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As 2018 comes to a close, it’s time to look ahead to next year’s design trends. How will brands look, identify themselves and communicate in 2019? We took a look at some of the upcoming themes.

Web design

The biggest driver in web design is interaction. Websites are no longer just a storefront or information board. As brands vie for attention and engagement in a crowded marketplace, websites must be eye-catching, interactive and more pertinently, inclusive. Video content is replacing still images as a way of attracting and connecting with visitors. Layout is also changing. As smartphone traffic surpasses tablet and computer viewing, web design must be compatible with different formats. As a result, to accommodate thumb scrolling, navigation tools are moving south.

Logos

The rise of authenticity and storytelling has also had a visual impact as both original and new heritage logos create a sense of history. Styles vary from minimal and negative space, to ornate and detailed. Distortion and playing with perspectives are also some of the ways that brands are bringing life to logos.

Graphic

From vintage mid-century modern, to 3D design and typography, anything goes as long as its on-brand. With eye-popping colour palettes and compositions in rendering, graphic design has never been so creative or exciting. Retro is a major source of inspiration, from the glamour of Art Deco, to hints of 60s psychedelia in the form of duotones and gradients. Colour, of course, plays a major role, as a theme, accent or even a brand identity.

To read more about these and other trends, visit:
www.99designs.com

Adentity recently visited European Month of Photography in Berlin. The biennale, which takes place simultaneously in various cities throughout Europe, is Germany’s largest photo festival and attracts museums, cultural institutions, galleries and photographers from around the world.

Throughout the month of October, more than 100 venues around the capital treat the public to a full program of exhibitions and events. This is a chance to see work from some of the stars and emerging talent of the 20^th and 21^st century, from Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon and Cindy Sherman, to Elmgreen & Dragset and Philip Lorca di Corcia.

We visited a number of fantastic exhibitions, including PACK, which features portraits from Berlin’s Techno scene taken by Sven Marquardt, the notorious bouncer of the city’s most famous nightclub, Berghain. As a bouncer, Sven had access to some of the most famous German and international artists, so in 2005 he took his first musician portrait of Manuel Göttsching, a pioneer of electronic/conceptual sounds. This was the beginning of a parallel career that has taken his name beyond Berlin’s club scene, to the international art scene as a celebrated photographer.

The Galerie Pugliese Levi presents photographs by the agriculturalist and photographer Thibaut Duchenne, whose direct manner of looking is situated far from established traditions and techniques and shows a rural world that, while in the process of disappearing, lives on in various eloquent forms.

European Month of Photography Berlin continues until 31^st October.
To see the full programme of events, visit www.emop-berlin.eu

We finally had the chance to meet some of the wonderful people behind the Phyllis Memorial Children’s Home and Academy and their Swedish support organisation Kampi Ya Motos Barn. Phyllis Memorial Children’s home is based in Kenya, in the village of Kampi Ya Moto, which is Swahili for “The village in the Sun”. When Ruth, the manager of the Children’s home, visited Sweden, and Malmö, for the first time, she and her colleagues from Kampi Ya Motos Barn stopped by our office.

Phyllis Memorial cares for 60 orphan children, in ages ranging from pre-school up to high school, with different backgrounds. Some have been living on the streets, others with relatives, but all of them have had a very tough start in life. As well as providing a loving home, Phyllis Memorial also provides education for both its own pupils and children from the local villages.

Over the past 9 years, Adentity has supported Kampi Ya Motos Barn with the design and print of their annual calendar, which is then sold. All the revenue from calendar sales goes directly to the Phyllis Memorial Children’s Home and Academy in Kenya. Our pro- bono work also covers marketing elements, as well as communication material. Read more about our work here.

We were really glad to have the opportunity to meet some of the wonderful people behind the home and the home’s manager, aka the children’s “aunt”, Ruth. The visit gave us insight into the daily life of the children and how the home has grown from a simple shed made of sticks, stones and cow dung to a home that provides clean water from a 250 m deep well and has a self-sufficient farm that produces supplies for both the home and the local community. They have also installed biogas which has improved the kitchen facilities tremendously. By producing and selling surplus commodities, the children learn valuable skills that they will need when it is time to leave the home.

We are grateful to our guests for taking the time to visit us and for all their wonderful work. For more information about Kampi ya Motos Barn and how you can support Phyllis Memorial Children’s Home and Academy, visit kampiyamotosbarn.se

The Adentity team took an inspiration trip to see the beautiful exhibition: Vogue like a Painting in Copenhagen. The show highlights the relationship between fashion photography and fine arts through fashion images from the vast archives of Vogue magazine.

Created in 1892 as a society magazine targeted at New York’s upper classes, in 1905 a young lawyer and publicist called Condé Montrose Nast bought the header and transformed it into a publication that celebrated fashion, luxury and the arts. To ensure the most unique and high quality images, Condé Nast built a stable of talented up-and-coming photographers from around the world, all signed exclusively to the magazine, and gave them the creative freedom that has become an integral part of the identity of Vogue magazine and indeed, Condé Nast’s successful publishing house. This then innovative approach gave rise to fashion photography as an artform.

