes-319229-Cohabiter-pour-vivre-mieux-hachette.html

Valores del diseño. Cotidiano: www.circulobellasartes.com/fich_libro/Valores__del__disenyo_(55).pdf

Via: www.via.fr

A la mesa!!: www.ddi.es/alamesa/index.html

Cerruti Baleri: www.cerrutibaleri.com

Ovo Editions: www.ovo-editions.com

Mark Venot: www.marc-venot.com

Hay: www.hay.dk

Charlotte Lancelot: www.charlottelancelot.com

G-Led: www.g-led.es

Quinze & Milan: www2.quinzeandmilan.tv

Other references

Basik & Raw

Eastpak: www.eastpak.com

Campeggi: www.campeggisrl.it

Maa-architects: www.maa-architects.com

Bolia: www.bolia.com

Clei: www.clei.it

El Último Grito: www.eugstudio.com

Uno Design: www.uno-design.com

Electrolux Design Lab: www.electroluxdesignlab.com

Fluye estudio: www.fluyestudio.com

Ole Jensen: www.olejensendesign.com

Kvadrat: www.kvadrat.dk

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Deep Waffle Geometrics and Diamond Dot Grey by Jethro Macey in collaboration with The Third Nature.

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Recent years have witnessed a cross- over between design and art. Many young designers have taken this stand in using their work as a political and social weapon to transmit their ideas. This trend shows a reaction that, as a salutary lesson, proposes alternative ways of working from design itself, but from a perspective of intimacy with the user, since in the end, it is offering solutions within the context of consumer ennui.

Here, design activity seeks out ways of reconciling itself with and committing to the environment we live in, and as such con-fronts the Kleenex culture that is constantly throwing up new and very often unnecessary products.

According to John Thackara, an authority on eco-design, “last year (2007), for example, a new project was launched every three minu-tes. Did we need a new product every three minutes? I don’t think so. The irresponsible development of new products is one of the trends that must change” (Catalogue of the Biennale Internationale Design, Saint-Étienne, 2008)

In designing, therefore, thought should be given to making the most of what already exists, and creating products from combina-tions of what we already possess or by sim-plifying and reducing until objects are stri-pped bare. This idea is gaining ground in the present context, in which mass consumption is frowned upon and we are learning to do things better with fewer resources, a creati-ve challenge for firms and designers.

These are everyday products that, although extremely functional, also find creative responses to the manufacturing and distri-bution costs involved. They must be cheap because they meet a need for survival, for getting by on as little as possible, whe-ther on a short-term basis or not, but at the same time they must be durable and repairable.

We could say that design in this trend meets the need for urgent or fast solutions, since the products it offers solve everyday pro-blems intelligently, creatively and efficiently. The return to a simple form in favour of function and finishes that are not necessarily impeccable are therefore implicit in the very concept of the product.

Deep Waffle Geometrics and Dia-mond Dot Grey by Jethro Macey in collaboration with The Third Nature.Concrete wall panels suitable for in-terior and exterior cladding projects.

Woody by Hay Studio for Hay.Shelving constructed on the principle of simplicity; its straightforward assembly is clearly visible. This shelving unit came onto the market by Block by Inax.

chance; originally designed for use in the firm’s shops, it met with a favourable response from customers and the firm decided to put it into production.

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Another strategy for approaching the concept of basic is to reflect, prior to the design stage, on what the real need for the new product is, to ask ‘is it necessary?’, ‘does it provide new functions or address unmet needs?’ Launching a product on the market from this perspective means considering whether there is a good reason for it, or whether it is a response to more superficial motives, such as slightly varying the style of a product or making changes that really matter very little to the end user.

It is at this juncture that hybrid products emerge from reusing already manufactured objects, or processes used in their production (moulds, for example). Something already in existence is used to create something hither-to unseen. With an extremely creative eye, the designer discovers an infinite number of unknown objects and blends them together to create truly useful products.

Nothing is destroyed, everything is transformed

Table by Gaetano di Gregorio.

Sofa III by Christiane Högner.

Light Line by NG Design.

“Difficult times call for ingenuity on the part of the designer, who responds by going back to the function of objects, changing their direction and using them as raw materials. When the only target is to solve, craftsman-ship lacks meaning; the love of the hand-made, admiration for craft. Search for tools and techniques, understand the operations and link them together to get down to the essence of the object. Fixing, reusing and creating new versions are resources for times without excesses”. (G. Ferrán).

The naked object

To a certain extent, this reflects the idea that we do not need to live with so many things, that objects do not have to be adorned, dressed up with superfluous frills; rather than going for the essential it is a question of getting down to the product’s skeleton, to the minimum, and for this reason these objects appear to be naked.

It is a way of presenting the raw product, almost half made, that shows the real cost of the product, its value, since it is presen-ted honestly to the observer. Moreover, pieces can easily be replaced if the object needs repairing. What we value here is that the product fulfils the function for which it has been designed and because we know it has no added extras. Indeed, the user can opt to finish off the product should he or she so wish.

According to Martin Raymond, co-founder of The Future Laboratory, “consumers are cut-ting down on basic goods. A new aesthetic is growing as a result, particularly in much simpler graphics and fonts for packaging” (Viewpoint 25, September 2009). In other words, this search for the basic, the raw, not only affects the products but also their pac-kaging and even their graphic design, since we are frugally looking for ways to save.

Basik & Raw

Street furniture by ALICER-ITC. This line of street furniture presents a system for constructing various elements using rejected ceramic material as the main raw material. The system creates furniture with different uses, from a seat to a plant pot or a bollard, depending on where it is to be placed, its size and its final shape. The last piece of every element can be adapted to the habitats in which it is located.

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Latifa by Anne-Cécile Rappa. Lamp made from recycled polypro-pylene bags.

Trends like Basik & Raw cannot be unders-tood without examining the significant chan-ges that society has undergone in recent years, and the effects of the financial slump on its citizens. Broadly speaking, a negative feeling towards consumerism has emerged that has spawned a number of different atti-tudes. On the one hand, we have seen how some consumers are choosing functional products such as those in the Everyday Solu-tions or The Essentials trends, or they have gone back to traditional values that offer security such as the case of New Classics or Sublime by Hand.

On the other hand, a more extreme res-ponse to the socio-economic situation has thrown up more critical proposals aiming to explore viable alternatives that depart dramatically from previous paths and that respond to the weariness with consumer fever. “Every society clings to a myth by which it lives. Ours is the myth of economic growth. For the last five decades the pursuit of growth has been the single most impor-tant policy goal across the world. The global economy is almost five times the size it was half a century ago. If it continues to grow at the same rate, the economy will be 80 times that size by the year 2100”. (Tim Jackson. Adbusters 84. ‘Nihilism and Revolution’).

We are therefore witnessing one of the psychological effects of the economic crisis, as the social psychologist Ismael Quintani-lla explains: fed up with “the predominant


lifestyle … (these consumers) are looking for new alternatives based on the maxim of consuming less by adapting their purchases to a new fairer and more responsible sense of need”. This is precisely the reflection that lies behind the Basik & Raw trend, the understanding that we are living in an unsustainable financial and manufacturing system, but with the conviction that chan-ges can be made through design.

Bootleg by Nadadora for Sagen Ceramics.Hybrid vases made using different moulds.

Basik & Raw

Boxes shelving unit by Kompott. Shelves created from interplay of the new and the old, by reinterpreting a wooden box to create a simple storage system based on the traditio-nal way of assembling wood.

Clutter Shelf by Chris Kirby.Shelving system inspired by and constructed on disarray that can also be reconfigured in the production stage and is easily stored.

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Mondrian by Nikolaj Lorentz Mentze.This simply expressed lighting system can be assembled in a number of variations.

Zipfre by Nils Holger Moormann.

M Lamp by Ana KraŠ.

Compared with the Manifesto trend from the Habitat Trends Report 08/09, Basik & Raw is much more approachable: in addi-tion to its a social message, it also offers solutions and presents alternatives that the markets can adopt, particularly at a time when consumers are demanding this type of product.

This trend is mainly seen among young independent designers, since it has a highly creative side that is particularly appealing in that it invites designers to do things diffe-rently. These designers include Apparatu, Atelier 522, Mark Braun, Luc swen Desig-ners, Recession Design, Vladimir Spasoje-vic, Hundreds Tens Units, Jaek Wang Lim, Samuel Ptience, Eric Ku, Gauthier Poulain, Sylvain Willenz, Alex Bradley, Studio Dustdeluxe, Johanna Landin, Bonna+Rappa, Martí Guixé, Curro Claret, etc.

Some firms, such as Muuto and ABR Pro-ducción Contemporánea are also launching collections or products based on this philo-sophy.

Interior design projects are also applying the trend as a highly creative option and an appreciation of the basic, such as the Nothing office in Amsterdam designed by Alrik Koudenburg and Joost van Bleiswijk.

While it is true that conventional habitat distribution points offer very little in this line, products can be found in alternative circles such as parallel design fairs, museum


shops, art related events, etc., which is to be expected given the creative focus of this type of product.

However it is the Internet, and particularly social networks, that provide the commu-nication and distribution channels most commonly used by firms involved in this trend. This should come as no surprise, since it is the new generation of firms and independent designers that is taking this trend forward and its products are aimed at a relatively young target audience, all of whom can be regarded as digital natives.

Bell Light by Sebastian Herkner.

Basik & Raw

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Mind the Green

Ferrán, G.; Barrero, G. Article “Vuelta a la esencia” DXI 36.

Thinking the Unthinkable: www.adbusters.org/category/content_type/article?page=3

Biennale Internacionale Design de Saint-Étienne: www.biennalesaint-etienne. citedudesign.com

Christiane Hoegner: www.christianehoegner.com

Chris Kirby: www.chriskirbydesign.com

Gaetano di Gregorio: www.gaetanodigregorio.com

Kompott: www.lovekompott.com

Annececile Rappa: www.annececile-rappa.ch

DM Depot: www.dmdepot.be

Jethro Macey: www.jethromacey.com

Inax: http://global.inax.co.jp

Apparatu: www.apparatu.com

Sebastian Herkner: www.sebastianherkner.com

Curro Claret: www.curroclaret.com

Martí Guixé: www.guixe.com

Other references

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Hay: www.hay.dk

Nadadora: www.nadadora.es

Sagen Ceramics: www.sagenceramics.com

Ana Kraš: www.anakras.com

Nikolaj Lorentz Mentze: www.designkolenkolding.dk

NG Design: www.ng-design.be

Textile research by Kate Goldsworthy.

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Concern for the environment remains one of the main issues in all spheres due to the widely held belief that the problem will get worse in the years ahead. According to the sociologist J. F. Tezanos, “in the short term –a decade– the experts paint a picture of megatrends and predominant global pro-blems chiefly characterised by environmental deterioration and climate change”.

The challenge facing design is not only to make what we already have more efficient (reduce, reuse and recycle) but to suggest paradigm changes to how we are doing things, which requires new ways of thinking.

This invites us to reconsider our modes of production and reinvent social practices to make them sustainable. It is not enough to consume less, to do as little damage as possible, but rather to do things in a different way. J. Thackara, eco-design expert, states that “we have to look back and acknowledge practices learned by other societies and in other times. The key question is not what can I do?, but what has solved similar problems in the past? How can we learn from their

success?” (Catalogue of the Biennale Interna-tionale Design, Saint-Étienne, 2008).

Other theories such as Cradle to cradle*, Dreamtelligence* or Co-design* encourage us to think in a different, much more crea-tive way, towards a shared future beyond the concept of sustainability we are already familiar with. We need to find practices and processes that are not only less damaging, but that benefit the individual, society and the environment.

It is important to bear in mind that sustai-nability no longer has to be ugly, simple or crude. Up to now there has been a demand for all consumer goods to be sustainable, regardless of their aesthetic. The difference now is that we want products that are good for the environment, individuals and society. This idea no longer has to be transmitted through the product’s external appearance, but rather through transparent and above all reliable communication.

Cradle to cradle:McDonough and Braungart use this principal to explain how products can be designed in such a way that from their conception, they can provide the raw materials for something new once their useful life has come to an end. They may be biological nutrients that can easily be returned to the water or the earth without leaving behind syn-thetic or toxic materials. Or they may be technical nutrients that continue circulating as pure valuable materials in closed industrial cycles rather than being downcycled into lower quality materials with a secondary use. (Sour-ce: Braungart M., McDonough W. Cradle to cradle. Remaking the way we make things. North Point Press, 2002.)

