Category Archives: Products

Trend Spotting Company Profile: mode…information GmbH

By Simone | Published: June 1, 2010

mode…information is a German-based Global Network for Trend Inspiration that specializes in fashion, textiles, design, architecture, graphics, and lifestyle. It offers online services, color trend products, and “more than 1000 specialist publications for textile, fashion, colour, graphics, product design, interior, architecture and lifestyle.”
mode…information’s customers include manufacturers, service companies, retailers, graphic designers, freelance designers, institutes, associations, and design schools.
Though mode…information covers all sorts of trends, it demonstrates a particular emphasis in color, via its distribution of PANTONE® products, for example. To insure the quality and accuracy of its color predictions, mode…information has established alliances with “the world leaders in colour management solutions, X-Rite with Pantone Europe and Clariant.”

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Object Lesson: Computer Mouse

By Simone | Published: May 30, 2010

Ah, the mouse. Convenient clicking machine that we all have come to know and love… or at least know. The first computer mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart in 1963, who subsequently introduced his creation at the 1968 Fall Joint Compuer Conference in San Francisco. This original mouse was supposedly “housed in a wooden box twice as high as today’s mice and with three buttons on top, moved with the help of two wheels on its underside rather than a rubber trackball.” Awkward!! While the initial product was also known as a “bug,” the term “mouse” eventually won out as the most popular name for the device.

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Object Lesson: Yogurt

By Simone | Published: May 11, 2010

Yogurt is “a semi-solid casein gel formed by the action of specific lactic acid bacteria on a mix composed of milk solids non-fat, milk fat, sugar and stabilizer” which is to say it is… fermented milk.

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Tomorrow's Trend Spotter: A Web App?

By Simone | Published: May 8, 2010

I recently read on Mashable about Google’s recent purchase of Recorded Future, a company that seeks to predict the future. Recorded Future allows users to get instant analyses or receive email alerts regarding the potential future of a variety of topics, including financial markets, public figures, technology. Users may also investigate themselves, as well as their company or some other keyword.

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Object Lesson: Engagement Rings

By Simone | Published: May 4, 2010

Ah, the engagement ring. Even though I have no romantic prospects, I already have mine picked out (The Tiffany Setting, if you please, Mr. Right). How did this strange, expensive object become a cultural artifact of such importance?

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Object Lesson: Chinese Lanterns

By Simone | Published: April 17, 2010

There is something iconic about Chinese lanterns- they appear to be at once ancient and modern in their streamlined simplicity and adaptability to modern technology. Though they are seamlessly integrated into modern design, these fashionable light sources emerged as early as 230 BC.

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Object Lesson: Induction Cooktops

By Simone | Published: April 11, 2010

Induction cooktops are curious creatures- they are hardly common in the States, but these slick little devices may someday be in kitchens everywhere. What differentiates this cooking surface from its traditional counterparts is its smooth surface and ability to heat a pan directly, which offers greater energy efficiency and temperature control (as well as no-fuss cleanup).

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Tokidoki & Online Reality

By Simone | Published: March 9, 2010

In business school I have heard a lot of rambling about online marketing trends, but had yet to see any nifty manifestations- that is, until I ran into Nema Ray in SoHo last Friday!

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Object Lesson: Chick Lit

By Simone | Published: March 3, 2010

Yes, chick lit.  It is a large enough genre to warrant a dedicated section in most bookstores, a decent amount of academic research and even special university courses, but where did chick lit come from?  What does it mean? And where will it go? Chick Lit Books defines the literary genre as one “mainly written [...]

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Anti-Sedentary Office Furniture

By Simone | Published: February 26, 2010

With today’s alarmingly high obesity rates and newly published findings suggesting that sitting down all day can be deadly, one would think designers would be rolling out a ton of new products to help us avoid the slow death of sedentary office life.
Below are the products available now that offer alternatives to static office work. Some are simple, others ridiculous, and still more highly intriguing- but each configuration can be seen as an emerging trend- one of anti-sedentarianism amongst knowledge workers.

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