People have an inherent fascination with space. As technology trends push the limits of our exploration further and further, the colours and shapes of the galaxies beyond our own start to influence design in many ways. We’ve already seen this happen in fashion, with many runways over the past few seasons drawing on a space-themed look and feel, and it’s increasingly happening in homeware too.
Trend forecast
This fascination with space is one of the things that Li Edelkoort, the highly influential Dutch trend forecaster, called out in her recent home trends presentation as a part of Design Indaba. Falling under the broader concept of circles in design, this desire to create orbits and constellations of products, she believes, will be a key trend in homes over the next few years.
We’ve already seen this happening in colour trends. Plascon’s Colour Forecast for 2016, for example, features the galactically inspired “Discovery” trend. With a combination of brights and blues, it’s a palette that references the night sky in a contemporary way. This focus on space is also filtering into graphics, with retailers like Superbalist offering prints and wall decals that use the extraterrestrial as inspiration.
This is definitely a more ephemeral trend in the broader scheme of things, but quite interesting in what it says about our collective psyche. From the long-awaited The X-Files reboot and the ongoing Mars One competition, to star map rugs and lighting from influential brands like Moooi, for now our eyes are firmly on the heavens.
Words: Chris Reid | Images: Moooi
