Consumer Insights > Art & Design

Implications - Experience-driven consumers are developing a taste for lush aromas as they embrace luxury products from cult fragrance brands that provide an accessible indulgent experience. Reacting to this progression, luxury perfume brands are expanding into the home space with high-end diffusers and room sprays. This shift highlights the role of multi-sensory elements in making the most of one's personal space, as well as the new view of self-care which incorporates therapeutic practices as an investment in overall personal health. [More]

Implications - As a backlash to the information age, more consumers are reconnecting with serene, solitary activities, such as reading. This results in new interpretations of literary classics in multimedia formats to appease the short attention spans of the digital era. The modern, multisensory approach to classic literature signifies the values of Generation Z: to be cultured and educated, but to do so in a fresh, new way. [More]

Implications - As heteronormativity in the mainstream slowly makes way for a more inclusive and dynamic picture of what the family unit can look like, brands are seeking to adopt a more all-encompassing approach in the services and products they offer to parents and families. With the evolution of social dynamics has come brands' continued willingness to cater to what is now marketed as the norm, rather than perceived as being the exception. [More]

Implications - While consumers are most familiar with Pride parades, events that support LGBTQ+ serve a variety of purposes. From protests, to supporting those most on the sidelines, the LGBTQ+ community is increasingly accommodating intersectional activism into its different methods of advocacy. This increasingly nuanced approach indicates an improved understanding of the various social and political experiences underlying the motivations of different groups within the LGBTQ+ community. [More]

Implications - As the LGBTQ+ community in North America is no longer relegated to existing in small private spheres, creative work inspired and created by this community has followed its entrance into mainstream cultures. The recognition of LGBTQ+ in mainstream creative channels allows consumers to engage with the community in a way that goes further than the simple acceptance of its legal rights. [More]

Implications - Consumers are opting for spices and other foodstuffs formatted in spray bottles that enable a more easily measured means of dispensing such culinary ingredients that allows for a wide range of flavor preferences. A convergence of the pursuit of convenience and the new culture of the experiment foodie, this progression highlights the power of packaging design in reimagining the use of such common ingredients. [More]

Implications - The generation famously known as "Walking Ad Blockers" can be difficult to connect with, but at its essence, Generation Z is a group of young consumers who are as impressionable and inquisitive as youth generations before them. These desire for self-discovery is magnified by a sense of empathy inherent to the digital native. Brands are responding by creating campaigns around providing information to the group to create positive brand recognition. [More]

Implications - As ubiquitous in the Instagram-driven collective design ideal as 'Millennial pink,' palm leaf prints can be observed as commonplace in contemporary branding, retail design, fashion and much more. This fixation highlights the influence of an image-driven social media culture in which one's possessions and surroundings become a prop that speaks to a new kind of social currency. [More]

Implications - While consumers are far from impressed when it comes to casing a naturally wrapped fruit in excess packaging to the detriment of the environment, they are however enticed by innovative packaging that offers user benefits beyond grocery display. Taking consumer behavior into account, produce brands are repositioning fruits to come in practical forms of encasement that draw in choice-inundated consumers who are looking for ways to incorporate healthier foods into their daily lives but find them impractical. [More]

Implications - In an effort to get constantly connected consumers more in touch with their surrounding environments, several cities are starting to collaborate with artists to create interactive artistic installations embedded in the natural city landscape. By leveraging technology to further enhance the interactivity of the artistic elements, cities are encouraging Millennials to look up from their phones and experience the world around them while spending more time outdoors. [More]