Downsizing Play

Designers opt for cheaper vintage fun over pricey modern innovations

Implications - The global financial crisis has many consumers feeling less comfortable spending money on entertainment. The worlds of gaming, fashion and business are seeing the effects of the decision to downsize enjoyment; instead, people are longing for vintage favorites and a return to more simplistic fun.

Trend Themes

  1. Vintage/retro Gaming — The trend of vintage and retro gaming is growing, with consumers opting for the more simplistic forms of entertainment rather than modern gaming innovations.
  2. Geek Culture — Geek culture and its associated references are dominating the fashion, design and entertainment industries, changing the face of what is considered 'cool'.
  3. Nostalgia-inducing Products — Consumers embrace products or services that give them a sense of nostalgia by incorporating aged trends into them, appealing to mature generations of consumers.

Industry Implications

  1. Fashion — Geek chic is dominating fashion, with designers opting for cheaper vintage fun over pricey modern innovations.
  2. Gaming — Vintage and retro gaming is a growing trend due to consumers longing for more simplistic forms of entertainment.
  3. Advertising — Companies can find disruptive innovation opportunities in utilizing graphic or shocking images and text in marketing campaigns to appeal to their target demographics.
4.6
Score
Popularity
Activity
Freshness
Patterns
Megatrends
6 Featured, 33 Examples:
2,006,175 Total Clicks
Date Range:
Mar 09 — Jun 09
Trending:
Warm
Consumer Insight Topics:

Featured Examples

Cartoons Behaving Badly
Cartoons Behaving Badly
'Magic Mushroom' Shirt Reveals the Truth About Mario & Luigi
Who knew the 'Super Mario Bros.' were such bad influences? Threadless Tees did, I suppose. The company has created the ‘Magic Mushroom’ t-shirt, which features two unnamed and shadowed characters… MORE
Cartoon Corsets
Cartoon Corsets
Vintage Doctors Show Super Mario Brothers' Style
Super Mario Bros. is a classic game and just about everyone has had an addiction to it (I know I did.) However, most fashions made with the Super Mario Bros. image are for men. The Vintage Doctors are… MORE
Retro Gaming Tees
Retro Gaming Tees
Tetris Skyline T-Shirt Celebrates 25th Anniversary
In celebration of Tetris’s 25th Anniversary, the Tetris Skyline T-shirt is now available at Red Bubble. This retro tee is a portrayal of the old-school Tetris game and displays what a skyline would… MORE
Cheeky Pacman Headgear
Cheeky Pacman Headgear
Geeky Girls in i-D Magazine's 'Everywhere Kiss Me' Editorial
Now this editorial is a geek’s ultimate dream. A hot and sexy model, flashing her breasts and wearing Pacman headgear! Entitled ‘Everywhere Kiss Me,’ the editorial is by photographer Katja Rahlwes… MORE
play_circle_filledRenaissance-Inspired T-Shirts
Renaissance-Inspired T-Shirts
Kevin Tong's Super Mario Shirt is Sketched Da Vinci-Style
Inspired by Da Vinci’s views of the Foetus in the Womb, artist Kevin Tong imagined Super Mario‘s fetal period and much more of his world. The only connection between Super Mario and Da Vinci, if we are… MORE
Geektastic Tees
Geektastic Tees
TeeFury T-Shirt Combines Star Wars, Terminator, Lord of the Rings
What would you do if you could combine Star Wars, Terminator and Lord of the Rings? I’ll tell you what! You would wear this t-shirt! Featured on TeeFury’s t-shirt of the day, this geektastic mash-up combines… MORE

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