The necessity of finding the right balance between the global and the local has become the pretext for developing the publication „Book of Trends 2011+”. The publication focuses on careful analysis and presentation of a wide context of phenomena determining the quality of the material culture of our immediate surroundings, especially in the area of „premium” products and „lifestyle” accessories.
The first part of the publication contains numerous examples from the fields of architecture, furniture design, utility objects, designer jewellery, goldsmithing, and amber crafting – grouped into five distinct stylistic macro-trends. The intention behind this structure is to provide specialised knowledge regarding the methodology of systematising information necessary for predicting stylistic trends and, based on this, deriving operational development strategies for amber jewellery design. The specialised section of the album features projects created by fourth and fifth-year students from the Jewellery Design Studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk. The best design proposals were realised as prototypes or original models by leading amber crafting companies and studios. A summary of the entire project is this publication, documenting the individual stages of the experiment – from analyses and theoretical assumptions, through numerous examples and comparisons of products from leading brands and renowned designers, to a detailed design „brief” which served as the basis for creating sketches, drawings, and designs for new collections interpreting stylistic trends that will be in vogue in the near future, taking into account the unique character of amber. Trusting that this album will be met with the cordial interest of professional audiences, we also hope that the continuous monitoring of numerous information sources analysing the evolution of trends in goldsmithing, industrial design, designer creation, and fashion, initiated in this way, as well as a review of economic statistics, marketing, and socio-cultural trends, will be the beginning of an opinion-forming „think-tank”, and that the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk will become a benchmark for amber jewellery stylistics and an important centre for its promotion.
The word DESIGN has recently become one of the most overused terms in the media, becoming a significant component of a product's price. This mythical „added value”, or as business psychology currently calls it, „excess properties” often causes products to take on forms that do not always stem from their natural function and principles of use. The service nature of design is reduced to excessively decorating and aestheticising reality, and design itself is often equated with ephemeral and seasonal fashion. The more of these types of products appear on the market, the more garishly they compete for consumers' attention. Along with the overproduction of jewellery, there is also an excess of information, often motivated purely by advertising considerations, and jewellery manufacturers are increasingly desperately seeking clues about what will be fashionable in the upcoming season, what type of styling will most quickly find the right recipient, and how to manage their image.
Publicly available knowledge provided based on jewellery trend forecasting is usually averaged to transglobal tendencies, without taking into account the specifics of particular raw materials, components and established manufacturing traditions. An attempt to uncritically apply them in amber craft can lead to outcomes completely contrary to the intended ones, precisely because this kind of stylistic formatting omits a whole set of distinctive features that distinguish amber and constitute its uniqueness and market appeal. On the other hand, ignoring global macro-trends determining the general direction of development in all design – including jewellery – can end up just as unfavourably.
An exhibition showcasing original designs, combined with an album launch, will take place on the second day of the AMBERIF trade fair – 10.03.2011 at 12:00 PM. On behalf of the Mayor of Gdańsk, we invite everyone interested in innovative design, not only in the field of amber.
„The Book of Trends 2011+” was created on the initiative of the Office of the Mayor of the City of Gdańsk in cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk and the National Amber Chamber of Commerce.
Pictures: Tjep (Frank Tjepkema): Charm “Heart Break”, porcelain, steel (top); Kerstin Garzarek and Stephan Todorov: earring, amber, gold.