Fair & Square

By WGSN CREATIVE TEAM, 14 August 2009

Spring/summer 2011 Macro Trends

Timelines

Sensory

Fair & Square

Simplify your message - pare down and focus on essential qualities. Design is key - modern and pure,
yet always warm.

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Fair & Square may look stripped back and bare in its aesthetic, but it is warm, in touch with the modern
world and future-thinking. Simply put, its about homing in on a straightforward brand message.
The concept of responsibility is at its core, so consider putting sustainable thinking into your product
development, manufacture, marketing and also your products afterlife.
Fair & Square isnt about pushing back against ambition and profit. Its more about rethinking how we
strip back and enjoy life while we do it.

Research and Reference

ALTERNATIVE TRADING / FOCUS / NEW BOHEMIANS / MICRO-NICHE / HONEST AND RELIABLE
/ THOUGHTFUL SIMPLICITY / CREATING WORTH

ALTERNATIVE TRADING
THE GLOBAL RECESSION
HAS GIVEN EVERY BRAND
AND MANUFACTURER
PERMISSION TO CONSIDER
ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF
TRADING. THINK
CREATIVELY, BUT FUSE
THAT THINKING.

New ways of trading and

evolving consumer expectations

In a similar way BakerTweet

has been developed by the
digital creative agency Poke.
A wireless device allows
kitchens and shops to
immediately alert customers to
fresh bread and cakes as soon
as they are out of the oven.
Bakers can turn a dial on their
BakerTweet Box to select which
item they want to Tweet about
and it automatically sends the
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will call for a new approach to

product development and
marketing.
A perfect example is the speed
of uptake on Twitter. A lot of
new ideas revolve around
Twitter and Twitter-linked
development, tapping into a
passionate fan base. LA-based
Kogi Korean BBQ-To-Go took
the idea of a classic taco truck,
gave the tacos and burritos a
Korean twist, and then told
people their location through
Twitter.
Fame grew, as did their
customer fan base, who now
make an effort to seek out the
trucks wherever they may be.
They now have more than 37,
000 Twitter followers, a growing
fleet of trucks and a new outlet
in Culver City.
The Kogi vans draw on the
classic retro aesthetic of
traditional taco trucks, providing
a wealth of graphic inspiration.

message.
BakerTweet enables
businesses to easily
communicate new offers,
pricing and stock changes from
a device rather than a computer
or phone. This could be applied
to any product.

In the spirit of alternative

trading, we also love the retail
manifesto pasted up in New
York recently. Manifestos are a
cool communication tool, but
they are also a powerful one. As
the Shop Local movement
gathers momentum, retailers
must take note.
It is not designed to exclude big
retailers, however. For them, its
about a shift in structure and
perhaps a breaking up of huge
retail spaces into more
personal, local and areaappropriate offers.

kogibbq.com
The local/niche retailing
movement has been gathering
pace for some time, but now its
less about nostalgia and more
about sound retail strategy.

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FOCUS

NEW BOHEMIANS

REALLY FOCUS ON YOUR

DESIGN ETHOS AND KEEP
THE MESSAGE IT CONVEYS.
KEEP IT SIMPLE. A NEW KIND
OF BEAUTY IS REVEALED
WHEN DESIGN IS STRIPPED
DOWN.

AROUND THE WORLD RIGHT

NOW WE'RE WITNESSING A
STRONG DESIRE TO
CHALLENGE CONVENTION,
TO FIND A SIMPLER LIFE
(OFTEN BY HEADING TO THE
COUNTRY), AND EMBRACE
AN OFFBEAT, CREATIVE,
PERSONAL AESTHETIC.

The Zero Star Hotel opened in

2009 in Teufen, Switzerland,
with beds available for just 618 a night.
The hotel - a converted nuclear
bunker - is such good value
because the accommodation is
stripped down and functional.
Originally developed as the art
installation Null Stern Hotel by
Frank and Patrik Riklin, a
collaboration with the hospitality
advisory company Minds in
Motion has seen the project
develop into a commercial
venture.
The mission is to provide a
simple service: "Tailored to fulfil
the guests priorities, needs and
expectations through
innovative, value-oriented and
functional accommodations.
www.zero-star-hotel.com

Weve tracked this growing

movement for several seasons,
but during spring/summer 2011
it reaches the tipping point that
sees it hit the mainstream.

Look back to the book

Bohemian Modern: Living in
Silver Lake,published in 2006,
to see how the trend has
developed.
Take it in a rich hippy direction.
The Gypset Style book and blog
describes it as experimental
luxury.
It can also be much humbler,
even rural, as seen in the
photographs of Grace Kelsey
and visual merchandiser/prop
stylist Kenyan Lewis.
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www.theselby.com
The aesthetic is minimal, simple
and pared down. It also has a
new kind of warmth thats far
away from traditional concepts
of homeliness.
How refreshing does that
simplicity sound, as we face a
near-future landscape of
increasing levels of stress and
panic?

www.gypset.com

Organic design that is modernist

in its aesthetic.
The New Bohemians no longer
live in a bubble - they are still
very much connected to the rest
of the world. There is a new
freedom, too, that means you
can be one one day and not the
next. This is all backed up by a
democratic ideal. This
movement is not only for artists
and craftspeople.