Dreamtelligence:“Global problems and economic uncertainties are forcing us to think beyond the logical, and to use our imaginations and intuition to identify visionary solutions for problems such as climate change, food shortages, global poverty, energy shortages, etc. (…) The age of Dreamtelligence calls on all aspects of the imagination and draws on the creative spectrum to envision our way out of these problems. This is why the movement is being driven by artists, designers and storytellers alongside scien-tists, academics and philosophers.” (Source: Viewpoint 25: 44 -57)

Co-design:“The co-design approach, designing together, circumscribes an equable space where design thinking and prac-tice harness collective intelligence… Where stakeholders and commu-nities of interest can contribute to improving economic and socio-cultural equity, while strengthening societies’ enterprises and institutions, and regenerating the environment.” (Source: www.fuad-luke.com)Source:

www.fuad-luke.com

Co-design loop

Textile research project by Kate Gold-sworthy, supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), The Materials KTN (MADE), TWI (Cambridge) and Textile Environmen-tal Design (TED). Goldsworthy aims to create textiles that continue as mono-materials, designed for forward recycling, by developing new finishes, particularly using laser techniques with synthetic polymers, since the traditional manufacturing process normally mixes materials from various cycles, thus hindering the subsequent recycling process.

Seed Safe by Martí Guixé for Alessi.Photo: Inga Knölke / Riccardo Bianchi Seed container in the form of a money box. As the fruit gets eaten, the seeds are saved until planting time arrives.

Co-experienceCo-use Co-monitorCo-sense

Co-understandCo-frameCo-conceptualise

Co-createCo-designCo-produceCo- service

Problematising Experiencing Solutioning

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The real challenge in tackling climate change lies in social change, and it is in this direction that experts from diverse disci-plines are working. In the field of design, A. Fuad-Luke, an expert in sustainable de-sign and co-design, is devising new appro-aches to generate eco-efficient products and services, and that also involve groups of people, thereby instigating changes in cultural, social and political behaviours.

Out of this context came the idea of Drea-mtelligence and how collaboration between people of various disciplines can bring to light creative solutions to social and environ-mental problems.

According to J. Thackara, “we are beginning to understand that most of the elements in a sustainable world are social practices –some of them very old– that have been learned in other societies and in other times”. (Catalogue of the Biennale Internationale Design, Saint-Étienne, 2008).

It is therefore not just a question of desig-

Rethinking and changing habits

ning an environmentally-friendly product, but of also generating a service around it. For instance, it is not enough to manufactu-re sustainable bicycles; they must be made available across the whole city through a pu-blic bike lending system or similar scheme, to ensure they are used.

Design also has an educational and symbolic role to play in encouraging and helping this change in attitude to grow. Design makes a commitment to the cause and offers its services. Numerous products and projects have emerged that contribute to raising awareness about daily situations and habits where a change in attitude is needed, such as smart or green meters that help consu-mers see how much energy they use and be more aware of how to cut down.

Compost Vase by Chris Kirby. A porcelain recipient to collect and compost food waste. This product introduces a ritual into the process of preparing and eating food.

Hot water bottle by Wendy Legro / Shaping oral knowledge by Jihyun Ryou. Photo: René van der Hulst.These two projects from the Design Academy Eindhoven present designs conceived to change habits through traditional knowledge and offer solutions for conserving food, or bring back older solutions such as the hot

water bottle. Both cases show how design can help to reduce consumption through daily activities that require fewer resources, instead of developing technologies that gradually reduce energy consumption.

Relay by Jean-François AIMÉ. System for carrying food, keeping it cool and conserving all its properties;

it is also made from durable ceramic material.

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This philosophy argues that a radically different approach to products is needed, in which we ask about their production, use and eventual return to the natural metabo-lism (in the form of nutrients for the soil, for example) or to industry (in the form of raw materials).

Objects are thus designed according to their natural life cycle, taking into account the materials and resources they will consume, how they will be used and how they will be beneficially returned to the natural environ-ment or reincorporated into industrial cycles. The idea of conceiving a product that, from the drawing board stage, takes into account its entire life cycle and its reincorporation into the industry prevents the appearance of what are known as downcycled objects.*

Neither the materials nor the products inclu-ded in this trend are harmful or dangerous to users or the environment. Research into materials and processes, and the incorpo-ration of technological advances in products is therefore an essential aspect of Mind the Green.

A further issue to bear in mind is the inclu-sion in products and services of additives that the user neither needs nor wants and that may even be harmful or dangerous; these are known as products plus.*

Cradle to cradle

Verbena by Aznar Textil. This quilt cover has the ‘Made in Green’ label, guaranteeing that it has been made with respect for the environment and for the workers’ human rights, and that it is free from substances that are harmful to health.

Mind the Green

Downcycled objects: “Good intentions aside, your rug is made of things that were never designed with this further use in mind, and wrestling them into this form has required as much energy and generated as much waste as producing a new carpet. And all that effort has only succeeded in postpo-ning the usual fate of products by a life cycle of two”.

Products plus: “As a buyer you got the item or service you wanted, plus additives that you didn’t ask for and didn’t know were included and that may be harmful to you and your loved ones.”

(Source: Braungart M., Mc-Donough W. Cradle to cradle. Remaking the way we make things. North Point Press, 2002.)

AquaCycle by Pontos from Hansgrohe. System for recycling bath and shower water using a patented biological and mechanical process free from added chemicals.

Bionictile® by Ceracasa.Cladding for facades in urban areas that, through its structure and composition, re-moves harmful NOx pollution from the air. NOx is harmful to people and animals and is also partly responsible for global warming and acid rain.

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The factors behind this trend come from the striking events taking place on a global sca-le, increasingly dramatic natural disasters and climate change, which call for urgent action at all levels of society.

A growing body of research is evidencing the short and medium term consequences that our current lifestyle may have (depletion of resources, energy consumption, emissions …), not only for our health or the climate, but also at an economic and political level.

“Climate change will cause extreme poverty in many areas and lead to the appearance of failed states and authoritarian regimes”, says Antonio Marquina, co-author and editor of Global Warming and Climate Change.


Notably, many people now routinely act in ways they consider to be beneficial to the environment. For example, recycling has led to a fall of 26% in the use of glass in Europe over the last 10 years. Although average ra-tes of glass recycling stand at 68%, in some countries like Switzerland or Sweden 95% and 94% of all glass is recycled, respectively. (Source: European Container Glass Federa-tion.)

From an economic viewpoint, there is now much debate about how profitable sustaina-bility is and many professionals, backed by real examples, have concluded that as well as benefitting the environment, it can also create wealth by saving costs for companies and increasing profit margins. Thus, sustai-

The 27 EU countries consider the environmental impact of the products they buy to be very important (34%) or important (49%).

“My shower curtain is an eco warrior” Elisabeth Buecher. Shower curtain collection designed to raise awareness about overuse of water. The shower head is fitted with a sensor-timer that activates a pump four minutes after the water is turned on; the curtains are then inflated, taking up all the space in the shower and forcing the user to leave.

nability is not presented as a value added to the product but at an extra cost, but rather as a cost saving that, in addition, meets with the user’s approval. The paradigm shift is significant.

Some experts point to the need for compa-nies to take sustainability on board inter-nally, and even go as far as stating that “an unprofitable company cannot last, but a firm that is unsustainable will also be incapable of surviving”. (Diana Verde Nieto, director of the consultancy Clownfish.)

Green Living Kitchen by Ludovica and Roberto Palomba for Whirlpool and Elmar. This project stemmed from the collaboration between Elmar kitchen designers and Whirlpool, producers of electrical appliances. Elmar uses wood from certified local forests and has

carried out ergonomic studies to create its furniture. Whirlpool focuses on re-ducing energy consumption, by among other things, using the heat from the refrigerator to heat the water for the dishwasher, leading to savings of 24% in the home’s energy consumption.

Importance of environmental impact in purchasing decisions

Product quality

Product price

Product brand

46

19

7 44

45

59

33

26 12

Source: Eurobarometer.

More important than... As important as... Less important than... DK/NA

Mind the Green

Rainwater collector by Frederic Ruyant.

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Scientific and technological breakthroughs have led to the development of cheaper, more environmentally friendly materials and technologies. These advances, previously limited to R&D projects for alternative ener-gies and healthy or non-polluting materials, are now being transferred to products in the market such as electric or hybrid cars.

Additionally, citizens are increasingly aware of environmental issues, particularly in Europe, as can be seen in the latest data from Eurobarometer. The environmental question is now so important that it affects the purchasing decisions of 8 out of 10 Eu-ropeans. For 34% it is ‘very important’ and only 4% consider it to be irrelevant in their purchasing decisions. One of the factors European citizens take into consideration is the energy efficiency of the products they buy, with rates of between 59% in Cyprus and 85% in Germany. For European consu-mers therefore, respect for the environment is an important variable when they acquire a product and over 40% consider it to be as important as product quality or price.


Paradoxically, two very distinct profiles emerge in the type of business or professio-nal that is working in this line. At one end there are large companies such as Philips, Whirlpool or Soundpower, manufacturers of products that have a direct link with energy consumption. This firm typology represents the flagships and drivers of the trend, since the results of their research and develop-ment are subsequently applied commercially and become accessible at all levels. At the other end are the (usually) less well known design and architecture professionals who invest their ingenuity and commitment in creating designs to benefit society and in-dividuals. Designers like Jin Kim or Frederic Ruyant create solutions to encourage chan-ges in habits or in product life cycles.

Eco-design is also spreading among design professionals (most notably industrial and graphic design), who endeavour to apply these principles in all their projects. Two names stand out in eco-design at an inter-national level, as mentioned earlier in these pages: John Thackara and Alistair Fuad-Luke.

Off The Grid. Sustainable Habitat 2020. Sustainable waste. Philips. In this project Philips envisions what surfaces and coverings will or should look like in 2020: they will no longer be inert outer shells; instead they must be capable of reacting intelligently to en-

vironmental changes. They will harvest rainwater (recycled for domestic use and filtered for drinking), trap sunlight (for electricity and solar energy), harness the winds (for air cooling) and channel daylight (for illumination).

Mind the Green

In Luce project by Positiveflow. A way of displaying how much energy is being used by a particu-lar group or area in order to raise awareness among citizens about their own energy consumption. This information is projected by artistic illuminated installations onto landmark buildings in the city.

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Flatters, P. and Willmott, M. “Unders-tanding the Post-recession Consumer”. Harvard Bussiness Review, July-August 2009.

Braungart, M. and McDonough, W. Cradle to cradle. Remaking the way we make things. North Point Press, 2002.

Fuad-Luke, A. The Eco-Design Handbook. A Complete Sourcebook for the Home and Office. Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2009

Tezanos, J., Sánchez, M.R. Grupo de Estudios sobre Tendencias Sociales. Estudio Delphi sobre Tendencias Interna-cionales. XI Foro de Tendencias Sociales (Mérida).

Article (in Spanish) on the relationship between climate change and the emer-gence of authoritarian states: www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/ cambio/climatico/fomentara/ Estados/fallidos/regimenes/autoritarios/elpepusoc/20100323elpepusoc_4/Tes

Europeans’ attitudes towards the issue of sustainable consumption and production www.ec.europa.eu

Conducted by The Gallup Organisation, Hungary at the request of the Directo-rate-General for the Environment. Flash Eurobarometer 256

Universidad sostenible… y rentable: www.elpais.com/articulo/Comunidad/Va-lenciana/Universidad/sostenible/rentable/elpepiespval/20091204elpval_18/Tes

Clownfish Marketing: www.muypymes.com/actualidad/empresas/3163-solo-sobreviviran-las-empresas-sostenibles.html

Other references

Eco-design: www.fuad-luke.com

Kate Goldsworthy: www.kategoldsworthy.co.uk

Chris Kirby: www.chriskirbydesign.com

Frederic Ruyant: www.fredericruyant.com

Martí Guixé: www.guixe.com

Alessi: www.alessi.com

Positive flow: www.positiveflow.net

Elisabeth Buecher: www.elisabethbuecher.com

Wendy Legro: www.wendylegro.com

Ludovica y Roberto Palomba: www.palombaserafini.com

Whirlpool: www.whirlpool.eu

Elmar cucine: www.elmarcucine.com

Aznar Textil: www.aznartextil.es

Ecohabitatge: www.ecohabitatge.com

Philips: www.design.philips.com

Hansgrohe: www.hansgrohe.es

Ceracasa: www.ceracasa.com

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the form of divine messages and their points of sale become temples where the consumer-be-liever engages in a transcendental experience.

