LSN : News : Thought-starter: How can brands cater for older singles?

Screen Shot explores the link between self-care and food waste

Let's (Not) Get This Bread by Pitch Portal in collaboration with Screen Shot and SmiskoAckerman

London – The media company has worked with Pitch Portal to address the food waste epidemic in the Western world.

As part of the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Future of Food exhibition, Let’s (Not) Get This Bread is a CGI film that looks at the hustle and self-care cultures depicted online and how they are driving excess food production and waste. The project aims to connect the dots between these two internet-driven cultural attitudes and a broken food system, questioning whether they could be encouraging bad habits around food.

‘We find it interesting that the popularity of self-care (synonymous with staying in and ordering pizza) is peaking at the same time as the online attention economy’s major players such as Netflix, Facebook and Google are fighting to keep us online for longer,’ Taylor Mitchell, head of Pitch Portal, tells LS:N Global.

Read our Future Foodscapes design direction to see how designers are approaching food chain issues in unexpected ways.

Skin serums that traverse women’s cycles

Woman by Typology

France – French skincare brand Typology has launched a line of four serums that respond to changes in women’s skin throughout their menstrual cycle.

The range, simply called Woman, targets the impact of hormones on the skin, with one product for each phase in a woman’s cycle. Furthering the brand’s mission to demystify skincare, Typology has formulated serums for the week of menses, the pre-ovulatory week, the post-ovulatory week and the week before menses.

The first serum is moisturising and soothing to combat the effects of rising oestrogen levels, which can make the skin fragile and dry. The second serum promotes radiance and suppleness with Vitamin C and fruit acids, while the third is astringent to counter increased sebum production. The fourth product in the range is mattifying serum that includes zinc to reduce blemishes.

By creating products aligned with women’s cycles, Typology is reflecting how beauty brands are taking inspiration from the wellness industry.

The first mass skincare brand to test refillables

US – P&G brand Olay is piloting a new way to acquire skincare in a bid to drastically reduce the amount of plastic used in beauty.

Beginning in October 2019 for a three-month period, customers who buy Olay’s best-selling Regenerist Whip moisturiser will get a second refill pod that can be placed in the jar once it is empty. The pods are fully recyclable and the initial jar and refill will be sold and shipped in a box made of 100% recycled paper.

If the trial is successful – and the brand uses refillable pods for 5m jars – it would reportedly save more than 1m pounds in weight of plastic. ‘The ultimate goal is to find and adopt many more sustainable packaging solutions, and the refillable Olay Regenerist Whip package is the first step of that journey,’ says Anitra Marsh, associate director of sustainability for Olay Skin and Personal Care.

As more beauty brands upgrade to eco-friendly packaging and refills, we can expect other major beauty groups to introduce the concept of Refined Refillables to their ranges.

Olay

Hightype creates three-dimensional typography

Hightype

Berlin – The new type foundry focuses on spatial typography for technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, 3D-capable web browsers, games and visual effects.

Launched at the end of June, Hightype’s 3D fonts reflect the changing landscape of graphic design. ‘[Spatial typography’s] possible applications are promising, ranging from VR typography games to augmented reality, interactive websites and high-resolution brand imagery,’ founder Manuel Rossner told It’s Nice That. The foundry also plans to expand its remit to soon include 3D-printed versions of its fonts.

Looking ahead, the future of type design will increasingly evolve to keep pace with the virtual and digital realms. ‘Technology is moving so fast towards spatial experiences, there’s a lot of unexplored territories and three-dimensional type has its place there,’ explains Rossner.

In our Programmable Realities macrotrend, we explore how a new generation of designers are challenging communications and using the screen as a portal to new experiences.

Stat: Young adults use audio to escape visual stimuli

Having grown up surrounded by visual media and culture, Generation Z and Millennials are turning to sound for comfort, according to a new study by Spotify. The Culture Next report found 55% of UK consumers aged between 15 and 37 believe there is too much visual stimulation and that audio offers a nice escape.

Furthermore, music has become incorporated into their daily rituals – 51% say audio has changed from something they simply tune into to something that completely surrounds their everyday life. Yet, with both generations communicating through emojis, GIFs and images, the visual world is becoming increasingly overwhelming. In response, podcasts, music and ASMR are providing an antidote to these attention-squeezing stimuli.

Gen Viz are no longer driven by visuals alone. As we move towards a screenless future, brands will use sound as both an identifier and a way to stand out from the visual noise.

Thought-starter: How can brands cater for older singles?

As the number of people living alone increases in South Korea, journalist Suhyoung Yun believes mental and physical health issues are becoming a major societal concern.

For decades, the traditional four-person family household was the most common household type in South Korea. In the past decade, however, the social demographic has shifted 180 degrees, with South Korea becoming a haven for singles. In fact, the number of single-person households is on a continuous rise – climbing 3.3% since 2016.

Reflecting this trend is the term ‘solo economy’, which refers to the industry that caters specifically for singles.

And with the elderly population the fastest-growing contributor to South Korea’s single-person households, products and services are being developed to cater for this single segment. From insurance for solitary death to assist landlords after a single tenant dies, to safety alarms and Internet of Things (IoT) products that send family members an alert if at-home inactivity lasts for more than 48 hours.

However, much more needs to be done to positively support older singles. As our society ages and the number of elderly single households grows, there is an urgent need for businesses to provide services and products that are necessary and useful for the aged, at an affordable price.

Look out for the full Opinion piece.