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Art Trends & Design Focus
THE
Big Bang
Amanda Hendon, agent for Advocate Art: Cultural springboard: “Much like this year, 2018 looks set to bring political and social unrest to much of the world. Last year we saw people react to this by escaping into the fantasy worlds of unicorns and fairy-tales, and I think this is set to continue. Mermaids and their fantastic, multi-coloured, holographic underwater worlds are one dominant trend we will see in paper products, as well as lush jungle landscapes far removed from reality. The immediacy of content-sharing Above: Mythological mermaids on an platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest and illustration ‘singing’ at Advocate. Tumblr give designers and artists access to a Below: A graceful cheetah found at Advocate Art. multitude of inspirational images, from Bottom: A gorgeous little folk-style donkey available from Advocate Art. Fashion Week catwalk looks to the most Instagram-worthy food trends and edgy street styles from Tokyo to New York. The richness of this ever-changing digital mood-board is, I believe, more likely to inform stationery trends than any other single social or cultural happening.”
Three key trends for 2018: A siren’s call “I believe the ‘mermaid’ trend we have seen on everything from hair and make-up, to cupcakes and even toast, will make a splash across art and stationery products in 2018.” Brazen botanicals “Another key look will be bold, painterly jungle prints. Designers such as Gucci, Kenzo and Stella McCartney have all featured playful prints of zebras, tigers and panthers in their collections. This trend can be equally character-driven and also decorative, with more of a focus on lush jungle greenery and bold florals.” A folk art union “Lastly, perhaps as a move-on from the ‘Hygge’ look we saw dominating 2016-17, I believe we will see a growing interest in the colourful motifs of Russian and Eastern-European folk art. Handfinished elements such as embroidery, pom-poms and cross-stitch will give this look a cosy, homemade feel.”
Mysticism and mythology, tessellations and triangles and other celestial, ethereal and other-worldly inspired artwork and design will reach cosmic proportions this year as we delve deeper into the ‘spiritual big bang’, and ‘Ultra Violet’, the Pantone Colour of 2018, and mermaids will be joining the cluster. Gazing at the social and cultural happenings of 2018, a constellation of image library ‘astronomers’ reveal their informed theories on what will influence the visual trends sphere. Sue Bateman, director for Yellow House Art Licensing: Cultural springboard: “Charles Rennie Mackintosh has always been an inspiration for design and this is set to rocket as the influence of a major retrospective of his work launches at Kelvingrove, part of the Glasgow Museums. With the romance of the royal wedding in the air the modern and sophisticated blush colour palette will continue to be popular. The Winter Olympics in South Korea and the rapidly approaching Tokyo 2020 Olympics will see Oriental art and patterns gradually take precedence as the tropical trend begins to wane.”
Three key trends for 2018: Glasgow style “We will see Mackintosh’s influence in pastel colours, textured art and collaborative projects. Mackintosh’s colour palette pairs up nicely with today’s trends, and the applied art aspect of the work sits well with current interest in craft in the home.” Brexit and British retro “As Brexit continues to dominate the headlines I think we will see continued interest in UK themes. The retro photography relating to the time before the UK was so inextricably linked to Europe will continue to be popular and images of famous British landmarks, and of course all things royal, will dominate.” Eastern chic “As the world shifts its attention eastwards, interest in sophisticated and pared back Asian styles will gain traction. Limited colour palettes, pared back line work and typography, glamorous, but not overly feminine, modern and not fussy.” Above right: The May Queen by Margaret Macdonald from Yellow House Art Licensing. Above: Royal Guard by Sean Sims Yellow House Art Licensing. Right: The Edge of Grace by Tiffany Lynch from Yellow House Art Licensing. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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