Most international sector leaders (Apple, Nike, Prada…) follow a strategy of brand universe creation; to this end a combination of techni-ques have been developed in recent years ai-med at enhancing the brand experience: visual merchandising and store ambience, multisen-sorial experience, the shopping ritual, introduc-tion of events, spatial theming, storytelling… These techniques are also constantly evolving, keeping the spirit of the brand alive and avoi-ding repetition of the consumer experience.

Storysupplying is another tool that lends coherence to brand universes: brands provide consumers with experiences that they then turn into stories to tell other potential custo-mers. Storysupplying is one stage on from the storytelling technique, in which the company tells a story about a product (its origin, the story of the workers behind the product, etc.). In contrast, storysupplying involves greater participation: consumers create their own stories from their personal experience with the brand. For example, Fortnum & Mason a large store selling luxury goods (gastronomy, furniture, household items…) in the centre of London, has designed beehives to produce its own honey, and offers its customers tastings, together with the option to visit the rooftops to see the hives and watch the bees working.

Storytelling and storysupplyingIn recent years, brands and retail chains have heavily exploited the emotional com-ponent in an attempt to turn the consumer experience, shopping or buying a product into a memorable event for the consumer, so much so that points of sale have intro-duced marketing techniques to enhance the shopping experience. More than just acquiring a product or service, points of sale now incorporate entertainment and learning features for their customers, what we know as retailtainment.

The evolution of this phenomenon reaches its zenith with the brand universe; here brands design unique spaces or events to strengthen the emotional bond with consu-mers by encouraging them to adopt a set of core values that create a distinctive brand personality and that, in the final instance, let consumers identify themselves with the brand. The brand personality in its entire-ty is difficult to imitate when it has a solid foundation. For example, The Body Shop brand is acknowledged as pioneering the ethical approach in its business and, despite the efforts of other brands to imitate this position, The Body Shop is still considered as the brand that owns this highly convin-cing space.

The creation of brand universes is an effecti-ve long term strategy: it takes time to create a brand and make it grow, and therefore pro-

Brand universes are stores, points of sale or any other exclusive space where the brand expresses its personality and allows consumers to interact with it and maximise the hedonistic values of purchasing. Taken to the extreme, the brand universe is a space where the consumer can experience the ultimate expression of these values, very often embodied in its flagship sto-res. The brand experience turns these spaces into authentic consumer destinations, based on the appeal of a unique experience.

Thus, brands aspire to be little short of reli-gions, with legions of followers and even evan-gelists; likewise, their communications take

Experiences and destinations

The multi-sensory experience

fitability also takes time to arrive, as Javier Rovira highlights in his book Consumering. Here, brands do not compete in a product category or a market, but in consolidating a brand space defined by certain values that can be exported to other markets. For this reason, the brand must be able to hold onto its core values and its identity in other product categories. One example is Natio-nal Geographic, which has applied its brand values (adventure, love of nature and the human being, the thirst for discovery, etc.) to its new stores.

Prada Epicenter (New York) fuses point of sale with a cultural centre. www.prada.com

Emotional bonds

An important component of the brand universe is the multi-sensory experience in these spaces, where consumers are showe-red with a torrent of stimulants that may lead to mood changes. Examples of the multisensory experience can be found in the stores of Abercrombie & Fitch (darkness, high volume club music, beautiful young model-assistants who constantly perfume the clothes on display while dancing to the music; the idea of a temple to beauty is rein-forced by the theming of the stores with high Greek-style columns and murals of muscu-lar youths preparing to take part in various sporting activities…). Sense of smell is the final frontier of sensory marketing, which has led top brands to develop their own fragran-ces. Aroma triggers memory or increases the perceived value of the product, and at the same time contributes to creating pleasant

shopping atmospheres that influence the consumer’s mood. Brand fragrances are of course designed to express the brand’s per-sonality and are an inspirational and stimula-ting factor for consumers. Some of the most noteworthy examples are fragrances created by the Parisian

Blaise Mautin for resort hotels Park Hyatt Zurich (www.zurich.park.hyatt.com), a fresh lemon aroma, and for Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme, Park Hyatt Washington and Park Hyatt Dubai. Singapore Airlines (www.sin-gaporeair.com) also uses its own fragrance, Stefan Floridian Waters, which permeates the entire atmosphere, from the hostes-ses to the hot towels used on board. Other relevant examples of aromatic marketing applied to products or communication are the scented laptop (Asus F6V Multicolor and Asus F6Ve –www.asus.com) or Cinescent technology to perfume cinemas, tried out by brands such as Nivea (www.cinescent.com–). The other senses are also attracting growing attention; a campaign by the ice cream brand Häagen-Dazs introduced choco-late and vanilla flavours in Austrian postage stamps, or the increasing number of interac-tive shop windows that use touch technology on transparent holographic screens or LCD touch monitors. Some environments involve various sensory stimulants, such as London’s fireplace showroom-cum-restaurant CVO Firevault where the diner basks in the heat of their stoves, creating an all-round sensory experience.

Customers can visit the designer beehives on the roofs of Fortnum & Mason, London, where the firm produces its own honey. www.fortnumandmason.com

Branduniverses

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Rovira, J.: Consumering (Capítulo 5: “Pero entonces, ¿dónde competimos? Los espacios de marca”). ESIC Editorial. Madrid, 2009

Ritzer, G.: Enchanting a Disenchanted World: Revolu-tionizing the Means of Consumption. Pine Forge Press. Thousand Oaks. 1999.

Russell Brumfield, C.: Whiff. www.whiffbook.com

Lindstrom, M.: Brand Sense. www.brandsense.com

More information

It is important for the consumer to have the chance to interact with the product in the store, thus maximising the consumer experience at the point of sale. By trying the product, the consumer’s bond with the brand is strengthened and intention to buy increases. This is a key factor for cutting edge electronic and IT brands, in whose flagship stores the customer can surf the Internet, check emails, get help with user problems or attend seminars on using programs, as in the case of the Apple Store (London, New York) or Samsung’s Experience Store in New York. Consumers are also actively involved in events designed to encourage participation: magic or painting demonstrations in Hamley’s toy shop in London, the stage in the Pull & Bear store in London’s Oxford Street, where the customer can play live with the store’s band; or Nike Town, where people meet for a group run in Regent’s Park.

Product customisation also helps create a unique store, such as the by-appointment-only Nike iD service. Visitors can handle and try on every new product the firm launches, and is based on the theory that once the customer has tried the product, intention to purchase rises. What is certain is that half a million people visited the Samsung Expe-rience Store in New York last year, and as a result, the firm estimates that sales rose by around 55 million dollars. In the Samsung Experience Store customers can try out all the products, watch games on the television, check their emails, make long distance phone calls, but they cannot buy any of the pro-ducts. The store also runs courses and semi-nars on using technological products. Sam-

Another noteworthy development is the point of sale-cultural space hybrid, in other words, the doubling up of commercial and cultural opening times, with events, presentations, exhibitions, etc. This strategy is particularly visible in the top of the range fashion sector; examples include the Prada Epicenter in New York, a brand universe where products inter-mingle with an art space, or the Louis Vuitton store in Paris.

Finally, the evolution of pop-up stores is also of note: brands recreate their own universe at temporary points of sale for a limited time period. What was initially a low-budget gue-rrilla marketing tactic (locations in suburban areas, containers and improvised venues) is now common practice among leading fashion names.

sung has now announced the opening of a further 11 stores of this type across the globe. www.samsung.com

Touch and try

Cultural spaces

Diesel Store Fuencarral, simulates a moon-landing in two of its Madrid stores to promote the limited edition Fiat 500 designed by Diesel. The Diesel brand also staged street t-shirt sales as part of its ‘Be Stupid’ campaign, which also involved choreography in the centre of Madrid, billboards and messages on its website, all components of the brand’s guerrilla actions for this year.www.diesel.com

Branduniverses

Market keys

Discreet luxury

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Within this more discreet, simple aesthetic, different types of strategies are adopted such as the pursuit of authenticity and experience over and above the status of the luxury item brand. The no-frills* aesthe-tic has also spread in some sectors. This includes products and services based on a low cost philosophy, that introduce graphic, industrial or service design as a variable to add quality and experience to the product. Firms such as JetBlue or Song have intro-duced the concept of style and comfort into the low cost airlines sector. Passengers on JetBlue flights have free access to satellite television and over 100 radio stations. On the Song in-flight menu, clients must pay for their meal but they can choose from a va-riety of high quality brand products (salads, organic, healthy dishes, etc.).

This evolution of the no-frills aesthetic shows that very few products or services can get by without some kind of manage-ment of the buying-consuming experience, even if they are very low cost products. These strategies help the firm to reach more demanding customers, as well as those who shun the usual practices of the traditional luxury sectors. For this consumer profile, Neutrogena has launched a line of cosmetic products (e.l.f) that start at one dollar per item. www.neutrogena.com

The classic example of how the no-frills aesthetic can turn cheap products, commodities, into extraordinary products with a highly studied and effective expe-

rience is Muji; this company sells products for the home and office with a simple yet impeccable design, at reasonable prices.

Buying expensive items that have no pre-tentions to becoming ostentatious status symbols is having an impact on the low cost sector revolution. Low prices, but with design and experience, have spawned a new product category that is fighting on two different fronts and finding consumers from different sides.

Firms from a variety of sectors have begun to implement this strategy, which generates business opportunities by offering a cheap product, but adding the value of design as a key business factor. Examples can be found in a wide range of sectors such as passenger airlines, hotels like Yotel or Choice Hotels, or car rental firms like Blueback that offer competitive prices and extra services.

Frugal, democratised luxury

No-frills:is a term used to describe any service or product for which the non-essential features have been removed to keep the price low. This choice is usually reflected in an aesthetic of plain, simple graphics.

Small supermarkets provide numerous examples of retail sales points that combine the concept of the traditional small shop with design to create spaces conceived under a new philoso-phy, as in the case of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood, shown in the photograph, which introduces the concept of design in this sector. www.freshandeasy.com.

In other cases designers are brought in to create a new space conceived for users, such as the French store Picard, designed by Christian Biechaer. The super-market FRoSTA, in Hamburg, specialising in frozen foods, has also opened a restaurant where customers can see kitchen staff preparing the same dishes on sale in the supermarket. www.frosta.de

A new dimension has emerged in the luxury market, advocating a more thoughtful, austere, or at least, less publically visible type of consumer activity. Strategies are springing up to help the luxury market continue working without feeling it is being criticised from outside.

As part of this new scene, top of the range brands are developing methods that allow their customers to go unnoticed. Firms such as Prada, Bottega Veneta or Hermès have begun blending innovation, design, manual finishes and attention to detail with this new way of understanding luxury, marked by the present socio-economic situation.

These changes in top of the range markets have a vital influence, particularly on retail sectors, where strategies to adapt to the new way of understanding consumption are emerging. A case in point is Net-a-Porter (www.net-a-porter.com), a fashion website specialising in retail sales of luxury items, which offers its customers a range of delivery options. The customer can choo-se between traditional delivery or discreet packaging, which instead of the store’s origi-nal wrapping paper, uses brown paper bags to give the slip to curious neighbours and

Hidden luxury

The Southern Ocean Lodge in Australia, designed by Max Pritchard Architects, is located on Kangaroo Island, a protected conservation area off mainland South Australia. Hotels like the Tafjord Hotel in Norway, built on top of a reservoir dam, are set in completely unique, off-the-beaten-track locations. www.southernoceanlodge.com.au

Discreetluxury

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Ten Ways To Buy Luxury, Discreetly: www.forbes.com/2008/11/10/understated-luxury-shopping-forbeslife-cx_ls_1110style.html

Discreet luxury: www.businessoffashion.com/2007/10/discreet-luxury-a-segment-to-watch.html

Discreet luxury holidays: www.quintessentiallysecure.com/private-security-luxury-discreet-holidays.html

More information

Numerous examples of this new phenome-non can be found in the tourism sector, of which the key factor is experience. Distant destinations providing luxury services for holidays; hotels and remote locations where one can spend one’s free time away from the tourist’s gaze. In most cases, the su-rroundings are the main attraction, remote intimate paradises offering exclusive breaks, far removed from the travel brochures and the luxury cruisers docking in a different port every night.

