104 MODULE 1: TERM 1 – Design in a business context Personal case study Laureen Rossouw
Interview by San-Marie de la Rey
What is your background and training in the creative field? “I achieved a B.A. in Lan- guages with Drama, but I was always visually motivated.”
How did you get started as a trend forecaster?
“I
started becoming a trend forecaster by taking a risk!
I asked a photogra- pher to shoot covers for Sarie magazine for me. I did the styling and putting together of the set. Te covers were all accepted for that specific issue! Ten they offered
me pages for my own article in the magazine as
a fashion stylist. From there it evolved to décor and I became décor editor at Cosmopolitan, at the same time I was raising a family.” “In 1996, I started Treehouse as the creative di- rector. Tis became an international brand. In 2001 I went back to magazines as décor edi- tor of House and Leisure and landed up with a large responsibility as head of all visual material and trend forecaster, décor stylist and associate editor.”
What tips can you give someone that’s interested in following in your footsteps? “Tey must read as many magazines as possible … watch the trends and watch similarities and differences between magazines. Remember, every magazine has its own hand- writing and speaks to a different audience It is also im- portant to be proactive about creating work.”
What inspires you? “It happens all the time: if you are visually aware, you will find visual stimulation everywhere. When you travel it is more likely to be stimulating because it is unknown territory and the impact is so much bigger. Nature acts as a given in our daily lives and we must pause to draw from it on a daily basis. Personally I find the colours in nature the most inspirational because they all live happily to- gether. When we try to analyse colour we oſten make up a lot of rules that do not apply in nature. Children are naturally from a different visual generation and have a fresh take on everything. We must really try and learn from their world and their views and not reject them as young and inexperienced. Tey keep us in touch with the world. A great and worthwhile challenge. Interior and fashion: there is a great connection between fash- ion and interior with fashion always ahead because it is the faster medium. Trends develop from social changes in our society and it influences every aspect of how we think and act and see everything, so it affects more than mere fashion and interior but infiltrates into our psyche and behaviour patterns. Fashion and interior are the fun parts of the trend and can be used in very playful ways to explain the currents.”
Tell us more about trend forecasting. “A trend cannot be forecast unless it already exists. People
who pick up on trends first are then the ones that are called trend forecasters, and they can then inform the businesses and organisations to take certain directions because it will be rel- evant to the specific trend and could help the business in their decision making. What is more challenging about a trend is that, even if you pick up on the trend early enough, it could be too early for a business to apply this specific direction for its consumers. For example, a business like Woolworths will only apply a trend once it is well established because there is a risk that the customer is unfamiliar with the trend and might reject it, which is not financially viable. So the bottom line is to inter- pret a trend and translate it into a business plan.”
Copyright © Future Managers
DESIGN IN A BUSINESS CONTEXT
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