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This week: TV channel Dave rebrands, Ganni's new in-house recycling initiative, VR memories with Wist, artist Shantell Martin re-imagines Comic Sans and exploring the future of work.

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24 March 2023

Author: The Future Laboratory

Image: Dave rebranding by Output and UKTV Creative, UK

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Dave rebranding by Output and UKTV Creative, UK

1. TV channel Dave’s rebranding embraces everyday messiness

UK – Award-winning British entertainment channel Dave and UKTV Creative have brought in branding agency Output to create a brand identity that captures the essence of the channel. Dave has long been a hallmark of British tv, offering comedy hits from the UK’s favourite stars, and is known for being the first broadcast disruptor. But the channel has evolved past its television roots and its branding no longer reflects its current tone.

Having successfully produced cross-platform brand systems before, Output’s direction aligns with the channel’s popular original podcasts and YouTube commissions, reflecting its new content and appealing to new audiences. Inspired by Dave’s brand belief that ‘humour is a damn good antidote to the awkward mess that is modern life’, the rebranding celebrates the mundanity of everyday life, using quotidian visual cues like a popping toaster or an office printer.

The new branding system reflects how the business aims to encourage new behaviours, celebrating the loose rules and co-creation that subverts the conventions of linear tv. In our Local TV Market, we track entertainment disrupters on a global scale, identifying key regional alternatives to streaming giants.

 

2. Ganni repurposes fabric waste in new recycling scheme

Copenhagen – Danish fashion brand Ganni has unveiled an in-house recycling initiative to upcycle production waste into new garments. The scheme is being introduced to combat textile excess, particularly in T-shirts, where 20% of the brand’s leftover fabric is wasted, producing 12 tonnes of cotton scraps annually. Those scraps are being re-introduced to the production line through the new in–house recycling service.

Collaborating with its supply chain over 12 months to perfect the material, Ganni has successfully developed a new recycled yarn that contains 50% recycled cotton and 50% Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)-certified cotton.

‘Fashion supply chains are immensely complex and opaque, so things like waste streams are often ignored,’ says Ganni founder Nicolaj Reffstrup. The band’s innovation platform Fabrics of the Future continues to forge partnerships with innovators to build on their commitments to becoming more circular.

In our report on The Global Fashion Summit, we highlighted the innovators trying to build a net-positive fashion industry.

 

 
Ganni flagship store, London
Wist, US

3. Wist lets you relive your smartphone-shot memories in VR

US – A new app, Wist, promises to turn all videos shot on a smartphone into dystopian memories that anyone with a headset can jump into and relive in the metaverse.

Andrew R McHugh, CEO and co-founder of Wist, is revolutionising the digital picture frame and good old family slideshows with an immersive experience taking people on a meta-trip down memory lane. By collecting data from the initial video, including depth, colour and audio information, the app can transform any video content into 3D – available in augmented or virtual reality. McHugh used the technology to record the moment his pregnant partner was getting an ultrasound scan. He told VIce: ‘I captured the moment [and] was able to bring my mother into the experience [from] halfway across the country.’

In Five Future Home Scenarios For 2050, we previously looked at how an AI grandparent lookalike can pop on the tv and prompt household members to take medicine or check in on their wellbeing. Wist takes this innovation further by making experiential family memories accessible to all generations beyond death.

Shantell Sans by Shantell Martin, US

4. Artist Shantell Martin re-imagines Comic Sans font

UK – British artist Shantell Martin has created new font Shantell Sans, based on her signature felt-tip handwriting. Martin is known for her large-scale black and white drawings and collaborations with Tiffany & Co, New York City Ballet and Adidas.

To create the typeface, Martin used her favourite medium-sized felt-tip marker, a Staedtler Lumocolour, to write several sentences containing every letter in the alphabet. Type designer Stephen Nixon of Arrow Type jumped in to trace Martin’s writing and tweaked its heights, widths and spacing to make it consistent. Launched at the beginning of March, Shantell Sans has been downloaded 3m times on Google Fonts.

As a self-proclaimed ‘proud dyslexic’, she frequently features block text in all caps in her work as she finds it easier to read. Shantell Sans resembles the famous 2000s Comic Sans font. The 2023 redesign has sparked conversation about inclusive design and early tech aesthetic nostalgia.

The Future Laboratory

5. Stat: Half of US employees would accept a pay cut if employers share the same values

Global – A recent Qualtrics survey states that more than half of US employees would be willing to take a pay cut to work at a company that shares their values. There have been rapid changes in workplaces in the past two years, with workers re-evaluating their priorities and feeling newly empowered to seek flexibility and fulfilment in employment. Is this a sign that workers cannot focus only on their work but on the state of work and what makes it meaningful?

Join us on 28 March from 2:00pm to 2:40pm BST for an exclusive free webinar in which we will investigate the emergence of a new state-focused future of work.

We will look at the spaces built in response to workers’ burgeoning ideals and explore how businesses can create inspiring, creative and productive workplaces. The webinar will include a live Q&A with our experts and unveil Work States Futures, our first 2023 macrotrend.

To future-proof your world, visit The Future Laboratory's forecasting platform LS:N Global for daily news, opinions, trends, sector specific insights, and strategic toolkits.
 

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