Luxury understood as authenticity

The Hotel Aire de Bardenas, designed by architects Emiliano López and Mónica Rivera and located in Navarre, Spain, con-sists of a series of blocks in the Bardenas national park. The ro-oms have huge glass windows with views of the horizon that highlight the feeling of isolation and solitude in this esoteric ho-tel (www.airedebardenas.com). In the same vein, the Graft Lab Bird Island Project consists of a series of living spaces in the forests of Kuala Lumpur with zero environmental impact.www.graftlab.com

Undoubtedly, this situation has led consu-mers to seek out more moderate ways of consuming that typically play down osten-tation. Consumers with high purchasing power choose discreet ways to spend their money, in contrast to the ostentation that may be encapsulated in the Dubai style. This new luxury opts for simple, timeless, plain aesthetics that reject the baroque style of recent years.

Discreet luxury

Market keys

Here and Now

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Qualified information:Alfons Cornella refers to the tools to classify and separate out redundant and unnecessary information. “[...] when I’m in a metro station waiting for the next train, the information I really need is how long I have to wait. Watching a screen with information about events happening on the side of the world (general news) isn’t going to make me less anxious although it may entertain me for a while”.

Augmented reality:this term defines a direct or indirect view of a physical environment in the real world, the elements of which are combined with virtual ele-ments to create a mixed reality in real time. It consists of a set of devices that add virtual information to the already existing physical information. (Source: Wikipedia)

Grupo Cuevas has created a supermarket that provides an an-swer to the question, What shall we eat today? The Aquí é super-market is built on a sound philo-sophy: transparency in prices and weights of fresh produce, daily healthy menus created by the Chair of Nutrition at the University of Vigo (Spain), printable menus, the option to buy the ingredients or the prepared dishes, and a ran-ge of local suppliers in Galicia to reduce the logistic impact. It also offers a line especially designed to save time on the daily shopping. This formula recognises the value of the consumer’s time. Opened in 2008, Aquí é reached the finals in the retail innovation category of the 2009 World Retail Awards.www.grupocuevas.com

We live in the information age; consumers have more information available to them than they can process, and purchasing de-cisions are taken rapidly. People have learnt how to access information and products on Internet whenever they want. A growing plethora of on-line services offers a constant stream of information 24/7.

However, excess information raises anxie-ty levels because it is impossible to dis-criminate among the avalanche of data. The important thing in this situation is to obtain qualified information* that helps us to identify the best option from the many available to us (Alfons Cornella, president of Infonomía).

The introduction of ICTs in consumer pro-ducts has led to a qualitative difference in access to information. More important than access to information at any moment is pro-viding the right information at the right time and in the right place, thus helping the user to take decisions based on the information he or she needs.

The need to be connected anywhere has led to nume-rous examples of making consuming easier for users. Baker Tweet sends infor-mation on Twitter when a batch comes out of the oven. www.bakertweet.com

Information overload

Constant connectivity

In this new context, the mobile phone is the leading support since it allows the user to be permanently connected to any type of information. Some phones also offer other functions such as the iPhone’s GPS feature. Augmented reality* technologies are being introduced and enable any product or service to be geolocated and provide an almost per-sonalised service.

The diffusion of services based on aug-mented reality shows the importance of the on-line world and how it is increasingly impacting on the off-line environment. While just a few years ago two separate dimensions could easily be distinguished, in the future it will be more and more difficult to identify where the real world finishes and the virtual world begins. The interconnection between the two worlds is growing and models from one frequently transfer to the other. Busi-nesses that begin on-line move across to the real world, like Wikipedia for example. Bertelsman is to publish a print version of the encyclopaedia in a single volume in Germany, which will take 50,000 entries from the digital version; or the example of the video games company EA and H&M, which organised the Sims 2 H&M Fashion Runway Contest, an on-line competition played with the video game. User groups designed wardrobes for their Sims avatars. The winning design was used to create a collection of 1,000 units dis-tributed in the firm’s stores in the US, some European countries, Hong Kong and China. www.thesims2fashionrunway.ea.com

Bicphone by Bic. Transumers* defines a new social role where enjoying and using (as opposed to owning) is the maxim. Accumula-ting experiences without accumulating objects; this type of consumer uses formulas such as renting or temporary use of ob-jects or products. This is

Transumer:the word is a combination of transit and consumer, someone who consumes on the move. Transumer refers to consuming during waiting times when travelling, mo-ments when the audience is especially captive since there is nothing else to distract them.

the case of this telephone from the well-known ball-point pen firm Bic, which is sold at a low price (around 49 euros) and is ready for use with a charged battery and 60 minutes talking time. Objects like this also provide solutions for consumers who need to be constantly connected.www.bic-phone.es

Here and Now

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Ubicuidad (Alfons Cornella): www.infonomia.com/img/pdf/Ibicuidad_vers_cast.pdf

OFF=ON: www.trendwatching.com/trends/offon.htm

More information

U*tique Shop is an automatic distributor of luxury products. Its vending machines sell products selected by a team of specialists. The machine has a LED touchscreen and a robot that dispenses the goods immediately. It also shows videos and can give out samples of the product. www.utiqueshop.com Photo: Michael Jacobson

In the Habitat Trends Report 08/09 we reported on the importance of social networ-ks, clearly confirmed by figures such as the number of Facebook users: over 400 million active users, more than the population of the United States. (Source: Facebook Statistics on 4 April 2010).

Constant connectivity allows the real and the virtual to be intertwined, giving rise to phe-nomena like virtual tourists, who spend their holidays on-line, visiting the digital versions of famous buildings and landmarks. Currently 5 million people make virtual visits on Inter-net every day (Peru Internet and American Life Project). This technology gives users immediate access to culture without moving from the comfort of their own home.

Here and Now

Market keys


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The marketing guru Seth Godin claims that “the future of marketing lies in nourishing connections and facilitating communities”; for the moment firms must forget pro-fits, not focus directly on sales, and work towards enriching their clients’ lives. This does not mean they should abandon all their business methods in favour of altruistic activities; rather they should move towards a philosophy that benefits both parties. This way of working, based on providing useful services and content for consumers, is not so much a tactic or a tool, but more a mar-keting approach that reflects a new way of understanding marketing.

However consumer participation does not stop at conversation; it also affects the company’s processes. Growing consumer participation calls for an overhaul of the way business innovation is handled. In its most extreme form this is represented by user centred innovation*, a term coined by Eric von Hippel. This type of innovation is possible thanks to the existence of lead users who know the products inside out and explore the limits of the product’s functions. These users may even reinvent a product to improve it or meet a need that not even the manufacture was aware of. This kind of innovation is commonly seen in electronic consumer goods, which attract lead users. Some of the companies that have put this kind of innovation into practice are Lego (one of their most celebrated toys, Minds-torm, came from a robotics research group who were asked to apply their knowledge to a Lego brick), Procter&Gamble (with their Connect + develop initiative) or the

Linux open operating system. In all the-se cases the firms have capitalised on crowdsourcing* as an emerging value to solve problems through a collaborative approach. In the same vein, Henry Ches-brough coined the term open innovation to refer to innovations based on contributions from outside the firm (such as Inno-Centive, www.innocentive.com, the first global open innovation community that brings together ideas from engineers, professors, scientists, etc.).

Connecting firms and users

User centred innovation:Eric von Hippel introduced this term in his book Democratizing Innovation, based on the idea that what drives innovation is the consumer who, thanks to the new technologies, has an ever-growing number of tools with which to provide solutions for the market.

Crowdsourcing:this term was coined by tech-nology magazine Wired writer Jeff Howe and editor Mark Robinson. In the same way that outsourcing sends work out to external firms to reduce costs, crowdsourcing poses a problem and rewards the person or people who come up with a solution. (Wikipedia)

One aspect that has altered the face of consumption in recent years is the growing consumer interaction with products and brands. The consumer is no longer a pas-sive, accommodating agent, a receiver of companies’ offers, but someone who acti-vely participates in the company’s processes and products. The chance to participate and influence a product or service has now beco-me an integral part of the larger dimensions of the company’s offer, so much so that the consumer is increasingly taken into account by firms.

The increase in consumer power (power to act, to create content, to influence a product, to determine or insult with ram-pant potential in cyberspace …), has made firms realise that they need to establish a permanent conversation with their consu-mers. If they are to get the true feel of the market and respond to consumers, com-panies must follow up the comments left on the web, because their future business lies in the credibility of what the consumer says about them on Internet. Tripadvisor (www.tripadvisor.com/pages/manage-ment_response.html) gives hotel, restau-rant or other tourist business managers the opportunity to respond directly to comments users publish on the web about their stay or visit. Similarly, Yelp (www.yelp.com) enables small traders to respond directly to private individuals. Bazaarvoice (www.bazaarvoice.com) also enables contact with the author of a negative comment. In this vein, firms like Dell and Starbucks have set up their own mechanisms to talk with consumers (www.dellideastorm.com; www.mystarbuck-sidea.com).

The TCHO Beta Factory Store (San Francisco) chocolate ma-nufacturers launched a line ca-lled Tcho 1.0, created after 1026 iterations following customers’ suggestions. Taking software manufacturers’ beta versions as an example, the beta atti-tude implies that the product is a process that consumers can review and improve. www.tcho.com

Co-creation markets

Getsatisfaction.com is a meeting place for con-sumers and firms where both can ask each other questions, put forward ideas, clarify doubts and share experiences. www.getsatisfaction.co


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winter outdoor materials in a cold chamber. Similarly, Adrenalina is an extreme sports store in Florida (United States) with a surf simulator that makes artificial waves for customers to try out wakeboards (small surfboards) at the point of sale. Participation can also be a focal point for the customer’s visit and for the store’s business; this is the case of Fashionology, where girls design and create the accessories for clothes during the purchasing process, generating a unique experience based on co-creation.

Eric von Hippel. Democratizing Innovation. 2005. Downloadable with the author’s permission at http://web.mit.edu/evhippel/www/books.htm

Jeff Howe. www.crowdsourcing.com. The Rise of Crowdsourcing (documental).

More information

Value co-creation occurs when the doors to the firm’s processes are opened up to the consumer. The interaction between the individual and the firm generates value, not only monetary value or the value of consu-ming the product or service, thereby creating benefits in both directions. Co-creation takes various forms, but in all of them consumers play an essential role. It is not simply a question of people interacting or experimen-ting with the product, but rather that they influence its creation or its delivery (such is the consumers’ power that they can even decide the price of a service, as in the case of the no-price winereiss restaurants in Ber-lin, where customers leave one euro when they arrive and pay what they consider to be a fair price when they finish their meal). Handing over power to consumers and let-ting them into the firm’s internal processes is now a common strategy. Consumers can play an active part in any of the firm’s pro-cesses and by opening their doors, firms can refresh their product or service differentia-tion: consumers can take part in developing the product (www.tchibo.eu), in generating publicity (hollrr.com) or even in the manufac-turing process (Tcho Beta).

Points of sale also give the consumer more power and stores are introducing ways of experiencing the product at the moment of purchase, even for durable or specialist goods. Globetrotter (Cologne, Germany) is an adventure sports shop with a focus on experience: the centre of the store houses a lake measuring 240 m² where custo-mers can try out canoes; they can also test waterproof equipment under a shower and

Co-creating value

Images from inside the Globetrotter store in Cologne (Germany), with an artificial lake where customers can try out the canoes. www.globetrotter.de


Market keys

Desirefor simplicity

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Although transparency at the heart of the firm has been a key factor for a number of years –transparency in terms of prices, quality, opinions, standards– the concept is undergoing permanent widespread evolu-tion. One issue is crucial in this evolution: consumers’ capacity to influence not only the markets, but also public opinion, local and regional politics, how a brand is percei-ved, etc. The power consumers now hold is decisive and has led to a major shift in the role of each one of the market agents, and as a result the rules of the game have changed.

The phenomenon of transparency is ex-ponential; although firms are becoming more transparent, at the same time this new company-consumer relationship has added emotions, intentions and interaction to the mix, and traditional transparency has spread beyond its boundaries. Just as people share personal information on Internet through social networks like Facebook or MySpace –information that companies are benefitting from– they expect the same behaviour from brands. Social networks are another example of channels of commu-nication with the consumer; today almost half the users of social networks claim to be fans or friends with a brand or a firm. (Source: www.iabspain.net).

