Udder-ly Memorable - Passagen 2007 Cologne

Just returned from this year's Cologne International Furniture Fair. Passagen is Germany's biggest design event and runs in parallel with the fair. This kitchen is a prototype seen in the Valcucine space to showcase their glass fronts and countertops. More from the show coming in later posts.(Is this the pink that everyone is talking about?)

2007 - The Year of Iconic Design

What is the next design icon?

• Palladian windows have enjoyed a huge success in the last two decades. The windows are the icon that have come to signify "upscale home."
• Audrey Hepburn's Givenchy "little black dress" from Breakfast at Tiffany's recently sold for $807,000. Its iconic value drove the price up 8x over the expectation.
  
• Phillipe Starck's popular "Louis Ghost" chair is a updated version of an iconic design.

An icon is an important and enduring symbol that enjoys universal familiarity within a group. Icons will continue to supply the motifs and styles to our homes. Familiarity in the midst of so many choices (which often becomes clutter) will renew interest in the iconic. The new fascination with simplicty will govern the icons selected. Think: a white strand of pearls, pencil post beds, greek key borders - all exqusitely executed and just like the little black dress, you will never go wrong.

Top 10 Lists

The Usual Suspects

Its that time of year - Resolutions, Predictions and Top Ten lists. (Has the FBI ever been given credit for coming up with this idea?)
10 Most Popular Words or concepts that show up on Home Furnishings predictions for 2007:

1. WOW factor
2. sustainability
3. comfort
   
4. nature-inspired
5. natural wood grain prominent
6. celebrating imperfections
   
7. retro
8. masculine looks
9. cottage style
10. individual, personal
    

There was wide consensus on only 7 color families with a wide range of predictions within each family:

1. Botanical greens
2. Water blues
3. Natural neutrals
4. Brown
   
5. Metallic
6. Mineral
7. Pink (ugh! my comment)
   

Color Inspiration

Georgia O'Keefe would swoon over this stone. Nature inspires today's interior finishes. Make sure to look at the real thing, not just the picture before making color selections.

Frazier and Niles on carpet choices...priceless

Niles: What color is the new carpet?

Frasier: I'm going up a shade... to "Harvest Wheat."

Niles: I thought the next shade up was "Buff."

Frasier: It used to be, but they've discovered a whole new color in between.

Niles: So now it's "Tofu, Putty, Oatmeal"...

Both: "Almond, Harvest Wheat"...

Frasier: "and Buff."

Simplicity is not overrated

Over 50 million iPods have been sold and those who pride themselves on "being in the know" are saying that "one of the most over-speculated and questionable trends today" http://www.psfk.com/2007/01/the_simplecompl.html .

I humbly disagree and here is why:

In 1995 I led a team at a Color Marketing Group conference. We were doing design influences that day and created a poster from our session that looked much like today's iPod. Few outside our team got it, but we know the story of the iPod today - the consumer "gets" it. (That was my last Color Marketing Group conference. The speakers were the best part and I no longer need to go to hear the speakers - fabulous speakers are now available on podcasts.)

On toasters I have owned -
* One with an elevator - failed in short order.
* One spit out toast to the floor (won some design award)
BACK TO THE SIMPLEST TOASTER THAT MONEY CAN BUY - WILL THROW IT AWAY WHEN IT BURNS OUT. I WILL HAVE GOTTEN MY MONEY'S WORTH.
I had exactly the same experience with several expensive, multi-functional microwaves. I was once a glutton for punishment, but no longer - I now have a basic, simple microwave for short bucks. I could have bought a new simple one every 6 months for what I paid for the complex one given how long they lasted. What does one really need to heat up left-overs? (I even repaired the locking mechanism myself once, despite the warnings not to open the box)

And don't even get me going on the washing machine. In short - I am a boomer, there are lots of us, and we now have LOTS of experience in the marketplace. Manufacturers disregard our experiences at their own peril. (Yes, boomers are buying iPods)

Who has time for the learning curve for all that day-to-day stuff! I would rather spend the time to learn how to use my D80 well. Now that complexity gets me charged up, but not complex appliances. It is so refreshing to just push one button!

