Designing For the Future: Trends That We Need to Consider Now

With technology changing so fast nowadays predicting future of design becomes more and more challenging. Soon we will probably face the most radical period of change in the design history. To find out what the design will look like in few decades we have to consider some important trends that we can notice right now. Here they are:

• Simplicity

If we trace evolution of design over decades and even centuries we can notice that all objects become less and less elaborate in its design and can be characterized by extreme simplification of form. A cupboard in 18th century had handles with intricate engravings, a modern cupboard in the 21st century often has no handles at all.   Only elements that are justified by its functionality are included in design. There is a reason for that – in the modern environment things need to be designed in the way that makes them very easy to use.

2. Multifunctionality

The global population is expected to increase from 6.9 billion in 2010 to 9.6 billion in 2050 with around 60-70% living in cities. This fact makes it obvious that the problem of limited living space will become even more complex. Designers will have to deal with challenges of making each centimeter of homes usable and functional. One piece of furniture will serve different purposes and multifunctional items will be in great demand.

3. High technology

High tech is already an indispensable part of design development. Each year our homes become more and more smart and in the future this trend will continue to grow. Ikea recently presented its concept of the “Kitchen 2025”, where simple from the first glance table can be used as preparation surface, cooker and children playing  area. Camera installed above this table will detect the products on its surface, suggest recipes, inform about the time required for preparation, scale them, as well as charge your phone or warm up a coffee – all on the same desk with no visible buttons. In the future we can expect each piece of furniture becoming more “smart” – for example, sofa that will record your preferences and will adjust the softness of the cushions accordingly and will make it different for your partner with different preferences.  

4. Virtual reality

VR is already becoming huge in our daily life. Clients are not happy anymore with designers presenting their concept using pencil and paper or even with photo realistic renderings. They want to be able to walk through their future home experiencing each part of the design as tangible as possible. In the future imagine that using virtual reality you will be able to change the surrounding settings of your home – don’t like living in the hustle of megapolis – press the button and you will see amazing seascape from your window.

4. 3D printing

Most probably 3D printing will continue to develop and become more important in the future. Imagine if you need new table or chair you can just print it out at your own home!

This blog post is a part of Design Blogger Competition organized by CGTrader.