What are the most reliable trend forecasting sources for designers?

As a designer, you need to stay on top of the latest trends and anticipate the future needs and preferences of your target audience. But how do you find reliable sources of information and inspiration for your projects? In this article, we will explore some of the most reputable and widely used trend forecasting sources for designers, covering different fields, methods, and formats.

1 Why trend forecasting matters

Trend forecasting is the process of identifying and analyzing the patterns, movements, and influences that shape the current and future direction of design, culture, and society. Trend forecasting helps designers to create relevant, innovative, and sustainable solutions that meet the needs and expectations of their clients and users. Trend forecasting also helps designers to avoid outdated or irrelevant designs that may fail to connect with their audience or lose their competitive edge.

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Svitlana Rudenko

UX/UI Designer | Webflow
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For reliable design trend forecasting: 1. WGSN: Industry-leading trend insights. 2. Pantone: Color trends authority. 3. Behance: Real-time design projects and trends. 4. DesignBoom: Innovative design and art trends. 5. Nielsen Norman Group: UX research and trends. 6. Pinterest: Visual inspiration and emerging trends. 7. Adobe Creative Magazine: Digital design trends and tools. These sources help designers stay updated with the latest trends and innovations.

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Seerat T.

Product Designer | Visual ASO | UI/UX Designer | Figma expert
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Designers seeking reliable trend forecasting sources can turn to various platforms that consistently provide valuable insights into emerging design trends. Websites like TrendWatching, WGSN, and Trend Hunter offer comprehensive trend reports, analysis, and forecasts across diverse industries.

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Premchand Vishwakarma

Brand Design | UI / UX Design | Website Design | Dashboard Design | Digital Communication - Canva | | PowerPoint presentation Specialist - Freelance [Ex-Deloitte, BCG, Axis Bank, Kotak Securities, Yes Securities]
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Designers often rely on various trend forecasting sources to stay updated on the latest design trends. - Trend Watching - Articles, reports, and a platform for designers to explore and share innovative ideas - Trend forecasting agency that provides insights into fashion, lifestyle, and design trends - Agencies like Stylus, Trend Watching, and JWT Intelligence provide comprehensive trend reports across various industries - Social platforms like Behance and Dribbble showcase the work of designers worldwide. Browsing through these platforms allows designers to observe emerging design trends and innovative approaches within the creative community - Attending design conferences, trade shows, and exhibitions.

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Zoya Ghani

Upwork Top-Rated 🥇 | UI/UX Designer & Graphic Designer: Solving Problems for 170+ Clients with Creative Solutions
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Trend forecasting is like a design crystal ball, helping designers create cool and relevant stuff. It keeps them ahead, avoids outdated designs, and ensures they stay connected with what people want.

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Daniel de Sant'anna Martins

Designing UX @Stemuli
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Pesquisar tendências e sinais é uma atividade essencial para designers e profissionais de diversas áreas que buscam inovação e relevância em seus projetos. Uma boa pesquisa de tendências é feita através da exploração “multicanal”. Isso inclui: acompanhar publicações especializadas em design, moda, tecnologia e cultura. Além disso, participar de eventos e conferências da indústria alvo é ótimo para se manter atualizado e entrar em contato com inovações e pessoas. Pessoalmente gosto de ver o que os jovens andam fazendo, em suas redes sociais (TikTok, Twitter, Instagram etc.) e nos jogos. Adotar uma abordagem multidisciplinar e manter uma mente aberta são chaves para identificar e interpretar os sinais e tendências!

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2 Types of trend forecasting sources

Designers can use different types of trend forecasting sources, depending on their goals, budget, and time frame. Professional trend forecasting agencies, such as WGSN, Stylus, Trendwatching, and The Future Laboratory, provide comprehensive reports and predictions on design elements like color, material, shape, style, function, and behavior. Online platforms and magazines like Designboom, Dezeen, Wallpaper, and Fast Company Design curate the latest trends and innovations in design. Additionally, social media and blogs including Instagram, Pinterest, Behance, Dribbble, and Medium enable designers to discover other designers' work and share their own. Ultimately these sources can help designers stay informed of the latest trends in design.

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Daniel de Sant'anna Martins

Designing UX @Stemuli
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Direto ao ponto: quais ferramentas e fontes utilizo para buscar sinais e tendências? Segue a minha lista de newsletters, ferramentas e métodos: Futurity.org, Speculative Futures, School of Critical Design, Filipe Deschamps Newsletter, Association of Professional Futurists, IFTF, Dré Labre from Design Fiction Daily, The News, The Future Laboratory. Além disso, procuro seguir alguns perfis no Instagram e Twitter. Se puder conseguir alguns relatórios de tendências, é uma boa. Depois, é filtrar o que é útil ou não e construir a partir disso. Conhecimento que não é colocado em movimento, é letra morta!

