It’s back. Bigger, bolder, and with even more juicy cultural goodness. Fresh Forward: Vol. 2 has officially landed.
Last time, we dipped our toes into the cool world of design and declared what we thought was cool. This time? We’re going full deep-dive. Less surface, more substance (not the film). The vibes still matter, but now we’re getting into the why behind the wow. This edition is all about context, not just colour swatches. Think overarching themes and cultural undercurrents – the stuff that glues all the microtrends together.
Escaping reality one algorithmic dopamine hit at a time. We’ve said it once, we’ll say it again: Trends wait for no one. So buckle up, no passport needed. Let’s take a trip, let’s get into what really moves the needle.
ESCAPISM IS A GROWING CULTURAL AND CONSUMER MOVEMENT WHERE PEOPLE ACTIVELY SEEK WAYS TO DISCONNECT FROM THE PRESSURES OF EVERYDAY LIFE.
In response to global challenges such as climate anxiety, economic instability, and political unrest – THERE’S A LOT. Many are turning to moments of fantasy, nostalgia, and emotional relief. Some may call it dissociation, but hey! We move.
NEW GLOBAL STUDY FROM TRUTH CENTRAL FINDS 91% OF PEOPLE GLOBALLY SEEK TO ESCAPE FROM DAILY LIFE, UNLOCKING OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL BRANDS TO GET INTO THE BUSINESS OF ESCAPE. DOOMSCROLL OUR TREND REPORT !
This desire to escape is reshaping industries from fashion and entertainment, to travel, digital culture, toys, consumer products, and even food and drink.
Whether through social media content, immersive experiences, comforting rituals (pistachio chocolate anyone) or just dreamlike aesthetics. This enables people to find small pockets of joy and a sense of calm in an increasingly complex world that never stops. Sometimes you’ve got to press the off button and say SEE YA …
BIt hitters part 2 \\
Green Glow isn’t just a colour – it’s an escape route with a built-in spotlight. Perched perfectly between yellow’s buzz and green’s zing. This electrifying hue glows like a highlighter lost. It radiates vibes, like it knows something you don’t.
Green Glow taps straight into our craving for escapism. It’s that visual adrenaline hit that says “Let’s get out of here”. Whether ‘here’ is the 9-to-5 grind or just the heatwave from hell, it doesn’t blend in, it breaks free.
It’s soft, sweet, and just the right amount of weird – an offbeat blue that feels like a hug from the past (with a cheeky wink from the present).
There’s a lovely, lo-fi warmth to it – like your grandma’s living room, but cooler, and it hits right in the feels. Perfect for the age of kidults. Where Gen Z is remixing retro into something that’s all vibes, no cringe. It’s nostalgia, but with better taste and funnier memes.
Amber Haze is golden hour with a glow-up. It’s warm, honey-dipped, and just the right amount of hazy – like your camera accidentally caught a sunset and a soft-focus daydream. This colour doesn’t shout – it smoulders. Think late-summer evenings, vintage cocktails, and that blurry bit between golden light and good decisions. It’s giving “I’ve got stories” even if you can’t quite remember them all.
Trend 1 - Matter of Taste \\
Food has always been a powerful way to connect with consumers, and now it’s becoming a central feature in brand storytelling. Brands are increasingly using food and food culture in their marketing imagery to create emotional connections, signal luxury, and express personality.
Food has always been a universal connector. It taps into memory, comfort, ritual, and identity. But in today’s brand landscape, it’s moved from the sidelines into the spotlight, becoming a central feature of storytelling across sectors. It’s something we all need to survive, but make it a luxury – YSL toast for one plz.
Food is no longer just about taste. It‘s about experience, lifestyle, and escapism. With travel and dining more closely linked than ever, food offers a gateway to cultural discovery.
- Leverage Emotional Garnish to transform universally relatable food visuals into a precise, coded language of style and aspiration.
- Luxury food as an accessible content tool that bridges the gap between premium goods and everyday life, fostering genuine relatability.
- Build Community Metaphors: Treat food as the ultimate shorthand for social connection, strategically using visuals of shared meals (“breaking bread”) as a powerful and authentic metaphor for community and belonging in your brand narratives.
