Another note on trends...

Because we know that any kind of trends visible in modern products are only physical manifestations of the public's perception of the times, I wonder if our modern product aestetics can be translated into other things of the time... what other parts of kitchen life are DIY, open, simple, warm???

Online recipe sites could be DIY, but aren't so simple...
Cookbooks, though, have moved to graph-based layouts, where cooks can use a basic recipe and alter as necessary... fonts are crisp and simple- from the Pepsi logo to that package of Pumpkin seeds, to the canvas bag we brought it in on that has already begun to mock itself like a trendy t-shirt.

Pictures in the kitchen are simple photos with only one or two focal points- often in black and white....

But not just simple. We are searching for that character... that focus on the details. We want to look worldly yet dignified. Able to resist the craziness and secretly tuck it away... like Flemish nobility of the 1400's: First world citizens are both pious yet wealthy....


These things, I'm sure, cross many boundaries, and don't begin or end with anything in the kitchen... but the study of one thing allows us to see the needs of many. Just as one can follow science fiction films throughout history to find the fears of the society that creates them, my study of kitchen life has only led me to a hairline focus on humanity in August 2009.

Beyond Products

I heard a woman say yesterday that people want to keep their stuff, really, they just don't want to see it... don't want to be reminded that they have so much of it... and that even though they want the latest gadgets with all of the bells and whistles, they eventually settle down into a similar routine that they had with the NEW product.. rarely changing.

This makes me think that any truly revolutionary simplification of kitchen life would involve a change in standard concepts of ownership and a renewed sense of community trust. Maybe we see indoor/outdoor community kitchens that house all those clunky appliances that people get "just in case" they get an urge to can fresh strawberries or hand make bread, but then each house has its own simple kitchen that only has what each household actually uses. Of course, new technology could supplement good old fashioned trust... electronic lending logs and key codes might hold all that stuff in place and make everyone accountable, but it gets very big brother then, and I'd like to think that people can follow through on these things on thier own.

I can't see it far off... now, with all the community gardens popping up in the city, and tool lending libraries that I've seen.

It seems like we just want a back-up. We want to be able to do something... we want our freedom- translated into kitchen life, it gets expensive and wasteful.

Same 'ol Same 'ol

Why buy a whole new kitchen, when you can over restore your current one to look older than it really is? Current kitchen trend number zillion? Back-dating your update.

Keeping up with the Jones' now means looking like you live next door to their grandparents.

Go figure.

The Great (Big) Outdoor(Kitchen)s

For those who can afford it, the Arts and Crafts style of blending the indoor with the out, and using local materials is ever so chic.
The outdoor kitchen is coming home, and bringing all of the good stuff: no longer are those giant shiney grills the coveted product, but the outdoor kitchen.... with fridge, table, and sink included.
I even saw an outdoor flat screen TV at Smith and Hawkin last week.

Kitchen life isn't just about cooking or quick meals... it's about reconnecting with nature.... and electronics.

Reading the Future of Books

Last week, I posted about Portigal Consulting's Reading Ahead Project, which is looking for current trends in reading.... so that they can plot out future trends.
My guess is that they could have side stepped all of that research and read this month's Fast Company. Apparently, Anthony Zuiker (created CSI) is manning a new cross-platform experiment in books, and I LOVE it. The experience begins with a hard copy book (published by Penguin's Dutton imprint).. in this case, an insanely violent murder mystery... and every 20 pages or so, there's a prompt to log on to Level 26 Web site with a code from the book, where you'll see a 2-3 minute movie by guess who. Readers can skip the movie without losing the storyline, and can also download an iPhone app that gives the user "a total sensory experience."
My only hope is that the book begins with one of these log-in codes, as one of the disappointments of watching the movie after reading the book is that not one of us shares the same pictures in our head... I think readers will connect with the characters and latch onto the whole project with a visual introduction from the start.... lets see if Zuiker thinks as much!

Here we go again....

The 1950's are making a comeback! So, dust off your old Rummer house dreams, and get out some of that pastel blue. Here we go again. (Blue and white kitchen: $30 dollar makeover from Sunset).

Core77 covered kitchens of the past vs. kitchens of the future in a three video comparison.... it was hard to tell the difference!

