Stickermania

“An emoji is worth a thousand words. Case in point: you can text your best friend a string of smileys, and they’ll understand exactly what you mean, no words needed. Sure, some may claim peoples’ attention spans have shrunk, but perhaps we’re just using modern-day hieroglyphs. Either way, stickers communicate something quickly in a way that all those wordy words cannot.

“Brands are leaning more and more into the quirky, playful appearance that stickers can give — a mishmash of thoughts and ideas that’s reminiscent of Lisa Frank’s zany illustrations or middle school math class where you’d decorate your favorite notebook with doodles and actual stickers.

“Glonuts and Henry Mantecas use stickers to bring the consumer’s attention to valuable product information, like the flavor, carb content, or the type of ingredients. In the case of Crema Colada, the graphic stickers look just like ones you’d find on fruit in the produce section — an adorable approach for a drink with pineapple and coconut flavors. GoodPop and the Fishwife and Fly by Jing collab use a combo of sticker-like graphics that reflect the product itself, but they also add a sense of joy and playfulness. Stickers can also get incorporated as part of secondary branding or assets, like with the heating sleeve of Hot Pockets or snack brand Toodaloo.

“Thanks to emojis, memojis, GIFs, and photo and video social media apps, visual imagery has become a common way to communicate with others. At first glance, it might appear chaotic, but the designs harness an addictive, youthful energy with a method to its madness.”

Unboxing Tomorrow: Dieline’s 2023 Trend Report — The Dieline

Groovy Feels

Design

IS LEANING IN AGAIN TOWARD ART NOUVEAU FOR ALL THE PSYCHEDELIA FEELS FROM THE ’60S AND ’70S:

“Whether you lived through the Age of Aquarius or just really, really wish you did, packaging design inspired by psychedelia is giving us a trip through the 60s and 70s. Psychedelic art flourished during this age … This instantly recognizable aesthetic — band posters with bubbly, almost amorphous letters, dreamy depictions of animals like peacocks, and humans with luscious, flowing hair — pulled a lot of influence from Art Nouveau. This ‘new art’ came about during the late 1800s and early 1900s, a time of technological change, so artists wanted to highlight the beauty and vibrancy of life in response. Their work incorporated plants and flowers, abstract lines and shapes, elegant figures living their best life, and juicy color palettes.

“Today, we’re going through unbridled change, just like society was back in the Psychedelic 60s. Between political strife, racism, and war, these far-out designs remind us of the beauty in life. We’re seeing a resurgence of this design with heaps of trippy typography, including Crooked Coffee and Alive. Other brands like Mad Lemon and wine from Pedro Ximenez give us divine visuals with punchy color palettes.

“As we look ahead, we can first take a gander back to see that Art Nouveau was followed by Art Deco. Perhaps we’ll soon enter an era of more angles and symmetry—but for now, we really dig the groovy vibes of this trend.”

Unboxing Tomorrow: Dieline’s 2023 Trend Report — The Dieline

Feel-Good Feeds

“Consumers are looking for positive modes of engagement and emotional support online. Emerging social media platforms are tapping into user desires for change, reformulating feeds around positivity and uplift.” Christopher Gulczynski, co-founder and CEO of the Niche app, states: “We see social media getting smaller, more intimate. People are moving towards these networks with like-minded shared interests, backgrounds, or identity.”

The Future 100: Trends and Change to Watch in 2023 — Wunderman Thompson Intelligence, pages 39

ACCORDING TO THE PWC AND URBAN LAND INSTITUTE’S 2023 EMERGING TRENDS IN REAL ESTATE® REPORT, THE MULTIFAMILY HOUSING INDUSTRY IS EXPERIENCING TRANSFORMATION:

“The early 2020s have been a transformative time for the housing industry as the pandemic caused people around the world to reevaluate both where they live and how they live. The United States experienced ‘the Great American Move’ in which households and businesses relocated to more affordable places, often to buy or rent a home with additional space and a yard, and farther from employment centers. Builders across the country could not keep up with the new demand — and supply chain interruptions, labor shortages, and permitting delays during the COVID-19 pandemic did not help matters. As a result, home prices escalated at historic rates; the median new home price in the United States increased 22 percent since the start of 2020 and existing home prices increased 58 percent.

“Today … inflation and the rapid escalation of mortgage rates have resulted in a cooldown of the for-sale housing market. Every housing metric is indicating a softening, and builders are starting to recalibrate their business plans in the face of slowing demand. As the housing market resets, we should start to witness the true impact of the pandemic on home design, location preferences, amenities, and financial preferences.

2023 Emerging Trends in Real Estate® Report — PWC and Urban Land Institute, pages 47–48