Like artists such as: Egon Schiele, John Everett Millais, Johannes Vermeer and Salvador Dali who inspired some of the images on display, fashion photographers have risen to become the new masters of a burgeoning fine art genre. Cecil Beaton, Horst P. Horst, Erwin Blumenfeld, Bruce Weber and Annie Leibovitz have all become respected names within fine art circles. And while the market for fashion photography hasn’t yet caught up with the masters, the over 1 million USD Richard Avedon’s 1955 ”Dovima with Elephants” for Harper’s Bazaar fetched at auction in 2010 suggests it’s just a matter of time.
Visit www.glstrand.dk

For Adentity, sustainability has been an increasingly important element when planning concepts and marketing strategies for our clients for more than 15 years. So we were pleased to see that our client, Tetra Pak, has risen from 39^thplace last year, to 23^rdon the Swedish index of this year’s Sustainable Brand Index Official Report 2018 – the Nordic region’s largest brand study focusing on sustainability.

The independent study, which is conducted in five Nordic countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Netherlands) is divided into separate country results. For the study, more than 40,000 consumers from ages 16-70 were interviewed in relation to their perception of the chosen brands in terms of sustainability. The brands featured in the report were chosen to reflect brands that the consumer meets in their everyday life, with selection based mainly on: activity on the market of the country, turnover and market share and general brand awareness.

Key findings of this year’s report are that the number of consumers discussing sustainability remains the same as last year (although the number rose slightly in Sweden), but this isn’t necessarily bad news. According to the report, the reason is that this is attributed to the perception that sustainability is no longer something strange or different, but more of an essential topic that is not always considered to be of a particularly sustainable nature. However, the second and most worrying reason is that while companies and politicians are stepping up their efforts in terms of sustainability, consumers are lagging behind. The study cites that 73% of consumers in Sweden say that sustainability impacts their buying decision, compared to only 62% in Norway.

How can we change our habits before it’s too late? Well, it’s a long (and necessary) conversation, but for a start, we can think before we buy.

To read more about the Sustainable Brand Index and obtain a copy, click here

See Adentitys work for Tetra Pak here.

Adentity visited Milan Design Week in search of inspiration. As well as a preview of summer temperatures, at the world’s largest industrial design event we discovered new designs, thought provoking concepts and witnessed the truly global appeal of design.

In addition to the usual high tech marketing exercises, such as Panasonic’s Transitions exhibition – an exhibition featuring new technologies to mark the company’s centenary – there were some effective low tech, low budget alternatives to be seen.

The automotive brand Mini presented Mini Living, a customisable design concept for living. To communicate the message, Mini provided wood and plexi components, allowing visitors to build their own creations. This not only attracted visitors, but engaged with them, creating a more memorable impression. For the bloggers and instagrammers, the French luxury brand Hermès employed street artists to recreate patterns from the current season in chalk on the city’s streets, while Stokke built oversized children’s furniture to attract ‘selfie’ lovers.

We were inspired by the intricate metalwork of Japanese craftsmen at Superstudio, who created beautiful cut-outs and surface effects, as well as the wealth of indigenous hand crafts and weaving techniques, which further exemplified the diversity of the event.

Sustainability and 3D printing were high on the agenda, with upcycling, closed loop production and on-demand production inspiring some interesting discussions and raising awareness.

Congratulations to our client Sony Mobile for a fantastic response at the launch of the new Sony Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

At the world’s leading event for phone manufacturers, there was much talk about the design language, which features a curved glass front and back, as well as internals such as 4K HDR movie recording, 3D scanning, Snapdragon 845 and improved sound and battery.

Good work Sony!

Recently our client, Bona, was awarded Årets företag (Company of the year) by Malmö Näringslivsgala. The annual award ceremony celebrates the city’s best enterprises and creative talent. Bona’s fantastic win was based on the family-owned company’s focus on innovation, sustainability and the environment, combined with promoting diversity and CSR. Congratulations to CEO Kerstin Lindell and her fantastic employees for being a truly Super Company!

This year marks the 15^th anniversary of Adentity. Yep, it really has been that long. Based in Malmö in Sweden, for the past 15 years we have been helping international businesses from a wide range of sectors to strengthen their brands. As part of our strategy for driving the Adentity concept further, we recently established a new creative hub in Berlin.

Situated in the city’s Hansaviertel district, an area with a rich architectural history, we are taking the Adentity Communication Platform^TM – our proven 3-step roadmap to long-term branding success – to the German market. Our expansion offers a number of advantages both for us and our clients. Situated in the centre of Europe, this cultural metropolis is a flourishing base for innovative tech start-ups and creative studios. So now, Adentity can offer integrated campaigns, strategies and more to international companies in Berlin.

As Condé Nast launches a postgraduate programme dedicated to social media influencers of the future, legacy brands provide insight into building relevant brands with staying power.