The fifties style has been adopted by smaller sub-groups of the DIY movement (try getting through one page of Etsy without seeing one of those coupled cherry prints), and by empowered women's groups, like roller-derbyists (tight-laced lawyers by day and rolling hell on wheels by night).... both are groups that mingle with the indie rockers that are friends with the starving artists who used to go to college with a designer that's currently working for some giant corporation, who has this idea he hands to his boss- who likes it.... and happens to play roller derby.
maybe that's where all this is coming from.

Mis Matched Beauty

Another new trend in kitchen life is embracing the mis-matched.

This trend makes absolute sense in the modern design climate. Not only has the recession eased the way to more sustainable concepts (that were once just the way people lived), but a mis-matched kitchen fits into the DIY trend that has crossed into every design category.

Apartment Therapy suggests you do something with your chairs (as above)... if you've got matching chairs, paint them different colors, and if you don't, well paint them all the same color. Easy as pie.

Other mixes? Old and Modern worlds, like industrial shelving and re-purposed antique furniture.

It's like we're in the Italian Renaissance again and people want to seem traveled and full of experience... we all want to have been an explorer, settling into home once more.

Onceability

Jonas Soderstrom has coined a new word: Onceability! ... and I think it's fabulous.
His working definition focuses on how most new technology allows a user to successfully do something once (say, install a device), but then, it becomes impossible to restore after one little problem arises.
Ridiculous passwords and too many updates are doing more than frustrating the new adopter or the forgetful user, but EVERYONE. Thank you, Mr. Soderstrom, for putting the most current usability issue into words.
It seems that designers and engineers are all too have to create something to exist in its own world, but to invest in a design's future- well why? It will be old in a year! (This is how I think some people have and raise children and pets...)
I don't have the answer, but knowing the problem is half of it, right?!

Kitchen Counters: Getting Away From the Stone Age

[This is a revised edition of a previous post about kitchen counter materials]

The first kitchen counters were made of the same stone that made up the hearth of nomadic fires. Hunters and gatherers cut and cooked foods within feet of each other: it is amazing how little we have changed.

Tens of thousands of years later, kitchen counters can now come in a variety of materials: Granite, engineered stone, solid surface, ceramic tile, laminates, wood (or butcher block), stainless steel, soapstone, marble, or concrete (KitchenCountertops.net, 2009), but the most popular choice is still some type of stone. Kitchen and Bath Design News wrote an article about the trend for the kitchen being a more versatile place, and when covering materials, they wrote simply that Quartz is the future: why are we still in the Stone Age?

NEED

After common aesthetic choices, most modern counter top materials are chosen for their ability to sustain a clean working environment in the kitchen. Innovation in a kitchen counter material would have to meet these needs, but could confront the lack of interaction between a user and the material once it has been laid down.

Future countertops could change color in places where they have been contaminated with harmful chemicals or bacteria; they could then have an option of being pushed down into a second sink (beside the permanent one) and then pulled/popped back up again for counter space with a simple unassuming drain (almost like the exact opposite of those half-sphere rubber suction cup toys from the 1990’s). These countertops could also contain internet enabled digital components that display visual information across the countertop (think huge Kindle) and allow someone to read an online recipe or the news while washing spaghetti. Back splashes could contain touch screen technology to operate the digital (and possibly physical) components of the countertop. Although, touch screen technology on the countertop itself would need to function through use of a stylus of some type, as a counter’s main function conflicts with a touch screen’s ability to determine the user’s needs (stuff is always going to be touching the screen).

Such a material would better suit contemporary uses of the kitchen as a meal preparation and social gathering place, and as a home office because it could change and adapt to a variety of uses: a reliably clean prep sink and/or counter space, tax-prep desk, recipe card, and source of entertainment.

MATERIAL PERCEPTION

Because this material would need to be flexible enough to “pop” into certain shapes, it would have a lower modulus than existing counter tops, but would need to continue to seem cool and smooth to maintain the ‘trust” that has been attributed to previous countertop materials. Perhaps, a smooth, thick, translucent, non-porous coating could distance the digital display from the surface, and lessen any anxiety about dropping something heavy on the counter and breaking the display material. Also because of trust issues, the material would need to be shiny (associated with non-porous objects) and food-safe (the more natural, the better).

