2018 Design Trends

Jennifer Polanz

LiveTrends CEO Bisser Georgiev, whose company is always looking for future trends, identified these areas to watch for spring and summer 2018, broken down into two categories, Slow Living and Psychotropical:

Slow Living design looks at the past in order to reimagine the future, evoking a sense of continuity. It focuses on long-term designs driven by today’s modern processes and sees colors, textures and materials inspired by nature. It’s defined by three main sub-trends:

• Nomadic Style—Desert dwellings and camping life inspire décor products with a utilitarian quality that feels portable and nomadic. Geology inspires striated surfaces and rich veinings, from the natural swirls of wood to ripples made out of cement and sand on a planter.

• Sophisticated Basics—With simplicity and core purpose in mind, stripped-back and essential contours shape outdoor products with a long-lasting appeal that looks contemporary and refined. Matte finishes, color contrasts and variations add interest.

• Refined Weaves—Traditional basketry and woven structures are updated with fresh, modern constructions. Earthy colors emphasize the origin of the materials, which are beautifully fused with technological construction.

The Psychotropical trend is driven by the increasingly blurred line between real and virtual life, and sees nature themes explored in a more exaggerated, hyperreal way. The result: a mix of exotic colors, shapes, textures and patterns, which are vibrant, graphic and at times surreal. It’s highlighted with three sub-trends:

• Leaf Replicas—Tropical leaves and palm fronds inspire a new direction for outdoors designs, seen in simple outlined shapes, as well as surfaces and prints that mimic the structure and veinings of the leaves.

• Outlandish Ombré—Soft yet unusual tones create a new gradient effect across products, offering either iridescent or matte looks. Tight weaves enhance this gradated look and offer a sense of tactility.

• Altered Reality—Bizarre colors and strong, contrasting pairings offer a new take on tropical themes, which have a surreal, almost psychedelic look. GP