Photo: Jonathan Daniels

Condé Nast Italia recently announced the launch of Condé Nast Social Academy in partnership with one of the world’s most prestigious business schools – Milan’s SDA Bocconi School of Management. The certified postgraduate degree programme will offer classes on communication, social marketing and digital media, with graduates becoming a part of Condé Nast’s network of 300 social influencers.

According to the group’s Chief Executive Officer Fedele Usai in an interview with WWD, the academy’s aim is to “invest in education in order to have a well-trained and, most importantly, ethical category (of influencers)”. With the media company’s combined digital properties registering 35 million users in August 2017, the programme will offer the lucky students valuable insight from leaders of some of the group’s most successful platforms.

While the new programme, along with social media in general, is driven by progression, it will do well to take lessons from its elders, such as Vogue – Condé Nast’s 125-year-old fashion bible – and Vanity Fair, which received a record-breaking 11 million unique users in one week, following the debut of its new online redesign and editorial channels. The most important lessons that CN’s future influencers can learn from both titles are:

• Strong storytelling skills
• A cohesive cross-network strategy that leads back to the source
• Most importantly, always maintain a clear and strong brand identity.

As media continues to expand and open up new channels, everyone’s looking for unique ways to connect with customers. Here are just a few innovative examples:

Nike Connect

You either love sports shirts, or you hate them. However, Nike has created a seriously cool shirt that builds on the fan bond. The sportswear giant recently launched NikeConnect, a special technology that is integrated into sportswear, allowing fans to follow their favourite teams through their jersey. For the launch of this year’s NBA season, the company launched a range of basketball vests fitted with a near-field communication (NFC) chip. Using NikeConnect’s new app, the wearer can place their smartphone against the chip to access exclusive team content, taking fans “closer to the game than ever before.”

Read more at Nike.com

Insta’s first Digizine

Singer/songwriter FKA Twigs recently launched the first issue of what is considered to be the first Instagram magazine. AVANTgarden is a “digizine” published using Instagram slides. This unique creative route offers the innovative artist a new way to connect with her 1.1m Instagram followers. The first issue: Roots. Shock. Beauty is a 10-page slideshow with Twigs as Editor, featuring magazine style photography and styling, complete with creative collaborations and credits.

A bright idea

This December, London’s South Bank will feature a Christmas tree with a difference. The UK charity, Marie Curie has developed a memory-powered interactive Christmas tree. To highlight the charity’s work caring for people with terminal illness, the fairy lights on the tree will be powered by people sharing their memories on social media. For every post on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #LightUpXmas the lights will grow brighter.

Celebrating service

The US online clothing retailer Zappos came up with the idea of promoting its renowned excellence in customer service by reenacting some of the funniest true customer stories. From a budding ballerina and her quest for the perfect ballet shoes, to the husband who had to intercept his wife’s returned Zappos package in which he’d packed her jewellery, these simple, low budget commercials are a funny way of illustrating the brand’s core value in a way that we can all relate to.

View ads at Zappos

It’s safe to say that right now we are loving all things retro, from sneakers and food packaging, to hand crafts and computer games. New York-based illustrator Wahyu Ichwandardi has taken nolstagia to a step further by creating a teaser trailer for the forthcoming second film in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, “Star Wars The Last Jedi” on an Apple IIc. Using an Apple II series computer from the 1980s, he hand drew each shot and recreated each frame using Dazzle Draw, a bitmap paint programme and a  vintage KoalaPad graphics tablet. Whatever can we expect next? Hand written letters?

Wahyu Ichwandardi’s retro take on Star Wars

The official trailer

Highlighting sustainability, design and growing markets, the Bona annual report is now out and sent off worldwide. Done in 3 languages with the financial report added, the new Close Up sums up the Bona year with breaking new product launches such as the Floor Treatment Program and stunning references with La Sagrada Família in Barcelona raising above all in impressiveness.

Featuring new design trends, we take a look into what is up and coming in wood flooring as well as what is hot right now. You can also learn about new research done in the field and what sustainability actions Bona’s has taken lately and is planning to do.

With the huge selection of baby strollers on the market, it’s hard for parents to know which one to buy. American baby product manufacturer, Kolcraft offered parents the chance to experience stroller travel from the other side of the handlebar, thanks to its Contours Baby Stroller Test-Ride.

The specially created adult-size stroller not only gave parents a chance to test out their baby’s ride, it also provided the company with a highly successful PR opportunity.

With all the advertising platforms available within digital technology, it’s ironic that outdoor advertising is bigger than ever. Outside of the digital jungle, well executed, real world marketing exercises not only create a lasting impression for those who experience it first hand, the spreading of images and experiences virally allows the message to be communicated globally. Here are some of our favourite examples:

IKEA, France
To celebrate the opening of the new IKEA store in Paris, the Swedish furniture retailer built a 9×10 metre vertical roomset that customers could climb.

SBAB Bank, Sweden
The bank raised “interest on a savings account” (sparränta) by celebrating every new customer account opened with a fanfair. Pity the poor neighbours.

Coca Cola, Germany
As a play on the tagline “It’s the little things that make us happy” the soft drinks giant placed miniature kiosks selling mini cans of Coca Cola throughout five major German cities.