To the touch, the material could be flat and smooth, or it could be molded into a permanently subtle texture pattern, like tiles, before installation. It would need to be stain and scratch resistant and easy to clean. In terms of sustainability, the material would need to be easily updated, recycled, or disassembled for re-use- this is a must to compete in today’s market. The digital material, when not activated, could come in a variety of colors or rich visual textures- one of which can be chosen by the consumer before installation.

Although the majority of current synthetic materials are priced at the bottom of the kitchen market, this material would be impossible to place at that level. In order to counteract consumer price shock, countertops made from this material would need to embody modern light-hearted and humorous visual characteristics over “techie” ones. They would need to immediately appeal to a consumer on a humanistic level, and would need to visually convey their versatility: they need to have rounded shapes and fantastic affordance. The material would enter the market in the highest product position through modern and humanistic design.

The increased versatility of the material would draw the market away from some high-end consumers that are currently seeking out copper, steel, and stone countertops. Early adopters, young professionals, and (hopefully) trendsetters, would also pick-up the product.

The kitchen counter is as old as civilization. Although its size, shape, and use have changed over the years, people continue to use stone: a cold and hard material. The opportunity for material improvement in kitchen countertops is wide-open, all we need is a material that can seem hard yet “pop-able,” can detect harmful chemicals and bacteria, and can display digital information (possibly to the touch). …Let me get right on that.

Design Research: Reading Ahead

Portigal Consulting has been researching how we read and the materials we use to do so in their project Reading Ahead.

I was so excited to see that I could follow their process with them online, but was quickly sobered when I realized that their process was more about taking stock of the present than about dreaming up the future... asking questions like "which of the following do you do more than 3 times a week?" and not "Tell me about the last time you read something. (What was it? Where was it? When.... ) Chances are, it was not a book, and maybe wasn't even a computer, but something out in the world......
The program seems mostly focused on books and people who identify themselves as book readers.... I'm just not sure where these guys are taking this, but maybe I'll learn something on the way.
Keep up with them on their blog Reading Ahead.

Counter culture

Kitchen counters can now come in a variety of materials: Granite, engineered stone, solid surface, ceramic tile, laminates, wood (or butcher block), stainless steel, soapstone, marble, or concrete.
Kitchen and Bath Design News wrote an article about the trend for the kitchen being a more versatile place, including ideas about the kitchen island also being a workspace (has that not always been what a kitchen table has functioned as?), and when covering materials, they say simply that Quartz is the future.
Maybe I'm just dreamy, but I think we can do better than Quartz as our future countertop material!
After common aesthetic choices, most modern counter top materials are chosen for their ability to sustain a clean working environment in the kitchen. Innovation in a kitchen counter material would have to meet these needs, but could confront the lack of interaction between a user and the material once it has been laid down.

Could future counter tops tell someone when its been contaminated with bacteria?
Could they have variable surface tension like water, and cave for objects placed on/in them while maintaining hard for things dropped or chopped there?
What if one of these counter tops could have an option of being pushed down into a second sink (beside the permanent one) and then pulled/popped back up again for counter space with a simple unassuming drain...?
Could counters click in and out of place, making for a weekend remodel instead of a season one? Could they have sections in them that could be flipped for variety or entertaining?
Could counters contain digital components that let you read the news while you're washing the spaghetti, and could draw out exactly what size the rolled out pie top should look like?

The kitchen counter is as old as civilization, but hasn't changed much.... I'd like to see where it could go.

Stochasticity

Radio Lab just came out with a fantastic episode on Stochasticity. They interview neuroscientist Paul Glimcher, Gregory Warner about the predictibility of everyday choices, and at the end, they go through the "sloppy" noise of how one's body accomplishes anything on the cellular level. [Be sure to listen to the response feed: Are we just Coins.]

I was impressed with idea that all of these minute random actions could merge to become a visible whole, and find a direct corelation between this example and trends in general... masses of people making thier own personal decisions, buying and making "individual expression" that, from a distance (often of time), becomes a movement.

The more I think about it, the more I feel that the traditional model of marketing and trend research is hooey. Duncan Watts's take on trends sounds much more appealling in this context; he says that influencials have no impact on trends.