The tyranny of transparency

The new Osram packaging design helps consumers to decide on the right light bulb; the symbols on the front of the pack show at a glance the energy-savings, the useful life the bulb, and the colour, brightness or intensity of the light. The differences between bulbs are easily seen and the consumer can make a quick decision about which product is right for his or her needs. www.osram.com

Procter & Gamble has launched a range of quality foods at reasonable prices for customers who want simplicity. The packaging also complies with demands for less fuss to make purchasing decisions more straightforward. Simple illus-trations and fonts, and primary colours that emphasise aesthe-tics through the simplification and streamlining of elements. www.waitrose.com/food/pro-ductranges/essential.aspx

One of the consequences of greater con-sumer rationality is that many people now feel overwhelmed by the number of choices at points of sale, by 24/7 connectivity and by the constantly present opportunity to acquire things.

As the economists Flatter and Willmott explain “downturns are stressful and typi-cally increase people’s desire for simplicity”. Throughout the beginning of this century we have started to see signs of this market key, represented by John Maeda’s Laws of Simplicity and with clear exponents like the Apple iPod or the magazine Real Simple from the Time Inc. group.

According to the study Understanding the Post-Recession Consumer published in the

Harvard Business Review, simplicity is a trend that accelerates in times of economic crisis and will grow further in the long term due to a change in consumer habits.

This simplicity demanded by consumers has immediate consequences for firms, parti-cularly where they have direct contact with their users. For example, consumers place increasing importance on communication, having the necessary information and focu-sing on what is really important. The consu-mer is used to accessing information simply. Prime values are transparency and clarity of information both in the way the message is expressed and the product setting.

Back to the essence

Transparency means companies have to make an effort; they must ensure that con-sumers have access to the information they want because they are participating more than ever and demanding responses from companies. According to a TNS report ‘The influence of Internet on purchasing deci-sions’, 55% of customers look for information from the manufacturer or the provider of a service on the web.

Consumer participation in generating and re-ceiving information has led to spaces on In-ternet where this information can be shared. In recent months a large number of websites have sprung up to provide consumers with information about all types of firms and pro-ducts. These platforms have shifted away from traditional subjects (opinions on hotels and restaurants, price comparisons for books and electronic goods) to other sectors that until recently appeared to be immune to the ‘transparency virus’. Every category of pro-duct and firm, whether or not it is found in the Internet arena, is exposed to the scrutiny of consumers. Websites like RealCarTips.com (www.realcartips.com), PriceHub (www.pricehub.com) or OpenCarPrice.com (www.opencarprice.com) provide users with information on prices paid for second-hand cars and offer advice on where to get the best deals when buying a vehicle.

Source: Harvard Business Review

DuringBefore the recession

Demand for simplicity

Long termAfter


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Manufacturers of what may be considered emotional consumer products, like chocolate, do not stop at printing information about calories for the consumer on the outside wrapper; Rom-piBollo also shows the calorie count for each section so consu-mers know exactly how many calories they are consuming with every bite. RompiBollo is an idea from Adieffe in collaboration with Cinzia Curitti. www.adieffe.com

Post-recession consumer: www.post-recession-consumer-2010.com

TNS Global: www.tnsgloblal.es

More information

Some retail chains are tailoring their offer to the economic downturn. Carrefour, for example, has created a ‘1 euro a day family menu’ for its customers, who when they buy the products the hypermarket has selected, are guaran-teed food for a week for four people at the advertised price. www.carrefour.es

People want information, but they also expect it to be relevant. For this reason firms have to know what their users needs are, since traditional objective product informa-tion is no longer enough.

This has led to the appearance of free websites like StreetEasy, which help users find property and rental accommodation in New York and northern New Jersey. As well as the standard information about the product itself, such as price, area or num-ber of rooms, the website allows potential clients to search according to neighbour-hood, building, school areas, taxes (rates for the area) or travelling distance from a specific place. The site also has tools that enable users to contact the estate agent directly, keep a record of searches, or receive an alert when a property becomes available. Information is given on contextual issues that are not directly related to the characte-ristics of the property, but which are equally or more important to the potential buyer. www.streeteasy.com


Market keys


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The consumer is used to a shopping philo-sophy that increasingly involves some kind of bonus or additional benefit for customer loyalty, not unlike the systems established by large retail chains in the past. Consumers are therefore even more exacting when ma-king new purchases or trying new services.

Social movements based on people’s gene-rosity may offer a starting point for devising strategies that will strike a chord with these social groups. One example of this is Couch Surfing (www.couchsurfing.com), a website where users offer travellers a sofa for the night. The company AirBed & Breakfast applied this model to their business, which provides accommodation and breakfast and at the same time boosts local development by helping people in an area rent free space in their house while the firm takes care of the paperwork.

This context encourages the creation of products and services that provide addi-tional benefits to their clients, who receive certain immediate advantages related to the company’s offer. These incentives transform the nature of the relationship between the consumer and the company and economic profit becomes a secondary motive in the purchasing decision.

In New York, Smart Fortwo drivers can park in all the Central Parking System establish-ments for half the price of other car drivers. This is an example of projects and initiatives that use strategies of generosity: giving without expecting anything in return, but to adapt to new consumer demands.

As platforms for the creation of social net-works have emerged –MySpace, Blogger, Wordpress, Facebook, Friendster, etc.– the number of applications and widgets* that go with them has grown dramatically. All types of firms from a wide range of sectors have taken advantage of this new fashion to become suppliers of tools and services for users. For example, Babycenter is an initia-tive from the Johnson & Johnson group that offers information and help to parents, as well as information about their own products and is one of the most popular websites on childcare and childhood on Internet. Since it was set up in 1997, more than 100 million pa-rents have visited and it has won numerous awards. In the United States it reaches 78% of all new mothers and now has versions in seven different languages including Spanish. www.babycenter.com

This new context has also favoured a spirit of collaboration between different types of firms who decide to join forces to create projects that may interest and be useful to the customers they have in common. Adidas and Samsung have worked together to create miCoach, a web-based interactive personal training system.

Free culture

Widgets:In computing, a widget is a small application or program usually presented in small files or documents. One of its purposes is to allow ease of access to frequently used functions and provide visual information. However, widgets can do anything the imagi-nation desires and interact with services and information on Internet; they can be eye-catching screen clocks, notes, calculators, calendars, agen-das, games, windows with information about the weather in your city, etc.

Promotion action man for the book by Seth Godin, famous marketing expert, which pokes fun at gurus by por-traying himself in the figure. www.sethgodin.typepad.com

Consumers know very well what marketing is, they are aware of the strategies firms use and they understand what objectives are hidden behind these strategies. The figure of the consumer-as-marketing-expert has become so commonplace that numerous advertising parodies can now be seen on platforms like YouTube or Vimeo.

The language traditionally used in adver-tising is no longer effective and there has been a visible shift towards direct language and a typically raw message. In other words, it uses a clear, sincere language and messa-ges with no ulterior motives.

The key is to communicate this transparency through humour in ways that the viewer will relate to and find amusing. Today, audiences are constantly exposed to news from firms, and moreover, many people follow what happens in companies. In 2008, rumours started to circulate about Steve Jobs’ poor health; he refused to speak about it in public since he considered his health to be a priva-te matter. However, these rumours affected Apple’s share price, which fell sharply at that time. This situation even reached the point where Jobs was rumoured to have died. On 9 September 2008 Steve Jobs publicly presented the new iPods standing before a slide that read: The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. Only then was Jobs able to draw a line under the rumours about the state of his health.

To connect with the public, firms must be able to use direct unflowery language that is both amusing and dynamic. But this must

The pure cold truth

“76% of all consumers do not believe that companies tell the truth in their advertisements.”Source: Yankelowich Monitor

not just be a pose; rather this lifestyle philo-sophy must have a point of view, an opinion, which the company must be able to get across. Obviously not all firms and brands will fit in with this philosophy, but it is true that what previously was a somewhat “out-side the system” posture is now becoming an increasingly widespread way of thinking and expression.

But not only language is important in con-necting with this group of consumers, scep-tics of traditional marketing strategies. New tools must be created that are perceived as useful based on the logic that both sides of the equation will come out winning.

G.O.D. is a Hong Kong store that gives away part of its profits to charitable organisations. It carries products ranging from big-name brands, through creations by young designers, to industrial and handcrafted products. Other examples are the Stockholm Furniture Fair or Merci in Paris. www.god.com.hk


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Rise of the neo-hagglers: www.archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/oct/19/business/chi-sun-neohaggler-price-negotiatiaoct19

Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business: www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ ff_free?currentPage=all

More information

Sample Lab opened its doors in July 2007 in Tokyo’s Harajuku district, as the first tryvertising retail store. It is only accessible to members who pay a small annual fee, and no money changes hands for the products, everything is free. Members are regularly invited to try out new products; they then complete a survey and they can take a number of sam-ples home from each visit.www.samplelab.jp

Tryvertising is another strategy that helps to bring advertising closer to the experience of the product it is promoting by locating it in the right place at the right time. For example, Ikea furnishes the rooms of the hotel chain Etap, where guests also have the option of buying the furniture. Senseo, the Philips coffee machine, offers free coffee to commuters in the metro stations of some German cities.

Tryvertising is particularly successful in envi-ronments with voluntary captive audiences, such as waiting areas, rest areas, business centres or temporary work places. Hotels, airports, offices or even cruises can be used as contexts in which to apply the try-before-you-buy strategy. Firms must take samples of their products to potential consumers in the precise moment they want to try them so they associate the experience with the product; for example at the beginning of a holiday when they are away from home, they are much more likely to take up a new consumer or user habit.

Marketing has even gone to the extreme of giving things away for nothing or practica-lly zero cost (freebies). An example is free daily newspapers, now present in practically all European countries in the last 10 years, and in the US, Canada, Australia, etc. In countries such as Spain or Portugal more newspapers are distributed free than are sold on weekdays and the sector leader, The Metro, is read by 70 million people across the world every day. This example shows that consumers do not mind advertisements when they get something in return. In this particular case they are not charged for the newspaper, which is financed entirely by advertising.

The freebie phenomenon has become so ex-tensive that thousands of Internet websites inform users which brands are giving away free samples. It has spread to all types of businesses and sectors, from phone calls thanks to Skype, to completely free flights.


Market keys


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New business practices and models are constructed on both economic principles and ethical practices. A new generation of business people and entrepreneurs has created new successful firms based on these sustainable principles. The marketing industry is precisely one of those at the head of this new emerging advertising model. This model must provide relevant, proven facts, social and educational benefits, etc. and its core elements must be collaborative, active, transparent and committed. Various campaigns now exist in this line, such as the Global Cooling programme from Absolut, through which the firm donates half a million dollars to projects against global warming. Another example is Nokia’s collaboration with the Pangea Day film festival: this event is held at the same time in different parts of the world and aims to promote understan-ding and tolerance. On this day, Nokia gives out mobile devices in schools and refugee camps so that young people can make their own films for the festival.

The challenge in developing this type of so-cial marketing is to question existing models and come up with new roles, practices and standards within the advertising industry. The solution lies in innovation and the

creation of new bonds with consumers and alternative forms of communication, as well as renewing language in order to transmit a message that turns its back on conventional sustainability formats that have been repea-ted ad nauseam.

We have recently seen much visual reflec-tion on the meaning of sustainable, and it has also become a generalised stance for firms and consumers alike, such that adverts with an ecological message abound in the mass media. The key lies in finding a green message, but one that is different from the rest, that shuns the conventional formats which have been over exploited in commer-cial communication on a world scale. To do this, the environmental clichés that consu-mers are gradually becoming tired of have to disappear.

The excessive use of visual language to portray the environment is turning the symbols of environmentalism into stereoty-pes, and thereby eroding their significance to the point that they are no longer capable of arousing any reaction in the viewer of the message.

There are, however, companies that manage to get beyond consumer scepticism and achieve enough credibility to set ethical benchmarks in the market. In these cases, the firm not only refers to the environment or social responsibility in its message, but also transmits the idea that some of these

values are inherent to the firm’s values, and are recognised as such by consumers. One example is Paper Mate, which has launched a biodegradable ballpoint pen with recycla-ble packaging. This environmental philoso-phy links in with its blog (in Spanish) www.creatuhistoriaconpapermate.com where consumers are encouraged to participate in creating the brand’s own Green Book.

The Toyota Prius has become a refe-rence for sustainability in the auto-mobile sector as a hybrid vehicle that optimises energy consumption and introduces an alternative energy to fossil fuels. Numerous examples of design oriented to sustainable products in the car sector include the electric sports car Tesla Roads-ter, the NmG (No More Gas) from Myers Motors or the Nissan Pivo2. www.toyota.es/prius www.teslamotors.com www.myersmotors.com

Nissan Pivo2. www.nissan-global.com/EN/PIVO2

Beauty Engineered Forever is a range of sustainable cleaning products whose packaging bears no resemblance to the clichés normally associated with sus-tainable products. www.bee.net.nz

Alternative consumer:an individual who consciously adopts consumer habits de-signed to reduce the pressures of the consumer society; consumers with a conscience where the individual benefits of consuming are contrasted with the social effects of consuming itself.

