10 Visual Trends to Watch in 2017
J. Walter Thompson’s Innovation Group’s connection to applied design, creative culture and visual language is a core aspect in our approach to research and consultancy. My unique role within the agency is to bring our consumer insight and emerging trends to life using visual content – from campaigns and retail stores to packaging and design. At a time when 80% of people are willing to read a piece of content if it includes colour visuals and when Facebook posts with images see 2.3x more engagement than those without – more than ever visual culture and trends are a necessity for brands.
This December we launched The Future 100: Trends and Change to Watch in 2017, our report on 100 consumer trends to look out for in the year ahead. The snappy trends cover 10 different sectors, including culture, tech + innovation, and retail. From the 100, here are 10 visually-driven trends to keep an eye out for in 2017.
1. Mass VR immersion invasion
This year has seen the rise of virtual reality in the consumer market. However, one of the main industry criticisms was the isolating headset experience. Experiential technologists have taken it upon themselves to make VR more communal. The Dome at Panorama music festival this summer brought crowds of festival-goers together to lie down on the floor and watch a 10-minute VR story, while aerospace company Lockheed Martin transformed a school bus journey into a group VR trip to Mars. Perhaps next year will see feature-length movies using VR technology rather than 3D.
#1: The new experiential rock stars
2. New female frontiers
Feminism is being rebooted for the digital generation, using female empowerment and imagery that unashamedly embraces every part of womanhood. Club Clitoris posts illustrations on Instagram “encouraging others to love their natural bodies – vaginas, labia, body hair and periods included”. The Lady Garden Campaign fronted by Cara Delevingne beautifies the vagina, raising awareness of gynecological concerns that 41% of women are too embarrassed to address. Female empowerment is no longer an image of angry women burning bras, but of confident women un-tabooing the female body.
#5: Vagina-nomics
3. Double-take packaging
As consumers adopt a more holistic approach to wellbeing, product designers are bidding farewell to packaging stereotypes and borrowing forms from other categories. Super Elixir by WelleCo is a food supplement packed in a slick black container reminiscent of beauty packaging, as are The Beauty Chef’s food products. Each brand is stocked in retail stores under both beauty and food. Not only are brands breaking packaging norms, they’re also maximising the retail floor. It’s time to rethink what a detergent bottle looks like – check out Moschino Fresh.
#34: Double-take packaging
4. In-your-face political statements
T-shirts once had slogans with witty self-expressions. Now they’re political statements. #ShoutYourAbortion, a movement that encourages women to share abortion stories, has a campaign that includes women wearing t-shirts openly saying, “Everyone knows I had an abortion”, a challenge to pro-life government bodies. Maria Grazia Chiuri’s Dior debut fashion show has a model in a t-shirt that said, “we should all be feminists”. Moving away from t-shirts, fashion brand Elie Tahari’s fall 2016 campaign “Madam President” featured Israeli model Shlomit Malka as the President of the United States. Brands can no longer ignore political issues, as consumers want to know if their ideologies are aligned.
#37: Political consumers
5. Gender neutral beauty
It’s time to neutralise the colour palette, strip back the packaging, and market beauty products for all genders. YouTubers and Instagrammers are seeing a rise in makeup-wearing men. Beauty brands are responding to this market not by creating a separate male-orientated line, but by tearing down the gender barriers with gender neutral collections. Beauty for all!
#51: Gender neutral beauty
6. The new nude
Expect to see broader shades of nude as brands diversify their ‘nude’ offerings beyond the traditional beige. Lingerie startup Naja’s Nude For All line offers seven shades of nude underwear, Christian Louboutin expanded his nude shoe collection, and beauty brands Neutrogena and Bobbi Brown have also added new shades to their foundation collections.
#53: The New Nude
7. Tech naturalism
Finally, tech and nature are no longer at odds with each other. Tech retail interiors are steering away from the cold and minimalist aesthetic, vying for a friendlier and more natural approach. Apple stores are going through a major revamp this year thanks to architecture firm Foster + Partners. Wooden furnishings offer a cosier touch, with groves of trees planted indoors. The new retail format was first unveiled in San Francisco this May, then in London this fall and will slowly roll out to other flagship stores around the world.
#61: Retail naturalism
8. Plus size is a plus
Reflecting the power of user-generated content, a celebration of inclusivity and diversity will increasingly be seen in our everyday visual language. From Barbie dolls to JC Penney, brands are addressing plus size as part of their marketing and collections. The average women’s clothing size in the United States is now a 16, so it’s time to address the reality of this market rather than an ideal.
#70: Plus size is a plus
9. Sleep renaissance
Sleep and everything associated with sleep has never looked so alluring. The sleep space is undergoing a shake-up, with startups such as Casper, Tuft & Needle and Yogabed giving the old-school bedding business a modern rebrand with a slick and witty approach. Time to say goodbye and goodnight to smiling models ‘sleeping’ on a mattress.
#84: Sleep renaissance
10. Smart clothing
Move aside tech bands – wearable technology has evolved seamlessly into our everyday garments. In March, Emil + Aris launched the Smart Coat in March, a tasteful collection of battery-powered coats that heat themselves to adapt to changing weather. Snapchat Spectacles, launched this fall, have a small camera embedded in the sunglasses. 2017 will see the launch of Levi’s and Google’s Project Jacquard jacket, which looks like a typical Levi’s Commuter Trucker jacket but responds to touch and can be connected to a smartphone.
#85: Smart clothing
Download the complimentary Future 100 report here.
Emma Chiu is creative innovation director at J. Walter Thompson’s Innovation Group
