The 2010 year in furniture begins on January19 at imm cologne with an explosion of trends, new products and inspirational exhibition design all centred around the theme of living and interior design.
Here, you are directly in the centre of a thriving market, here, business is made. There are many good reasons why you should be there, when Cologne is again home to all things design, trends and business.
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02. December 2009
Categories: Business, Events, Exhibitors, General, Interior Trends 2010, pure village, top designers, Trends, young designers, [d3] design talents
Tags: accessories, bathroom fittings, brands, Business, Cologne, design, furniture design, future of home design, imm cologne 2010, information, inspiration, interior design, Interior Trends 2010, lifestyle, lighting, luxury, new products, pure village, reasons, suppliers, textiles, trade fair, Trendbook, Trends, young designers, [d3] design talents
The Trendboard has been talking about the end of design icons. What does that mean for interior design?
Yes, that’s something we discussed, but I don’t think it’s as absolute as that. In my opinion, there will always be iconic design. Because whether or not an object has cult character depends on the design itself and not on whether it’s marketed using that particular label. Many things are designed without a single thought being given to their symbolism, but they manage to capture consumers’ imagination at a certain moment in time all the same, so they come to represent a certain zeitgeist. What has really changed is people’s need to fill their homes with designer items as if they were toy chests. That attitude has gone slightly out of fashion.
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05. November 2009
Categories: Designers in Dialogue, top designers, Video
Tags: Alessi, Art Design, Claudia Wanninger, Cologne, commercial design, communicating ideas, design icons, Design Miami/Basel, designer’s responsibility, economic crisis, environment, experimental design, imm cologne 2010, interior, interior design, Interior Trends 2010, interview, Jasper Morrison, Johanna Grawunder, Kolumba Museum, Konstantin Grcic, limited editions, Magis, Milan, minimalism, neutral space, Peter Zumthor, plexiglas, quality, Ron Arad, Stefano Giovannoni, students, sustainability, Trends, zeitgeist, [d3] design talents, “Rehab”
Dirk-Uwe Klaas, CEO of the Association of the German Furniture Industry (VDM)
For Dirk-Uwe Klaas, CEO of the Association of the German Furniture Industry (VDM) in Bad Honnef, it’s obvious why home styling has finally been discovered as the latest hot topic: “People spend approx. 340 days a year in their own home. That’s why an increasing number of people are coming to see home as a place for self-fulfilment. Nowhere else can you indulge your own tastes as freely as in your own four walls.”
Cars instead of sofas – a lean period for German furniture manufacturers
But even if home styling has become a cult – is it actually still possible to make money with furniture in the face of shrinking private budgets and the massively subsidised bargains available on the automotive market right now? At first glance, the German furniture industry’s half-yearly figures indicate a resounding “no”. With sales of 7.6 billion euros, German furniture manufacturers were an alarming 13.8 percent or 1.2 billion euros down on the previous year’s figure.
However, in view of the unique economic situation right now, any serious answer to the profitability question must take account of figures from earlier years as well. Back in 2008, for instance, the results painted a very different picture: furniture producers ended the year with growth of 1.6 percent. Although there was a slight decline in domestic sales, this was more than offset by export growth of 4.3 percent as compared to the previous year.
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07. October 2009
Categories: Business, Interior Trends 2010, Trends
Tags: Andreas Bogdanski, BBE, BVDM, CSIL, Dirk-Uwe Klaas, discount furniture retailers, domestic sales, export, furniture industry, furniture market, Hans Strothoff, Höffner, home styling, Ikea, Interior Trends 2010, kitchen, Made in Germany, market data, MHK, profitability, retail sector, sales volume, specialist retailers, statistics, Steinhoff Europe Upholstery Group, Trend Book, trend colors, Trendboard, Trends, VDM, world imports, XXXLutz
Every autumn, the imm cologne furniture fair publishes a trend forecast on the most important developments in interior design. In the so-called Trend Book, the themes shaping the design scene right now are extrapolated in four directions representing various tastes and lifestyles.
The trend analysis is the work of the Trendboard inaugurated by the imm cologne six years ago – a group of five or six influential designers, architects, material specialists and journalists. Every year, several new members join the line-up to ensure a constant stream of new input for the Trendboard’s work. In a two-day workshop, these creative designers and experts discuss the most promising developments in the design scene, the needs people have and the answers design could potentially come up with. Once the workshop is over, the members of the Trendboard check how the trends they have formulated have been translated into the imm cologne’s publication, the Trend Book.
Using vivid photos of lavishly staged interiors and outdoor spaces, representative products and forms, material collages and detailed colour specifications, the Trend Book shows how people would like to furnish their homes in the coming season. The renderings and information are just as helpful for the general public as they are for professional interior designers or retailers. The pictures are supplemented by texts that describe the corresponding outlook on life and explain the aesthetic attitude of creators and users alike. The trends are also given catchy, evocative names.
The current “Interior Trends 2010” are called “Discipline”, “Trickery”, “Comfort Zone” and “Rehab”. Learn more about these four trends.
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23. September 2009
Categories: Design concepts, Interior Trends 2010, Trends
Tags: architects, design, designers, furniture, imm cologne 2010, influential designers, interior design, Interior Trends 2010, journalists, latest developments, material specialists, Trend Book, trend forecast, Trendboard, Trends, workshop, “Comfort Zone”, “Discipline”, “Rehab”, “Trickery”
