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- 21 : 05 : 2013 :Gen I kids join the Code Club
- 21 : 05 : 2013 :Festival explores the meaning of stripes
Design of the times
2011:06:30The Future Laboratory – The Future Laboratory presented three brand identity redesigns at its Beauty Futures Salon of the Senses event on 16 June. Based on our knowledge of consumer trends, our trend analysts and design team created new packaging designs for Jurlique Skin Brightening Mist, Charles Worthington sea spray, and Boots Vanilla Body Butter.
‘I began by identifying the product strengths that weren’t being communicated and then developed the visual language from these to create the new packaging direction,’ says The Future Laboratory design manager Edward Vince.
We looked at the products’ colour, their packaging, their materials and graphics, and used our understanding of trends, consumer needs and brand platforms to make these changes. ‘We love brands that are on-trend and that target customers with the kind of graphics and packaging that are in keeping with consumer thinking and mindsets,’ says Martin Raymond, co-founder of The Future Laboratory. ‘We felt that the brands we chose were close to this – but by putting them through The Future Laboratory brand filter they could be even more effective and emotionally appealing.’
In the coming months, The Future Laboratory will host a Brand Futures exhibition and a workshop at which the UK’s top 100 brands will be put through this filtering process. For further details, please email Alena Joyette.
Through the keyhole
2011:06:09The Future Laboratory – As part of our celebrations marking ten years of The Future Laboratory, we’re opening our doors to the press Wednesday 15 June 2011.
We’ll be showing journalists, editors and correspondents around our new premises at 26 Elder Street. It’s a chance for anyone who works in the media to find out more about the work of all three divisions – LS:N Global, Future Poll and The Future Laboratory – and meet our in-house experts in trends, research and innovation.
Stylists and location scouts might also be interested to see our vertical vegetable garden in all its growing glory, as well as looking round our converted Georgian townhouse office space.
The event runs from 9am to 2pm on 15 June. If you are a professional journalist and would like an invitation to our press day, please contact Tiffany Arntson.
Elder Street hosts evening devoted to the New Gents
2011:06:02LS:N Global – Tradition, connoisseurship and nostalgia. These are the key elements of the New Gents mindset, which featured in a tribe report published on LS:N Global late last year. It was also the theme of the latest LS:N Global network evening, hosted last week at our Elder Street HQ.
The event took our usual network evening format, with six speakers, six tables and six minutes to discuss one big idea: the New Gents. Guests including delegates from brands such as Louis Vuitton, Clarks and Panasonic, joined the LS:N Global team and a group of exciting expert speakers.
British menswear designer of the year Patrick Grant spoke of his passion for provenance and local production, and how he rescued Savile Row tailor Norton & Sons and brought defunct Savile Row tailor E Tautz back to life. Also reviving a brand from the past was Michael-George Hemus, who talked about how he brought the beer of Truman’s brewery, closed in 1989, back to life for the 21st century.
Simon Mottram discussed how his cycle clothing and accessories brand Rapha uses a story in each of its products. ‘We connect through stories,’ he says. ‘Every product has a story label, which explains why it is relevant.’
Brendan Murdock, founder of barber Murdock London, discussed male grooming and the revival of the traditional shave as part of a special pop-up barber station created especially for the event. Some lucky guests even experienced the wet shave at first hand.
Alice Ciccolini, author of men’s fashion bible The New English Dandy, described the deep roots of the connoisseurship that is so crucial to the New Gents. And LS:N Global insight editor Max Reyner and trends researcher Julian Ellerby described how the tastes, attitudes and behaviour of the New Gents will influence the wider men’s market in the future.
The event was the most successful network evening yet, and guests left with a greater understanding of the new male mindset for the 2010s decade.
If you would like to know more about LS:N Global’s network events, contact Alena Joyette.
The Future of Business report: Redrawing the economic map
2011:06:02Future Poll – The industries of tomorrow may not be household names, but the UK is already laying the foundations for growth. ‘This report’s findings are bright for the future of the British economy, and especially bright for British manufacturing,’ says UK Business Secretary Vince Cable.
Today saw the publication of the Future of Business report, commissioned by Consolidated PR for HSBC. It highlights the industries that will drive economic renewal over the next decade, transforming the country’s business landscape in the process.
The report included a nationwide survey of business leaders and found that digital communications (65%), biotechnology (65%) and low-carbon technology (60%) were regarded as strong areas for economic growth. Future Poll’s own insights also highlighted the potential of less well-known industries such as photonics and plastic electronics.
Sir James Dyson, who was one of the report’s expert contributors, says: ‘Exportable inventions are our way towards a safer, more intelligent future.’ Dr Lynda Gratton of London Business School says: ‘In the big industries of the future the UK already has a track record and is incredibly well positioned.’
HSBC has used the report to generate awareness and debate about the long-term future of British business, gaining extensive coverage from BBC Radio 5 Live, the FT, The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mirror and a wide range of regional media.
The HSBC Future of Business report is available from HSBC.
For media enquires regarding the Future of Business report, please contact Katie Donlan at Consolidated PR. For information on commissioning reports from Future Poll, the research division of The Future Laboratory, contact Tiffany Arntson.