With constantly changing markets – is the ability to keep up and execute striking campaigns too daunting of a task for your company?

Marketing departments should study and understand design trends in order to better serve the use of the trends within the company’s creative work. However, this can greatly depend on the company’s industry and business environment. The afore mentioned should be considered to determine if and how much of those current trends should be used. Is the company innovative and forward-thinking or more traditional? These specific characteristics of the company have a great impact on the use of current trends.

History of Trends

Trends exist for a reason. There was an innovator of a specific idea and thus began implementation in most aspects of work created. Then came an admirer who started to adapt that idea in to their work. That spread to different audiences and soon came the wave of those who got on the “bandwagon” to increase awareness and popularity.

Trends are cyclical because human culture works in constant cycles of innovation and imitation. The biggest examples come from fashion. It is a way to express oneself, but also comes with a great deal of criticism, so the trend starts to die-down. Then, one day, the emergence of self-confidence in one ‘innovator’ ignites the fuel of the trend to inspire others to emulate and the cycle starts again.

Though, good trends are meant to stand the test of time and can be utilized in many faucets of design pieces. Clean and simple is a great ‘trend’ and overall design characteristic that always enables the client to get their message across and for the audience to understand and receive the intended message.

How to Lead – or not

Being the trendsetter versus following the trend can weigh heavily on a company. Certain requirements within systems and processes are set due to its overarching benefit to the masses and creates limits to aesthetic appeal. Being cognizant of what is available and limited to you is just as important as knowing the trends for your company and creative team.

Specifically, designers within a marketing department should have a deep understanding of where the design trends came from, how it was developed, evolved and how it can affect your current state of materials and systems. Trends can become a “safe” creative space, especially if the in-need partner/client is wanting something ‘trendy and cool’, as these are easily recognizable, but can get lost in the midst of the hundreds of other designs coming out.

Inspiration comes from already produced items and companies pick certain pieces to reimagine, which in turn, then create something that reflects them and their message. Ultimately, the pieces you chose from the initial trend will inspire someone else that then recreates the piece your company drew inspiration from (following?) – This is how we get stuck in the cycle of trends.

And here comes the great thing about trends – while they do come and go in popularity, it also allows enormous space for innovation and creative out of the box thinking. How can your company and designers take inspiration from a trend, but create it in a fashion that it is a completely new concept that has the potential to change and diminish the current trend to become the new one?

Ultimately, the finished product should be produced for the project owner and not the individual designer. But, finding that balance of adhering to their needs while discovering new ones that they didn’t know they wanted or needed is a dynamic skill to have and hone as a designer.

At Colleen Eakins Design, we love listening to clients and hearing what their needs are and take that in to a direction they didn’t think possible. Consult with us to see our imagination.