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Trippin launches a calming oil for Generation Z travellers

Lucid Sweet Dreams (LSD) Travel Essential Oil, Trippin

UK – Youth travel collective Trippin has collaborated with sustainable wellness brand Mimo Cha to release a playfully branded travel oil for plane journeys.

The Lucid Sweet Dreams – or LSD – oil roller is part of a wider collection of merchandise, which includes a travel utility bag, t-shirt and eye mask. The oil is designed to help users fall asleep on longer flights and is comprised of organic ingredients known for their calming properties including chia seed oil, lavender, rose and patchouli.

The company is on a mission to inject the contemporary voice of Generation Z into the travel industry, which has a history of relying on an outdated view of young travellers. Alongside running an editorial site, Trippin has an app that treats travel recommendations like playlists, allowing users to follow likeminded tastemakers around the world.

With its irreverent, youth-focused marketing, Trippin is demonstrating how brands can creatively target emerging youth travellers.

Ijen is Indonesia's first zero-waste restaurant

Ijen by Potato Head, Bali

Bali – Ijen, a new restaurant at Potato Head Beach Club, is the first eatery in Indonesia to embrace a circular concept in both its menu and interior design.

As its owner, Potato Head has a history of sustainable practices, but Ijen demonstrates further commitment to environmentally friendly business. According to the Ijen site, all food remnants are sent to its own nearby composting site or local farms, while its menus are printed on sustainably-harvested paper and bound to boards made from recycled truck tyres.

The restaurant's open-air dining area features a terrazzo-style floor made from a mix of concrete, broken plates and chipped drinking glasses, while its furniture is made with foam offcuts from motorcycle upholstering and ethically-sourced mersawa wood. The kitchen also practices responsible sourcing with hand-reeling fishing and low-impact cooking techniques.

Zero-waste restaurants are changing how and where consumers eat. Earlier this year, the Finnish cultural institute commissioned the temporary Zero Waste Bistro at NYCxDesign, which was similarly built using upcycled food packaging and industrial waste, allowing it to be easily composted after the fair.

Instagram audio will assist visually impaired users

Global – The image-led social media platform is using AI to allow users with visual impairments to hear descriptions of shared photos.

As Instagram works to make its platform easier to access and use, it is launching two new features. The automatic alternative text function will use AI-driven object recognition technology to generate a description of photos for screen readers, allowing users to hear a list of items that a photo contains as they browse the app. The second feature, custom alternative text, will allow users with screen readers to audibly hear the richer, more personal descriptions often shared by users when uploading photos.

Though Instagram parent company Facebook has been using AI to offer descriptions of photos on its social platform some time, Instagram's accessibility has been so far limited for the 285 million consumers in the world with visual impairments. These changes show how the platform is working to be more inclusive.

Explore how product designers are responding to the needs of disabled consumers in our Implicit Inclusivity design direction.

Instagram

Nike's latest drop is only available on Craigslist

Nike and Martine Rose on Craigslist, US

London – Shoppers are required to travel to a selected Craigslist seller’s house in London in order to purchase the collection from Nike.

The sports brand's highly anticipated collaboration with menswear designer Martine Rose went live on 8 December, with Rose posting on Instagram that buyers would not be able to purchase the covetable pieces online or in stores, but only via classified ads on Craigslist.

The classified ads were posted by three real Londoners – a 60-year-old painter and decorator, a teenage Nike enthusiast and a photography student who raises ferrets. Consumers are then required to get in contact with them personally in order to purchase the collection and arrange a pick-up time.

With this approach, Rose is challenging customers to seek out her products in a nontraditional space, and is purposefully creating friction in the path to purchase. For more on how far brands are willing to go to create hype, read our Market.

Stat: Consumers are concerned about the cost of EVs

While the adoption rate of electric vehicles (EVs) is still relatively low, half of respondents in a new McKinsey & Company study say they would consider buying a battery electric or hybrid vehicle for their next car. However, the study found that cost remains a major concern for consumers, with more than 60% saying that they would not pay a premium for an EV.

McKinsey & Company also explored consumer sentiment towards autonomous vehicles (AVs), finding that 46% of respondents are open to this technology – a figure that jumps to 58% for those living in large cities. The study was based on responses from consumers in the US, Germany and China, which remain significant markets for automotive companies.

With the market for EVs spearheaded by luxury car manufacturers, the study shows there is potential for cost-effective models, especially for urban dwellers. Last month, Danish company Biomega released an affordable EV made with minimal modular components.

Thought-starter: Are child-friendly gyms the new playgrounds?

Tapping into the family market, boutique fitness studios and clubs are rethinking their services to include classes and facilities for children.

Having a young family no longer means that parents’ fitness and wellbeing regimes have to be put on hold. Modern parents and their children are driving demand for boutique studios and gyms that welcome families to exercise alongside each other in specialist lessons.

These extra-curricular classes are also filling a gap left by lacklustre or otherwise unfulfilling school-based activities. Hoping to tap into this, one UK-based luxury health club has – in response to feedback from members – revealed plans to add a dedicated children’s gym to its soon-to-open sixth location.

Among both parents and children, physical exercise is also becoming a gateway to greater mental wellbeing. In Hong Kong, Generation Goji offers children a place to play and expel energy as an antidote to the stress caused by intense schooling and inner-city living.

Read the full microtrend here.