MICRO-NICHE
BE INSPIRED BY THE FOCUS
REQUIRED TO OFFER
INDIVIDUAL NICHE
PRODUCTS TO TARGETED
GROUPS.
THINK HOW ORDER AND
SIMPLICITY CAN CREATE AN
APPEALING AESTHETIC
THAT CAN STILL BE
PERSONAL AND INVITING.
We loved the exhibition of
vintage staplers at Partners &
Spade in New York.

A curated approach can also be

seen at Lost Found Art, based
in Stamford, Connecticut. They
transform a clients collection of
objects into personal
arrangements.
Their collections of single object
types - such as paintbrushes
and coat hangers - are a great
illustration of how a brand or
retailer could use the concept of
super niche.
www.lostfoundart.com
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partnersandspade.com
Focus on only one type of
product, and in this way
approach product development,
buying and retailing as a
collector or curator.

HONEST AND RELIABLE

HONEST MATERIALS,
AUTHENTIC TECHNIQUES
AND SIMPLE DESIGN
COMBINE IN PRODUCTS
THAT DRAW ON TRADITION
AND CREATE SIMPLICITY.
German design brand Thonet which has been in existence for
over 150 years - has produced
a new range of furniture for
Japanese retailer Muji called
Muji manufactured by Thonet.
The bentwood and tubular steel
simplified forms launched at
Muji stores in 2009. The result?
The signature simplicity of Muji
meets Thonets furniture
heritage, creating a product that
appeals to a new, younger
market.
www.thonet.de

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As one half of design studio

Industrial Facility, Sam Hecht
has designed the Table, Bench,
Chair for Established & Sons,
referencing traditional bentwood
furniture. The simplicity and
purity of the design are inspired
by the bench seating on the
Tokyo Metros Yamanote line.
establishedandsons.com

Swedish architects and

designers TAF presented Soft
Parcel,a furniture range
wrapped in fabric like parcels, at
the Milan Furniture Fair this
year. The collection consists of
foam blocks wrapped in brown
or white fabric.
The product comes with the
excitement of an unwrapped
gift, as the shape of the present
becomes more important than
the actual content.
tafarkitektkontor.se

Look into technologically new

fabrics and how they can
improve design. But dont forget
that that same technology can
also widen the scope of the old
favourites to which we continue
to be emotionally connected.

THOUGHTFUL SIMPLICITY
AN ULTRA-SIMPLE
AESTHETIC LINKS WITH A
NEED FOR PRACTICAL
SOLUTIONS TO CREATE
DESIGN THAT IS BOTH
BEAUTIFUL AND
COMMERCIAL.
Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China)
bridge in Maosi Village, China is
a perfect example of simplicity
allied with powerful design and
sustainable principles.
Born out of need, its aesthetic is
influencing design from
consumer products through to
apparel.
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Maosi was separated from the

mainland by the Po River. Now
the bridge built - by volunteers
from both Hong Kong and the
mainland - has started a new
chapter in the villages history.
The bridge is safe, but more
than that it illustrates the simple,
but hugely considered design
ethos we are championing here.
The Royal Institute for British
Architects said of the project:
The typical architectural
bridge is one that solves the
problem of span, context and
load in as elegant a manner as
possible - A Bridge Too Far is
modest and chunky, but
nonetheless brilliantly answers
the demands of the context. It is
a wonderful example of how
inventive architectural and
design thinking results in
something both delightful and
socially empowering.
www.architecture.com

For the Design for a Living

World exhibition at the CooperHewitt Museum, 10 leading
designers have developed new
uses for sustainably grown and

Meindertsma has also

published the book PIG 05049,
in which she explores the 185
possible end products made
from a single swine.
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harvested materials. Their aim

is to tell an effective story about
the life cycle of materials and
the power of conservation in
design.
Dutch designer Christien
Meindertsma has created a
knitted rug using wool sourced
from a sustainable sheep ranch
in Idaho, US. Each hexagonal
component of the rug equates
to the yield of a single sheep.

Categorised by chapter into

skin, bones, muscles, blood,
internal intestines, fat and other,
the book is an education into
what goes into our everyday
items. End products include
photo paper, heart valves,
chewing gum, porcelain,
cosmetics, cigarettes and even
bio diesel. It is a celebration of
the sustainable use of an
animal.

Design for a Living World

Cooper-Hewitt Museum
New York, US
May 14 2009-January 4 2010
www.nature.org/design/

Its far easier to bulid

sustainability into your life and
work if you can see the issues
broken down and illustrated in a
way that gets your attention.

CREATING WORTH
CONSUMER DESIRE FOR
THE SIMPLE AND THE WELLDESIGNED FOCUSES ON
NEGLECTED CLASSICS AND
SUPPOSEDLY USELESS
MATERIALS.
Shochu is a Japanese liquor
made from rice, wheat or sweet
potato. Its unique aroma and
flavour are highly appreciated,
but it has long been considered
an unsophisticated drink.
Now a Japanese alcoholic
beverage manufacturer has
flipped that stereotype and
repackaged Shochu for gift
giving.
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As with the Thonet-Muji

collaboration, the brand has
respected the original shape,
while bringing the aesthetic upto-date.
renaissance-project.jp

The sculptures that Joshua

Allen Harris creates dont cost
much - theyre made of plastic
bags. You can see them on the
streets of New York, coming to
life whenever a subway train
passes beneath the grates to
which they are attached.
This kind of low-margin
creativity reminds us that
impressive design and
imagination dont have to have
a massive budget.

Consumers will connect with

rethought, recycled, repaired
and reappropriated materials,
particularly if done with
intelligence, warmth and
humour.

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