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3 How to use trend forecasting sources effectively

Using trend forecasting sources can help designers to gain insights, inspiration, and guidance for their projects, but it is important to use them wisely and critically. Before looking for trend forecasting sources, designers should define their objectives and scope, so as to narrow down their search and focus on the most relevant sources for their specific needs. Additionally, it is important to compare and contrast different sources from different types, fields, and perspectives in order to get a deeper understanding of the trends. Furthermore, designers should analyze and interpret the trends by asking themselves questions such as why is this trend happening and how can they use it to create value and impact. Lastly, designers should apply and test the trends by experimenting with different combinations, variations, and adaptations of the trends. They should also evaluate the results and feedback in order to iterate and improve their designs accordingly.

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Daniel de Sant'anna Martins

Designing UX @Stemuli
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Depois de coletar sinais e tendências, como podemos usar essas fontes de forma eficaz? Faça como eu: 1. Definir Objetivos: Inicie com metas claras para focar em fontes relevantes, evitando sobrecarga de informações e aumentando a eficácia da pesquisa. Dica de Ferramenta: Análise PESTLE. 2. Analisar Criticamente: Compare fontes variadas para uma compreensão rica das tendências, questionando suas origens e relevância para o projeto. Dica de Ferramenta: Cartões de Insight ou Análise de Sinais. 3. Testar e Iterar: Aplique tendências de forma prática, experimente, colete feedback e refine para garantir que o design seja inovador e ressonante. Dica de Ferramenta: Roda de Futuros, Futures Concepts, Artefatos de Futuros.

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4 Benefits and challenges of trend forecasting sources

Using trend forecasting sources can bring many benefits to designers, such as saving time and resources, enhancing creativity and innovation, and increasing relevance and competitiveness. However, it also comes with some challenges, such as finding reliable and credible sources, avoiding oversaturation and homogenization, and balancing trends and needs. Designers should always verify the sources they use, be selective of the information they consume, and prioritize the user-centered approach. Trend forecasting sources can help them access a large amount of information in an efficient way, discover new ideas, possibilities, and solutions that may not be obvious or common in their field or market, and create designs that are aligned with the current and future needs of their audience.

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5 Examples of trend forecasting sources for designers

Trend forecasting sources can be immensely helpful to designers. For instance, WGSN is a leading trend forecasting agency for fashion design, providing reports, insights, and predictions on color, material, print, pattern, silhouette, style, and consumer behavior. Behance is a large and diverse platform for graphic design, showcasing the work of millions of designers from different disciplines and levels. Dezeen is an influential magazine for product design, covering the latest trends in architecture, interiors, furniture, lighting, and technology. Additionally, Awwwards is a prestigious platform for web design that recognizes and rewards the best websites and web designers in the world. These sources offer inspiration, tips, insights, events, awards, job boards, learning platforms – and much more!

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Daniel de Sant'anna Martins

Designing UX @Stemuli
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O que fazer com os sinais e tendências? Eu recomendo utilizar a Roda de Futuros, que é uma ferramenta de análise prospectiva que ajuda na visualização e exploração de possíveis futuros e suas implicações. Expandindo a partir de um evento central, essa metodologia permite explorar as consequências diretas e indiretas de uma mudança ou inovação específica em vários níveis. Com isso, conseguimos identificar oportunidades e desafios potenciais, e promover o pensamento crítico e criativo, facilitando a geração de cenários detalhados sobre como diferentes aspectos da sociedade podem ser afetados. Se puder, adote uma abordagem colaborativa e interdisciplinar para criar estratégias mais resilientes e adaptativas para os futuros!

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What are the most reliable trend forecasting sources for designers?

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1 Why trend forecasting matters

2 Types of trend forecasting sources

3 How to use trend forecasting sources effectively

4 Benefits and challenges of trend forecasting sources

5 Examples of trend forecasting sources for designers

6 Here’s what else to consider

Design

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What are the most reliable trend forecasting sources for designers?

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 Why trend forecasting matters

2 Types of trend forecasting sources

3 How to use trend forecasting sources effectively

4 Benefits and challenges of trend forecasting sources

5 Examples of trend forecasting sources for designers

6 Here’s what else to consider

Design

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