The French philosopher and sociologist Gilles Lipovetsky estimates that between 15 and 20% of consumers identify themselves as alternative consumers*: they prefer ethi-cal products, are interested in the conditions in which the product has been manufactured on the other side of the world, they limit their use of packaging, seek out unconven-tional channels, substitute manufactured products for handmade ones and so on.

The response from companies has not been slow, although two contrasting tactics can be distinguished: on the one hand, the use of ecology in marketing messages for purely commercial purposes, and on the other the emergence of honest green marketing. In the former, responsible arguments are exploited as an accessory to marketing cam-paigns, but firms make no credible changes. In the last two years advertisements for all types of supposedly ecological products have proliferated. However this type of empty message has a negative effect on sustainable marketing, which consumers perceive as a fashion or a slogan with no consistent attitude on the part of firms, thus heightening feelings of mistrust and scepticism. In this context, messages lose strength and need to be renewed.

“We are at the early stages of the biggest business movement in the history of the world and advertising is playing a larger role than any other time in history. Messaging has to be part of the solution. You need to find ways to use the skills you have in abundance to communicate the solutions.”

“It is about both ecology and economy – we are increasingly finding them both playing off each other in powerful ways”

The growing concern for environmental issues across society has also led to a change in working and business practices towards greater honesty and environmental and socially responsible behaviours. Social marketing is helping to guide these new strategies, based on ethical behaviour in different markets.

Data suggest that there has been a signi-ficant change in consumers’ values: most people want their behaviour to be perceived as more ethical, responsible and sustaina-ble. A recent international report, Havas Media concluded that 81% of those polled believed that a change in present lifestyles was necessary. The growing activism in so-ciety over these issues is forcing businesses to change their behaviour, which is reflected through initiatives such as that of Wal-Mart to reduce their waste emissions to zero or their sustainable packaging programme. www.packaging-gateway.com/features/feature1319

Al Gore, former US Vice-President.

David Douglas, Vice President of Eco Responsibility at Sun Microsystems.

The other way of consuming Ethical markets

Reinventingthe green model

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The design of sustainable products has shifted from having little aesthetic value, to levels of design similar to their higher energy consuming counterparts. We are gradually seeing how the value of design is being incorporated into sustainable pro-ducts, how the all too familiar clichés are being left behind, and how new icons are being created to adapt to today’s society. The essential step of acknowledging the consumer can grant a product icon status or make it a symbol of an alternative form of consumption. In this way products can represent emerging social values. As an icon of sustainability the object represents an idealisation, a manifestation of a collective desire. In today’s culture objects have be-come the icons of our aspirations (Jonathan Ford, designer and co-founder of the design consultancy Pearlfisher. StepInsideDesign). This way of working is seen in firms like Green & Blacks, producers of organic choco-late with a mission to create ‘great tasting quality chocolate’. Sustainability is a vital and integral part of the brand. “The brand’s environmental and fair trade attributes act as proof of and support for its commitment”. (Focoestrategias) www.greenandblacks.com

Not only products can become icons of alter-native consumption. Service and distribution companies are also reorganising their busi-ness models around just causes. The most outstanding example of this is in commer-cial banks; in recent years the concept of the ethical and sustainable bank has grown with the development of socially respon-

Producto sostenible: www.productosostenible.net

Who Wants to Be Iconic? Designing Futures for Iconic Brands StepInsideDesign: www.stepinsidedesign.com/STEPMagazine/ Article/28734/index.html

Pangea Day: www.pangeaday.org

Triodos Bank: www.triodos.es

Banca Ética de Badajoz: www.badajoz.org/bancaetica

More information

sible investment programmes. Examples include Triodos Bank and the Banca Ética de Badajoz.

Ethical consumer icons

Socio-cultural keys


Corland Solar Powered Bag incorporates a flexible solar panel that can charge electri-cal devices. www.noonstyle.com

Reinventingthe green model

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“What is really important is not the product itself, but the way it is perceived, conceived and used by the person who buys it.”Ismael Quintanilla, social psychologist.

Camera model LOMO Diana F+ CMYK

In the consumer society, individuals need to express themselves through the posses-sion or use of products and services. The intangible values embedded in products and services have gained such importance in the consumer society that any reversal would be extremely difficult. In the words of Ismael Quintanilla, although the reces-sion has toned down its effect, “the value of the intangible and the importance of personal expression through emotions” are still present in the society we have construc-ted: as individuals we do not only consume products, but also their symbolic meaning, the value of which is directly associated to the capacity of a product (or a brand) to be distinguished in the collective imagination.

The importance of emotional aspects to the economy has been broached in the main scientific contributions in recent years: Emo-tional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, has become a bestseller since its publication in 1995, with over 5 million copies sold worldwi-de; in 1999 Pine and Gilmore published The Experience Economy, in which they argue that staging experiences is the key to a new economics that would supersede the service economy; in 2002 the psychologist and eco-nomist Daniel Kahneman received the Nobel Prize in economics for his work on decision making under uncertainty that allows non-rational economic behaviour to be modelled.

Social psychology refers to the ‘illusion of rationality’. Consumers consider themselves to be responsible and extol the virtues of in-dividual responsibility, ethical behaviour, spi-rituality, the inner quest, the cult of health and quality of life. Information, together with responsible, ethical, fair and beneficial consumption are real intentions with which to approach competent consuming.

However, reality is not always consistent with these approaches and situations arise in which compulsive purchases are made and households accumulate debts that they cannot pay back. The prosperity of the economic cycle together with individualism have consolidated hedonistic consumer behaviours aimed at satisfying desires even at the cost of future stability: 40 year mort-gages despite hyperinflation in the property markets, technological obsolescence in video game consoles, mobile telephones, digital technology, televisions, etc., exotic holidays, easy access to credit, debt consolidation in a single monthly payment with interest rates of over 20%… And on top of this, it must not be forgotten that globalisation has also accelerated the need to find arguments that go beyond the tangible product to give the consumer industry competitive advantages in developed countries.

The personal expression of consuming

The illusion of rationality

Before the recession, there was a clear trend to replace the rationality of the necessary with the emotionality of desire. The adverse economic conditions have brought about a shift in shopping patterns away from impulse buying to more reasoned conducts, but this does not mean that the emotional component has disappeared. Our society is still first and foremost a consumer society. At the present moment there is a growing need to shop more reasonably (bargain hunting, comparing options, taking more time to decide, etc.), but at the same time it is still emotional (it is entertaining, it gives added value to shopping as a leisure activity and gives the shopper a unique experience, it defines the consumer in the eyes of others, etc.).

The emotional component is now approached from the point of view of efficient use of resources: by companies in how they present their products and by consumers in making their budgets go as far as possible. Because it takes years to create a brand personality that transmits emotions to consumers, firms that have committed to a focus on emotions (senses, experiences, symbols …) continue to follow the same strategy, although now more efficiently (cost controls, tightening the value-for-money ratio, etc.). Likewise, individuals, in as far as they can, continue in their quest for shopping sensations (although these are now ‘treats’, exceptions to the general rational consumer behaviour, or they take advantage of moments of increased confidence …).

The efficiency of emotions


This desire for emotions is directly related to the search for authenticity. In the case of photography, analogue came-ras are re-gaining popularity because of the effects they can achieve which digital ca-meras cannot easily reproduce.

Lomography, a term taken from the camera LOMO LC-A, emphasises over-saturated co-lours, off-kilter exposure, etc., as personal, artistic features.

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Socio-cultural keys

The frugal society


From a scientific perspective, the publication of Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligen-ce in the 90s placed the biological basis of emotions and their relationship with reason and human behaviour firmly at the centre of debate. Through this stream of debate, the idea of a rational use of emotions has spread and has since been associated with social adaptation, health and professional and educational success.

The concept of emotional intelligence refers to the ability to recognise one’s own and other people’s emotions, and also to the skill in managing them. In today’s new context, people are managing their emotions by recognising them and are thus able to deal

Emotional intelligence

Daniel Goleman. Emotional intelligence. Bantam books. 1995.

Joseph B. Pine and James H. Gilmore. The Experience Economy. Work is Theatre and Every Business a Stage. Harvard Business School Press. 1999.

J. A. Marina Torres. El laberinto sentimental. Anagrama, 1998

Lomography: www.lomography.com/es

More information

with the emotional issues that are part of all aspects of life, including that of consuming products. Therefore, although the motiva-tions for buying are emotional, behaviour may be rational because people think about their choices and weigh up the pros and cons of each specific decision.

Camera model LOMO LC-A.

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Luxury goes hand-in-hand with hidden, private consumption, which abandons the public sphere for intimate spaces, avoiding the ostentation of wealth. This is not just a question of appearances, but also a respon-se to a change of attitude in society, as “the importance of values associated with im-pulsiveness, hedonism, self-expression and the search for new emotions is declining” (Ismael Quintanilla, social psychologist).

Luxury frugality shows that the values associated with buying top of the range brands are no longer based so much on ostentation as on the quality of the product. The emphasis does not lie so much on the brand as on the real quality of the product; the purchase is justified by the uniqueness, origin, authenticity or innovation of the pro-duct. According to B. Joseph Pine, co-author of The Experience Economy, one of the keys to this experience will be “the very idea of authenticity and a move away from the false and fake to the real and genuine. Brands will have to lend meaning to our lives; they will have to impact the world in positive ways”.

“Only 30% of luxury consumers display highly visible consumer behaviours, but this will be the most affected group and their spending will become more discreet” Richard Baker, CEO of Premium Knowledge Group.

The tradition of controlling conspicuous consumption or the consumption of luxury goods through legislation has existed since the Roman Empire, as it is considered harmful to society. However, these legisla-tive practices were abandoned at the end of the 18th century. Paradoxically, as classic economists lost interest in investigating conspicuous consumption, the motives driving citizens toward status and prestige increased.

The recent economic recession has brought this type of consumption into question and has led to debates on differences in salaries in free-market societies. In the international context, we are beginning to see incipient political proposals to reduce these dispro-portionate economic differences. In 2009 the US president announced cuts in the bonuses paid to the directors of banks that were receiving state aid, branding them as “irresponsible”.

In the midst of the present global sea chan-ge, luxury consumers are starting to show a certain timidity in the choices they make. They are beginning to shop more discreetly, in response to the need to reduce ostenta-tion and be more moderate. According to the designer Marcel Wanders, “Luxury is now more hidden, disguised under a blanket of innovation, intention and meaning. Before it was just about spending money – now it’s about content, meaning and excitement”. The economic recession, affecting broad sectors of society on a global scale, means displays of ostentation are now socially reprehensible, chastised and disapproved of by others; consequently, we need to re-examine the culture of abundance we have become used to in the recent boom years.

Hillary Vallieres, a spokesperson for Harvey Nichols, explains that products with the highest sales today fall into “a category of discreet luxury. A lot of customers are considering having less ostentatious labels, especially given the current recession”.

However, despite the present economic climate, there are still some people who can be considered affluent, with high purchasing power, who attempt to hide their wealth from the public gaze. According to Richard Baker, CEO of Premium Knowledge Group, “there is going to be a trend of hiding behind facades”.

Controlling consumption Avoiding ostentation

The Brick House, London. Designed by Caruso St. John. The move towards a more austere style is easily recognised in architec-ture and interior design.www.carusostjohn.com

The frugal society

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NY Times: www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/business/30obama.html

Trías de Bes, F. (2009) El hombre que cambió su casa por un tulipán. Temas de Hoy.

More information

The evolution of luxury markets

A series of psychological mechanisms comes into play in consumers’ minds, even when they are convinced of the rationality of their decision. Although impulse buying is on the decline, it is still present and as far as possible, “leads to shopping behaviour in which the impulse is justified”, characterised by “high sensitivity to the arguments related to inherent values and beliefs” (Ismael Quin-tanilla, social psychologist). In this case, the set of values and beliefs may be sustaina-bility, the origin of the materials, where the product is made, the quality of the product or service, etc.

