Culture Vulture - Main Character Energy

The traditional world of trend prediction is collapsing. 

With everything available, all the time, trend cycles are happening so fast, that there is no point in trying to be reactive to every signal that pops up.

Build the world of your target consumer.

On some level all creative people do this all the time.

We are rarely creating for exactly our own tastes, we filter our research through the lens of the brand we are in.

Go one step further and give your consumer MAIN CHARACTER ENERGY.

I’ve seen a lot of company consumer target personas, focusing on their demography, their values, their financial decisions, but rarely do they look at their cultural influences.

Map out what they look like, and not just where they shop.

What do they listen to? 

What their homes look like? 

What do they wear?

What art do they hang on their walls? 

Where do they travel to? 

What media do they read?

Build a visual and living map of the influences that culture has upon them, what they are into right now, then go one ring out and look at what they might not do, but find aspirational or inspirational.

Revisit this map, add to it, remove things as they fall away, as culture is always shifting so should your map evolve over time to reflect them.

By building out a map of their cultural world, you can start to inhabit it and be sensitive to changes in their ecosystem.

You will adapt your design language in line with what you see coming.

Predictive, not reactive.