Trend 2 - Nowstalgia \\
Beyond a simple yearning for the past, a powerful trend of ‘Now Nostalgia’ is emerging, where brands aren’t just recycling old ideas, but actively reinterpreting them with a fresh, contemporary lens. This isn’t about mere retro throwbacks, it’s about transporting back to a time. Whether it’s Y2K aesthetics or 80’s pop culture, brands are picking up on it – repurposing and recycling. Sometimes you can’t make round rounder.
Modern sensibilities, technology, and values like sustainability or inclusivity. Brands are cleverly taking beloved elements, updating them for today’s consumer, and creating something that feels both deeply resonant and undeniably fresh. This allows younger audiences to discover and embrace a ‘past’ they never lived, while offering older generations a revitalised version of their cherished memories, building on escapism.
Rose-tinted glasses make ‘the past’ feel perfect, and while the pendulum swings between progress and nostalgia, the contrast is wild. Once we hunted for food; now we tap a button and a burger arrives in a paper bag on the back of a moped. Progress? Absolutely. But also, a reminder of how much we yearn for simplicity in an endlessly complicated world.
- Curate the Good: Go beyond general throwbacks; use cultural listening and fan data to identify the specific “cherry-picked” elements (a cult flavour, a retired mascot, an iconic font) that generate the most emotional heat, then give them a scarce, limited-edition run.
- Now Nostalgia treat brand archives not as sacred relics,but as raw material for a modern edit.
- The Selective Archive Strategy: Don’t revive the whole decade; Use data to pinpoint the most emotionally resonant element (the logo, the jingle, the specific font, evoke all the feels.)
Trend 3 - Rage Against The AI \\
Brands are leveraging the naivety and fragility of what it takes to be human, while the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence promises unprecedented efficiency and innovation. A significant backlash is emerging from consumers and the public who are deeply craving a humanistic touch. As AI infiltrates everything from customer service chatbots, to content creation – have you
ever just screamed “Can I speak to a HUMAN!”.
A growing discomfort is surfacing around the perceived dehumanisation of interactions. People are questioning the authenticity of AI-generated responses, the loss of nuanced understanding in automated systems, and the erosion of genuine empathy that often accompanies human-to-human connections.
This sentiment is fueled by a desire for sincerity and a recognition that, for many, the emotional resonance and irreplaceable judgment of a human being remain paramount, leading to a pushback against the wholesale replacement of human interaction with artificial intelligence, as referenced by LS:N global : Human By Design piece.
- The Human Veto Strategy: Use AI for scaleand rapid iteration, but mandate a final human check that applies emotional intelligence and ethical judgment.
- Prioritise the Messy: Stop chasing flawless efficiency and start chasing tears, laughter, and rage. Algorithms can optimise clicks, but only human chaos can catalyse/create culture.
- Harness the Paradox: Stop debating the “us vs. them” of AI. The winning strategy is to simultaneously invest in AI to stay competitive and over-invest in humanity to stay relevant.
Brands are tapping into these shift-ditching overly polished campaigns, in favour of raw human connection.
Brands were created by humans, for humans… now they’re questioning whether computers can ever do the job only a human heart can.
PLOT TWIST – this was only 50 percent AI.
Trend 4 - Instant Getaway \\
Consumers desire destinations, even if only in their imagination. Through evocative visual language, sensory experiences, and compelling narratives, they craft a distinct sense of place, allowing consumers to momentarily escape the pressures of daily life.
This goes beyond traditional advertising; it’s about building an entire world around the product – from the vibe of an aperitif brand to transform you into an Italian disco (see what we did there). PLUG PLUG PLUG
The getaway trend is now shaping packaging and branding. Design, language, and visuals are used to transport consumers to specific places. A jar of sauce might suggest Italy. A snack bar might feel like a trip to Tokyo. These cues turn everyday products into moments of escape.
- World-Building is the New Loyalty Program: Every visual choice must reinforce a single, irresistible destination narrative.
- The new currency is escapism brands leverage hyper-specific design cues to turn everyday products into collectible mental journeys.
- Consumers are buying an experience, not a commodity, A jar of sauce isn’t just tomato, it’s a teleport to Tuscany at dinner time.
Fresh trends, witty takes, quarterly drops. Keep an eye on your inbox, we’ll be back before the zeitgeist shifts.
STAY FRESH IN EVERY SENSE.
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