Despite what now seems to be a catastro-phic situation, it is reasonable to think that the effects of the crisis will fade with time. As the economy picks up and the situation changes, this phenomenon is likely to dissi-pate since consumers of luxury products will tire of a situation in which their consumer behaviours are constantly controlled by the fear of social recrimination. However, as the phenomenon becomes popularised, it may trigger a new way of considering the quality of luxury products, a more sophisticated market, in which the key will lie more in the experience than in the prestige of the brand.

The economic situation will undoubtedly have a significant effect on consumer pat-terns, but it will be concentrated in the short and medium term, rather than the long-term, where the effect will be much lower than expected (Source: Trendwatching, Trend Report 2009). The marketing litera-ture, particularly the extensive literature on the recession in the final months of 2009, reports that financial crises have followed the same pattern for centuries. Once the recession is over a new boom period begins, which is then followed by a new crisis trig-gered by similar causes to the previous one, from the burst of the Dutch tulip bubble in the 17th century through the dotcom crash a few years ago to today’s construction indus-try and sub-prime mortgage crisis.

The frugal society

Socio-cultural keys


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The Multitasking Generation:The M Generation is the ge-neration of digital natives who were born into a digitised world and interact with the new me-dia such as Internet and video games. These consumers are known as multitaskers because of their capacity to interact with a range of different media at the same time and carry out different activities such as chatting or watching a film on-line simultaneously. Digital natives bear the stamp of the digital culture.

A new consumer is emerging with increasin-gly exacting expectations and behaviours. The pursuit of immediate satisfaction is on the rise: everything and now, both in the search for and retrieval of information and in everyday consumer practices. All of this is led by what is known as the Multitasking Generation*. One aspect of this M Genera-tion to bear in mind is that most of them are immune to traditional marketing strategies because, according to the analysts, they pay more attention to recommendations from their friends and spend more time reading blogs or watching videos on YouTube than watching the television or reading the news in the papers.

The Multitasking Generation is characteri-sed by mobile and ubiquitous leisure. These people are used to on-line services 24/7 and fast easy access to information (3000 million applications downloaded from the Apple online store, according to company data). If this access is not available, they frequently

become frustrated and unsatisfied. They have access to information wherever they are through devices connected to Internet round the clock (30% of Spanish young people access the Internet from a mobi-le, according to the latest study from the Nokia Trends Observatory ). An EIAA study shows that 2.3 million Spanish people surf the Internet on mobile devices, spending an average of 5.5 hours per week to check their e-mails (85%), to search for information (82%) or to connect to social networks (74%).

Internet allows users to communicate in real time across the globe and access all other users and information stored practically anywhere in the world, configuring what has become known as the global village. Out-dated information is no longer useful; what matters is the instant in which it becomes operative.

The culture of immediacy Synthetic thinking

It is this access to information, and the complexity involved in processing a lar-ge amount of data, that obliges users to reduce information in order to minimise the processing time and simplify it in order to encourage synthetic thinking. According to the social psychologist Ismael Quintanilla, the abundance of information that we can-not process forces us to simplify reality to one of its parts so we can understand it and assume it more easily. One way of reducing the complexity is by simplifying it through synthetic thinking, which leads to transpa-rent, direct ways of thinking with a broad meaning. This way of processing informa-tion, synthetic thinking, enables us to adapt to changes (because the information lacks depth). This scant interest in thinking deeply about issues causes the consumer’s mind to act rapidly and with urgency; there is an increasingly obvious need for permanently available technology that allows objects to be used quickly and intuitively with no instruction manual.

The craving for information and the readi-ness to take an active role enable individuals to interact with a range of different com-


munication media at the same time. This is reflected by the fact that in Spain one in five Internet users watches the television while they are surfing. However, this does not mean that their attention is equally divided between the two; Internet captures greater attention because it demands a more active attitude.

Wikitude Drive gives the user directions to follow on a real image captured by the camera on a mobile phone by augmented reality applications that also allow the user to take a photograph of an object and send it to a localisation service to find out what product it is and where it is sold, and if it is available, even buy it directly on-line. www.wikitude.org

Source: Mediascope Europa. EIAA (European Interactive Advertising Association).

SpainThe 5 most popular on-line activities through mobile devices

Instant messaging 76 % 16 %

Bluetooth 66 % 41 %

Sending/receiving e-mails 29 % 38 %

Website access 24 % 48 %

Search 16 % 18 %

Europe

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Socio-cultural keys

Digital natives

Transumers: www.trendwatching.com/trends/transumers.htm

The Multitasking Generation: www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174696,00.html

More information

Personalised service

These multitasking consumers not only de-mand direct and fast access to information, but it must be customised, tailored to their needs. These consumers have high stan-dards and are fully conversant with the new technologies. ITC-based tools are therefore the most appropriate way of establishing links with these users.


Adidas Micoach is a personal training system. Users can design a plan tailored to their needs, and while exercising, can receive real-time audible coaching or listen to music. The system measures and records speed, heart rate, distances, routes, etc., during the activity. www.adidas.com/es/micoach

In this context, technological advances in data visualisation offer a new way of relating to users by presenting information in such a way that it is closer to individual; one exam-ple is augmented reality which allows data to be superimposed onto real-time images. Different applications allow information to be personalised so that practically every application seems to have been created expressly for the individual user.

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But the final value of knowledge is its po-tential to be shared with others; it no longer stagnates in libraries and manuals but circulates among people. Collaboration is gaining importance and if something cannot be shared with others it loses meaning. It is in this area that the Internet makes this social revolution possible: the importance of collaborative websites to construct knowled-ge and the appearance of alternatives to the principal of private property such as creative commons are shaping the rules of the social game. The value of collaboration is also based on the premises of democra-tic values: all contributions are important to obtain a common construction, built by everyone, such that any contribution is welcome so long as it does not attack the objective of the construction. Joint, demo-cratic construction of knowledge (along the lines of Wikipedia, Word Reference, etc.) is spreading to other fields where proposals are being made that affect products (furnitu-re, decorative objects…) as in the case of the www.instructables.com website.

Digital natives:these are people born into the new techno-social environment characterised by widespread Internet use. In contrast to the digital natives, a new class of digital immigrants is coming into Internet by means such as the successive waves of digital literacy. There is a certain confrontation between digital natives and digital immigrants or foreigners, in the different ways they perceive and use technology.

The PatientsLikeMe website offers patients the opportunity to manage their own care and share infor-mation: patients can make contact with other users who have been through or are in a similar situation to share experiences and advice. This platform allows patients, doctors, pharma-ceutical companies, medical supply companies, research institutions and NGOs to

In contrast to mass society (based on mass production and consumption), the social re-volution at the beginning of the 21st century is leading to a relational society in which the basic raw material is knowledge converted into information and then communicated. Knowledge is being redefined as increasin-gly less rigid and regulated and becoming more intuitive, instantaneous and based on personal experience. Plasticity is also emerging as a new value since knowledge is understood to be flexible and malleable in that it depends on contributions from people and their ability to extend knowledge with further knowledge, thereby making it somewhat unstable, mouldable and fragile.

Collective intelligence

collaborate. It is funded with contributions from various health companies that can use non-personal data from the patient community to develop new treatments and healthcare products and services. www.patientslikeme.com

Digital natives

A Second Life resident using an ATM in the virtual world environment www.secondlife.com

In a society where individualism is an increasingly important value, Internet has opened the door to unexpected ways for people to participate and collaborate. This is particularly true for younger generations (20 to 30-year-olds) and will be even more so for other digital natives*, the generations born into an Internet world and for whom Web 2.0 has triggered a wave of social participa-tion unseen in previous decades. The role of Internet and digital technology is decisive in social changes, and influences consumer li-festyles at all levels (personal relationships, work, leisure, etc.).

Sociologist Manuel Castells coined the term network society to refer to the social model evolving today, mainly characterised by im-mediacy and acceleration, constant change and living together in a globalised world with

The network society

its myriad realities. One of the consequen-ces of advances in computing and the digital era, which continues and appears to be a long way from reaching any technological ceiling, is that social and economic possibi-lities remain open and are expanding. The concentration of the mass media (market concentration, but also the concentration of media channels in just a few hands) does not stop it from having a very limited reach due to fragmentation of interests, and it is seen as a paradigm of an increasingly global yet at the same time fragmented world.

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Fumero, A. y Roca, G. (2007). Web 2.0. Fundación Orange.

Castells, Manuel (2001). The Internet Galaxy. Reflections on the Internet, Business and Society. Oxford University Press.

Pascual, Mayte (2006). En qué mundo vivimos. Conversa-ciones con Manuel Castells. Alianza Editorial.

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The Vanity Ring displays the number of times a person’s name appears on Google. www.markuskison.de

The participatory society shows up today’s great paradox: collective individuality or, put another way, the individual’s dependence on the collective to create his or her own iden-tity. The participatory web, where people have numerous contacts through social net-works (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), generates its own forms of recognition.

Wired Celebrity Meter (http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Celebrity_Meter), which allows people to check how famous they are in cyberspace, is a collaborative ongoing pro-ject that reports how many links a person’s name has on the web by analysing available information in cyberspace (on social networ-ks like Twitter or MySpace, by trawling other people’s photographs linked to the name in question, etc.).

In this way, personal knowledge, informa-tion and communication possibilities come together to shape opportunities for econo-mic development today. The key to this is to make information valuable for people and to use it to create consumer opportunities. Its impact is obvious in, for example, the leisure industries (the music business, digital pho-tography, book publishing, etc.), where the values of knowledge participation, collabo-ration and democracy are transforming late 20th century business models.

The social revolution is thus accompanied by an economic revolution since the added value of objects is being reinvented; it

The individual as a brand

no longer comes from those making the offer, but from citizen-consumers them-selves. The initiative is personal and is generated by people, not institutions or companies, to the point where individual lifestyle can become a business in itself. Examples include Everyday Models (in-dividuals who ‘rent’ moments in their life to advertise products: on their clothes, houses, cars…) or DOmedia (creation of communication channels using lifestyles to advertise objects anywhere from yacht sails and golf buggies to students’ notebooks). Other initiatives based on the principle of the consumer as business creator are It’s my scar (which makes customised pieces of jewellery in the shape of a personal scar), Hotel X (decorated by the guests them-selves) or Ponuko (selling goods people design or make themselves). In all of these examples, individuals exploit their facet of consumer-as-producer or even consumer-as-message.

Digital natives

Socio-cultural keys


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The wastefulness of post-modern con-sumption that has led to mounting debts in pursuit of a standard of living that brings the consumer acceptance and admiration in the community has given way to more rational consumer patterns. Post-modernity may be left behind, leaving out the hyper reality that surrounded objects, to move on to a con-sumption focusing on the intrinsic functio-nal value of the product. The return to the essence of functionality is also spreading to the emotional domain.

A study by the Omnicom Media Group reveals the existence of the smart shopper, a consumer who wants to continue buying his or her favourite brands but not at any price. This study shows that 70% of Spanish shoppers will search for the best price be-fore buying their usual brand. Other studies carried out in the last year have detected an increase in the purchase of ‘own label’ goods (50% of Spanish consumers, twice the Euro-pean average, claim to buy more own label goods than before).

Consumers try to manage their resources rationally. This is also noted in Internet, with the proliferation of websites and blogs like www.superandolacrisis.com/consumo-racio-nal/, offering advice on how to on maximise consumption rationally both in the shopping basket and in the everyday use of objects. It is not only consumers that are taking rational consumption on board; aware of the need to optimise resources, brands are also using this argument in their marketing through media such as Internet.

The tunnel effect:In any crisis, we initially tend to deny the situation because we do not want to accept it; next comes a phase in which we focus our attention entirely on the crisis and are unable to see beyond its possible conse-quences. This is generally ac-companied by a feeling of loss of control, tension, fear and stress. In this context decisions are made on a short-term basis (the tunnel effect). Conflict appears in how they may be solved, accompanied by euphoria (it’s been resolved) or depression (it’ll never be resol-ved). Economic behaviours are expressed through transactions between people and their envi-ronment. The economic condi-tions, together with individual and social differences, give rise to different perceptions and psychological processes in the face of the crisis.

“Making fewer, smaller purchases, but over the month they actually add up to more. Obviously this mostly applies to mass consumption goods, such as food, but also to products that could be controlled in such a way that the ‘perception’ of spending is lower.” Andrés, 2009: 46

Efficient decisions

Superando la crisis: www.superandolacrisis.com

Omnicom Group: www.omnicomgroup.com

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Today’s economic situation is influencing shopping behaviour patterns to the extent that the values on which consumer pat-terns were grounded in recent years, typical of post-modern consumption, have been sidelined to make way for other values like rationality or responsibility.

