iF Design Trend Report

Megatrends in the design of today

Zeitgeist, consumer trends, micro trends and technological developments - designers integrate all of these into their work every day. Megatrends, on the other hand, describe fundamental changes that are driving change in the world. They also influence the design process, but often cannot be clearly identified in design.

In cooperation with the Zukunftsinstitut in Frankfurt, we have devoted ourselves to this task and have put current product developments, the influence of design disciplines on each other as well as social trends and megatrends in relation to each other – in the iF Design Trend Report 2022.

Deep Dive into trendsetting Segments of Product Design

Seamless Living

Open spatial structures, aesthetic minimalism and individual living concepts are the cornerstones of modern design concepts in the field of HOME. Using specific product examples from the living, kitchen and bathroom areas, the authors show how product design is changing and how technical devices are being integrated into the overall design concept of the living space through their materiality and design language. The principles of Healing Architecture from the design of office spaces are being applied to an increasing extent in private households.

The Smartphone as a Trendsetter

Just as homes without boundaries become places of versatility and flexibility, the demands on products for connected everyday life are increasing. By integrating artificial intelligence, robots can take over household tasks independently. Stationary devices can be flexibly deployed through modularity and multifunctionality and cover a broad spectrum of uses. CONSUMER TECH in the report focuses on the icon of digitization, the smartphone, as well as on the areas of Home Care and Audio. All three combined show that staging can also work without a lot of flashy design.

Mobility under the Spell of the Megatrends

The megatrend of MOBILITY reshuffles the deck. Solutions are being understood more systemically, designed more holistically and take into account new requirements arising from the megatrends of neo-ecology, security, globalization and urbanization. The report takes a look at the automotive, micro-mobility and transportation sectors. After the higher-faster-further of the 20th century with a focus on technology, the focus today is on use. The electrification of transport, autonomous driving and new service solutions are making roads less stressful, more efficient and more environmentally friendly.


What do readers say?

Carsten Schelling, Co-Founder and Owner of Rudolph Schelling Webermann, Product Design & Innovation Consultancy in Hanover

"With the Trend Report, iF presents a comprehensive and cross-industry work that offers a multi-layered insight into social and technological developments and trends. In particular, I liked the fact that the scientific derivation from trend research is illustrated with plenty of product and application examples. A good read!"

Johanna Loomis, Industrial Design Lead, Vay Technology, Berlin

"I really appreciate that the iF Design Trend Report is written from a designer’s perspective and that it gets to the point very quickly. It definitely brought our Design Team at Vay to think and discuss future orientations towards design in our industry on diverse levels."

How to read

The iF Design Trend Report highlights nine trend areas, which are divided into the product clusters of Home, Consumer Tech and Mobility. Each chapter begins with an analysis of the design trends that can currently be observed in the respective area. After that, two social megatrends that have a significant influence on the trend area are presented in each area.

The outlook of each chapter is devoted to a megatrend that has not yet been given much consideration in current product developments but is expected to play a major role in the coming years. Blind spots show where there is still potential for innovation or where the needs of users are not fully addressed. In the conclusion, the most important contents of the chapter are summarized on one page.

For anyone who wants to delve deeper into the topic, the digital reading offers a lot of interactivity: EXPLANATIONS OF SPECIAL TECHNICAL TERMS, LINKS and CROSS-REFERENCES to other chapters are interspersed in the text or can be found in the margins. In the header, you can click on MENU to return to the table of contents, and the arrow symbols ↑ ↓ can be used to change pages.

Uwe Cremering, CEO iF DESIGN
"The iF Trend Report is a completely new offering from iF. A digital read about current developments that provides food for thought, takes a holistic view of contexts, and thus aims to be a helpful working basis for designers in their respective fields of work. And we hope it will be a lot of fun as well.
We look forward to receiving your feedback!"

Design moving in new directions

Megatrends represent long-term, global changes on a civilizational, economic and technological level. They have an impact on all areas of society and often last for many decades. In the iF Design Trend Report, the authors describe the influence of these societal trends, provide evidence based on current statistics, and relate them to product and service performance.

To conclude the report, a digression into design theory summarizes new approaches in design and describes ways in which there may be a paradigm shift.

iF Design Trend Report, p. 50
“In society, neo ecology is slowly becoming mainstream - but in the design arena, the development towards more sustainability and circularity is reflected but little. Nevertheless, there are very promising approaches which demonstrate what a sustainable life may look like in the future.”

How to order the iF Design Trend Report

Published by: iF International Forum Design GmbH, Hanover
Year of publication: 2022
Language: German and English
Pages: 423 pages
Edited by: Zukunftsinstitut GmbH
Design: Melville Brand Design
Format: Digital, landscape format 16:9
Price: EUR 199.00 incl. VAT
(Award winners receive a discount)

If you are interested, please feel free to contact Rylana Kossol directly or use the order form:

CONTACT

iF Design Trend Report
Rylana Kossol
Bahnhofstrasse 8
30159 Hannover
Germany

+49.511.54224-206
Email