Archaic Simplicity is one of the 9 trend themes developed for 2023/24 in 2021 as part of the trend forecasting services. Be inspired in this post.
Trend forecasting is the process of researching and analyzing consumers habit, to provide designers’ and brands a vision of the future. In fact, by knowing what will be relevant in the years to come, what trends will last and what are just passing, they can make wiser choices and create products that sell more – because they will meet customers’ tastes and needs.
Part of my work, other then identifying and researching about macro trends together with other researches and experts, is then translating these into tangible interiors and design directions – in the form of CMF ( color, material, finishes ) analysis.
In this post, I’m sharing one of the nine trend themes developed for 2023 back in 2021 in collaboration with SOMA_studiomilano, as part of a 2-years trend forecasting service for brands ( more at this link ).
If you are interested in a continuous and professional training all about trends, you are welcome to join my trend membership here.
TREND THEME #01
Archaic Simplicity
We developed the trend theme Archaic simplicity as a response to the prevailing culture of excessive consumption anjd the overwhelming dependence on technology, further exacerbated by the global pandemic. I’s a call back in time, delving deeper into our origins, to rediscover our ancestral legacy, encouraging imperfections and craftsmanship, the mastery of thriftiness and frugality, embracing also our transcendental sides – the inspiration for this theme comes also from spirituality, astrology, crystal, and ancient healing rituals.
|| Discover more: Trend forecasting, how does it work?
ARCHAIC SIMPLICITY / colors
Archaic Simplicity colors inspiration comes from the desert’s rough and raw nature and the human symbioses with the sacred natural world, in dark and warm browns and light skin shades.
To complement and smoothen this palette, we choose the timeless mid-tone Jade green, a mineral connected to the heart chakra and associate with ancient wisdom and healing. We also bring blue in its ice and clear version that reminds us of the water and minerals transparency and dark azure that evokes a dusky night sky.
Archaic Simplicity patterns draw inspiration from natural rocks’ uneven surfaces, stone layering, fossilized elements, and dry and cracked earth.
ARCHAIC SIMPLICITY / finishes and materials
Archaic Simplicity finishes and materials celebrate raw textures, find beauty in imperfection – think kintsugi pottery technique, and rescue a sort of tribal primitive touch. Archaic Simplicity refuses polishing processes and favors handcrafted methods, highlighting the natural aspect of objects and their surfaces.
It embraces a vast range of raw and natural materials such as crude clay, adobe, and rooted wood. There is also an emphasis on unfinished and raw terrazzo, layering marble and exposed concrete, and a brutalist approach to handmade ceramics.
ARCHAIC SIMPLICITY / shapes
Archaic Simplicity forms and shapes reclaim the stone age aesthetic with its solid and totemic figures, monolithic and primitive silhouettes. It also explores non-geometrical and sculptural forms, and ultimately the neotenic design and its childlike figures and ancient human instinct.
// This trend theme is part of the “THE GREAT REBIRTH” macro trend, celebrating nature in various ways: by incorporating traditional craftsmanship and raw, less processed materials and finishing; by choosing regenerative materials and focusing on products lifecycle; by exploring biophilic design with natural shapes, colors and patterns that mimic the natural world.
// This trend theme is part of a trend research developed in 2021 in collaboration with SOMA_studiomilano