The same holds true for the finishes in a house - keep them simple and easy to maintain. No fancy maintenance instructions. Boomers have better things to do.

Are there too many Choices?

It may not be as frightening as a head-spinning horror movie, but today's proliferation of consumer choices in the home furnishings arena can bring one to mind. If your showroom is bursting at the seams, if each additional product you add brings diminishing returns, then you probably offer too many choices. If you can't afford to hire therapists with design degrees for your showroom - how do you help consumers navigate the many product choices that you offer? Therein lies the opportunity.

If you want to end the chaos, complexity and confusion over product selection for your customers – it is time to focus your product offering with a rigorous editing process that is as individual as your business. High-end boutiques in every category have always relied on editing. Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel have done it successfully. (Watch as these stores get into bathroom furnishings) Trader Joe’s combines the editing process with great service. The iPod is the ultimate “edited” product and research shows that editing works!

Thousands of stores, hundreds of catalogs,
hundreds of thousands of choices and not a thing to wear!
Whether it is fashion or finishes, the problem is the same-
too many choices.

1. The Research: Stanford Business School

Consumer research shows that the American consumer is suffering from choice fatigue. A Stanford Business School Study found too many choices exasperated shoppers. In the research Consumer were offered either 30 choices or 6 choicesof jam and then given coupons to purchase what they sampled. Of those that had the opportunity to sample 30 only 3% made a purchase, while of those given 6 choices ten times as many or 30% made a purchase. Harvard Business School followed up with a study that showed that a grocery retailer increased their revenues by 11 percent simply by reducing their assortment in various categories anywhere from 20 percent to as much as 80 percent.

To really understand how consumers react in the face of too many choices listen to this podcast: http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm
Barry Schwartz is a sociology professor at Swarthmore College and author of The Paradox of Choice. In this talk, he persuasively explains how and why the abundance of choice in modern society is actually making us miserable. While I disagree with his solutions, (being from Swarthmore, he espouses redistribution of wealth) it points out clearly the opportunities for a variety of businesses.

2. Shaping Factors:

In this time of both rapid and constant change, creating the perfect product mix requires more consideration than just bringing in the latest offerings from your suppliers. A variety of cultural, demographic and psychographic, as well as aesthetic trends affect what your customer will choose for their homes:

• The overriding trend that affects consumers’ choices in their homes is the paradigm shift from the Industrial and Information ages to the Biological age. Natural materials are now the most important drivers of the aesthetics of the entire built environment. We can no longer agree on a color derived from a pigment box like “hunter green” or “burgundy,” but get our color inspiration from a wide range of natural stones.
• Homes and home furnishings have moved from being needs based to desire driven products.
• The income curve is flattening creating a new mass affluent market that can afford exactly what they want.
• Boomers are still driving the home market and will continue to do so as they build and furnish their retirement homes.
• The “new” always engages and technology continuously creates new aesthetics that intrigue the desire driven consumer.

3. The Solution:

There is no magic pill or potion to cure the choice fatigue of today’s consumers –it is essential to take a holistic approach. Edit products for:

• “best of”
• most compelling new
  
• the greatest benefit to your customers

4. Edit your way to success in 2007:
Design trends that create interior finish aesthetics:

* Play of light is the new color and pattern. Light bounces off interesting textures, shimmery materials and frosted metallics.
* The “limestone” palette remains important because limestone it fits today’s lifestyles. Created by evolution’s first mobile home- the shell, it is a true natural material and the light, soft and soothing color range is an antidote to our over stimulated lives.
* With our concern for the environment, nature greens remain in the palette.
* Fun and decoration are returning to interiors, driven by Tord Bontje’s inspired decorative motifs and bright colors for a contemporary market.
* Consumers expect products that can be customized. (The iPod is the ultimate example)
* The “local” remains important.

For further reading:

The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less By BarrySchwartz; Ecco

Trading Up: The New American Luxury
By Michael J. Silverstein and Neil Fiske; Portfolio

The Substance of Style: How the rise of aesthetic value is remaking commerce, culture and consciousness By Virginia Postrel; Harper Collins