Consumers tend to readjust their spen-ding in circumstances of changing income, whether positive or negative. According to social psychologist Ismael Quintanilla, economic uncertainty and the fear that the lifestyle enjoyed in recent years may not be sustainable lead to adaptation or adjustment conducts (in other words, by increasing income to modify the influence of environ-mental conditions, or reducing spending by changing consumer habits).

One of the effects of the economic situation is that excesses are sidelined. Consumers are more prudent in their spending and aim to satisfy their most basic immediate needs, putting on hold those they consider to be luxuries or superfluous.

Most people consider renouncing a desire (valuable, substantial or prestigious) as a repression of emotions and a restriction of freedom. This attitude can easily be identi-

fied by what is known as the tunnel effect*. Sometimes we give in to our whims, to save money by buying a low price bargain and occasionally to give ourselves a ‘luxury’ that we can afford. This is what is known as bipolarisation in consumption: relaxation versus extreme experiences, frequent mass consumption versus the search for individua-lity. By seeking well-being without excesses, the consumer attempts to rationalise con-sumption, although this ‘rationalisation’ may be no other than a rationality forced upon us by the compensatory effect of the recession: we adapt consumption to ameliorate the effects of a drop in available income.

Another effect of the present economic si-tuation is the increase in shopping frequen-cy: zero stock shopping, more visits to the shops, but buying less, in smaller quantities or spending less. Consumers are all too clearly aware of prices and offers and the search for cheaper solutions, and take de-cisions that attempt to make the shopping process more rational and objective.

.

The consumer crisis

Practices like sharing or exchanging are gaining ground in society as alternative means that help to ratio-nalise consumption. Using social networks or creating groups on websites like www.compartir.org, enables people to use their vehi-cles more rationally. Some websites compile events, information and experiences to help people share.www.compartiresbueno.net

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Socio-cultural keys

Changing attitudes

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This feeling is growing, although anti-con-sumer fervour is not always due to lack of economic means: Why accept the intrusion of advertising in one’s private life? Why allow oneself to be manipulated on issues of when and where to shop? Why follow fas-hions? Unable to escape consumerism, the alternative consumers look for alternatives within the market itself.

These alternatives are expanding: fair trade consumption, responsible consumption, sus-tainable consumption, social consumption, ethical consumption, critical consumption, ecological consumption… all of these start with an attitude that permeates consumer decisions; decisions based on an evaluation of the way manufacturing companies beha-ve and the processes used in the production and distribution of the products.

Within these behaviours we find values associated with a reasoned change in how people consume. Users are looking for products that are sustainable, that encoura-ge local development, that are produced by firms with ethical and committed behaviours offering quality products with a low environ-mental impact and that resolve problems in the best possible way. In summary, consu-me less but better.

The ‘relaunching’ of consuming Changing attitudes

Moreover, the reduction in average income has led to greater price sensitivity, leading shoppers to “look for cheaper alternatives in their shopping basket, and buy fewer pro-ducts more frequently” (Ismael Quintanilla). They look for alternative ways of consuming based on new business models in which consumers play a part in an attempt to reduce costs, but also to create a system that listens to their opinions and provides a better response to their own needs.

These fundamental changes are not limited only to consumption, however. In general, a trend can be seen in “changing attitu-des towards work, pleasure and free time. Linked to a growing interest in quality of life, attitudes to work have also changed; work is no longer central to people’s existence as they now seek non-economic recompense, such as prestige or free time. Interest has grown in sports and recreational activities, in physical well-being and health” (Ismael Quintanilla). We are therefore witnessing a moment of change in certain institutions and ways of life, in which users now feel strong enough to have an influence. This feeling of legitimacy to change ways of working, of consuming, of leisure, etc., are grounded on the power that ICT tools have given people. These new accessible and participatory communication media have granted anonymous individuals the oppor-tunity to influence public opinion and to transmit their message beyond the formal structures of citizen participation, by mul-tiplying the moments for and the quality of that participation.

Drum & Wash.Illuminated caster stool made from washing machine parts.

Changing attitudes

REHOGAR exhibition.

Plenxa. Coat pegs made from old irons.

The financial and economic crisis has provoked different reactions to the present economic system. The crisis has led to a general fall in sales, whether due to reduc-tions in household income or because some sectors of society have decided to save more as a preventative measure.

Consumption is saturated with motives that go beyond the functional or emotional values of products and services, reaching a meta-preferential level where consumer decisions are based on social and human values. Thus, what is sought is a type of consumption that is consistent with the personal value system.

One phenomenon that is growing with the recession is the conscious and contrary behaviour of the market system. Weariness with consumer fever has led to personal behaviours oriented to greater frugality and less ostentation. What is initially motivated by need in the context of high debt levels and loss of job security eventually spreads through a kind of copy-cat process. Behind these positions lies the need for greater per-sonal satisfaction, aside from the happiness supposedly conferred by objects and the act of consuming.

Anti-consumerism consumption

While recent years have seen a rise in the percentage of impulse buys and purchases based on the emotional characteristics of the product, since the turning point of the recession, consumer decisions are now more rational. This trend will continue in the medium term at least. There are various reasons for this behaviour; firstly it provides security based on saving, but there is also a feeling of rejection of traditional ways of consuming.

The social psychologist Ismael Quintani-lla puts this very clearly: “some groups of consumers, particularly those under 30 years old and many others that are dissatisfied with the predominant lifestyle, and feel a certain ennui and discontent, are looking for new alternatives based on the maxim of consuming less by adapting their shopping to a new more equitable and responsible sense of need; and they are not doing this out of economic necessity but from a new sense of personal interest or social cons-cience”.

REHOGAR exhibition or-ganised by Makea Tu Vida and Galería Magatzems Wall & Video.

Internet has provided a platform for numerous groups addressing the need for consumerism to take more of a back seat in people’s lives. While for decades anti-consumerism focused on environmentalism, now it takes numerous forms as can be seen in proposals like Makea tu vida.www.makeatuvida.com.

The photographs show the case of Makea, a brand that does not sell anything, but champions collective intelligence and creativity and attempts to make useful objects out of what the consumer society has rejected. It breaths new life into the slogan ‘do it yourself’, extends the useful life of products, goes back to know-how and breaks with ‘wasteful and empty convenience’.

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Freecycle Network, object exchange: www.truequeweb.com

Nolotiro: www.nolotiro.com

Ecofactory: www.ecofactory.es

5min: www.5min.com

Vicente Verdú (2009). El capitalismo funeral. La crisis o la Tercera Guerra Mundial. Anagrama.

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“There are moments when people are una-ble to adapt to a new situation, for different contextual or personal reasons. When this happens, the system reacts by generating tension, impotence, defencelessness, lack of esteem, frustration and fear”. (Ismael Quintanilla)

Undoubtedly, in today’s social climate, the fear, stress and defencelessness brought about by the economic situation is casting a shadow over many sectors. This environ-ment has given rise to various highly critical stances on the economic system which many people regard as unsustainable. The relaunching of capitalism has led different social groups to seriously question whether the ways we consume are the right ones. Some initiatives in response to this include exchange or bartering, not based on profit for the seller but on the advantages for both parties involved. For the consumer, the aim is to participate in a win-win model for both parties, company and consumer.

Consumer behaviours have changed as a result of this new economic context and par-ticularly in the United States, a new type of bargaining, neo-haggling, is gaining ground, even in large stores. The practice has beco-me so widespread that a few months ago Macy’s department store issued a statement informing its customers that haggling over prices would not be allowed in their stores.

Changing attitudes

Socio-cultural keys

Eco-behaviour

Laperluz. Lamp made from a hairdryer and a tree branch.

Never Stant. Shelving created from the inside of a fridge door.

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Hammarby Sjöstad (Stoc-kholm) is a model example of sustainable urban deve-lopment. The old industrial and harbour district has been converted into a residential neighbourhood based on criteria of sustainability: energy self-sufficiency from combustible waste and the management of waste water, rain harvesting, a vehicle sharing network, urban transport fuelled with biogas, etc. The project be-gan in 1993 and is forecast to finish in 2016 with 25,000 in-habitants. An environmental information centre has been built for the neighbourhood’s residents. Photo: Victoria Henriksson www.hammarbysjostad.se

From the 3 Rs to design from the roots

Understanding the Post-Recession Consumer, Paul Flatters and Michael Willmott. Harvard Business Review, July-August 2009.

Rovira, A. (2009) “La buena crisis. Reinventarse a uno mismo: la revolución de la conciencia”. Aguilar.

Pigem, J. (2009) “Buena crisis. Hacia un mundo postmate-rialista”. Kairós.

Hammarby Sjöstad. www.hammarbysjostad.se

Braungart , M., McDonough W., Cradle to cradle. Rema-king the way we make things (North Point Press, 2002)

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A tethered balloon floats above the streets of Paris, providing information on air pollution. The AERO30NG Aérophile 5500, as the balloon is known, contains

Sustainable goods are no longer expensive, and moreover, environmentally respectful methods of production can bring savings for companies, as well as contributing an added value for the environment. In Cradle to cradle. Remaking the way we make things (North Point Press, 2002), Michael Braun-gart and William and McDonough propose a new way of producing and designing objects that goes beyond the traditional environ-mentalist slogan of the three Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle. These authors argue that today’s environmental behaviours are not geared to implementing improvement mechanisms, and as a result only slow down environmental deterioration. Against this background, they propose attacking the problem at the roots, in other words, instead of reducing energy consumption, the design and conception of any product, strategy or policy should endeavour to take into account all the processes that have an environmental impact (extraction, processing, use, reuse, recycling...).

6,000 cubic metres of helium and is anchored in the Parc André Citroën. It changes co-lour (green for clean, orange for moderately polluted and red for very polluted) accor-

ding to air pollution levels. The condition of the air is measured by sensors that the company has installed across the city. www.aerophile.com

Eco-behaviourEconomic development and the expansion of the market system alters social values to the point that consumerism is the term used to define the prevailing social sys-tem. However, as a reaction to the market economy and in particular to the defects, exaggerations and inequalities that it creates, counter values have appeared that urge citizens to be more rational in their decision making. The international financial and economic crisis has shaken consciences and is regarded by some social agents as an opportunity to redress excesses and return to a less ostentatious, more satisfying lifes-tyle. Ismael Quintanilla, social psychologist at the University of Valencia, highlights one of the effects of the financial and economic crisis on society: a shift in the value system towards greater rationality and collective consciousness, the slow but active appea-rance of a “search for a fairer, more ethical and responsible behaviour”. The recession is accompanied by a greater concern for those values that affect society as a whole: concern for the environment, well-being, anti-manipulation and a greater capacity for empathy for the problems of others. These types of concerns are reflected in the emergence of consumer behaviours with social causes (for example fair trade) and their counterpart in the need for companies to develop corporate social responsibility programmes.

Of the emerging social values, sustainability and everything connected with it, the evolu-tion of the environmental movement born a few decades ago, has grown in importance. Now environmental awareness has beco-me more generalised, the need to promote coherent environmental behaviours is the order of the day. Concern for the environment is gradually giving way to daily environmental practices: sorting out waste for recycling at home, less use of plastic bags, creation of urban vegetable plots on balconies and terra-ces, the use of public transport or non-mo-torised vehicles in the city, etc. In the same way that differences exist between environ-mental awareness and behaviour, different degrees of citizen involvement can also be seen. Beyond purely legal requirements, en-vironmental conducts are gradually becoming a social imperative, although always at the discretion of the individual.

Although sustainable consumption is showing an incipient maturity, the economic recession has brought about a change in the way society tackles the problem of sustai-nability. Consumers are looking for cheap, discreet ways of reducing energy spending and have crossed over from sustainable but expensive products to the sustainable but reasonably priced goods that are appearing in the markets. Examples include adverts from the retailers Payless Shoesource for their up-coming launch of an environmentally friendly shoe for less than 30 dollars. Similarly, the supermarket chain Wal-Mart now stock Love, Earth, an affordable and sustainable range of jewellry.

“Environmentalism is by now deeply rooted in the consumer mindset and public policy arena, although consumers and politicians express widely varying degrees of engagement.”

Paul Flatters, former head of analysis and research at BBC News and Michael Willmott, former deputy chairman of the Henley Centre for Forecasting. Harvard Business Review.

Rethinking society Environmental behaviour

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www.tendenciashabitat.es www.observatoriotendenciashabitat.net