Need to Know
18 : 02 : 21

UK – Mortgage broker Habito has launched an erotic novel in response to the lack of intimacy often experienced by stressed couples during the home-buying process.

The novel, by creative studio Uncommon, tells the story of a couple’s search for a new home and the difficulties of finding a suitable mortgage deal. Through innuendo storytelling and graphic imagery, Habito offers a unique and humorous take on the experience of first-time buying. ‘Finding the sweet spot between sex and mortgages allowed us to make something quite unusual with the incredible crew at Habito… an erotic novel about buying a house,’ says Nina Beyers, creative at Uncommon.

This unconventional marketing approach is informed by Habito’s own research into the sex lives of homebuyers across the UK, finding that one in 10 couples stopped being intimate with each other throughout the mortgage application process.

Brands and consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the mental and physical toll that money can have on overall wellbeing. For more, explore our Financial Wellness microtrend.

Finland – Newspaper Helsingin Sanomat has designed an adjustable typeface that mirrors the melting ice caps in the Arctic to illustrate the urgency of climate change in a tangible way.

The font grows and declines in size on a sliding timescale, which uses scientific data from the National Snow & Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and predictions from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Users can select any year from 1979 to 2050 and see the font is at its biggest and sharpest, and control the rate at which the font ‘melts’ to a curved and thin typeface. By adjusting the sliding scale users can directly affect the rate of global warming on the font, which symbolises the negative effect of climate change on the planet over 71 years.

By creating this font, Helsingin Sanomat hopes it will trigger other news organisations to elevate the way they explain global warming to their readers. ‘Media organisations have a responsibility to their readers to make complex matters more comprehensible,’ says Tuomas Jääskeläinen, art director at Helsingin Sanomat. The typeface is free to download, a purposeful decision made by the newspaper to encourage eco-conscious behaviour.

In our New Consciousness design direction we explore more thoughtful designs that communicate sustainability issues in order to inspire greener purchasing decisions.

Owing to the pandemic, many UK consumers are spending more on luxury beauty and skincare than ever before.

According to research by The NPD Group, Britons are driving growth in the online prestige beauty market. Although the UK premium beauty market as a whole declined by 24% due to closures of bricks-and-mortar locations during Covid-19, sales of luxury beauty online grew by 47% by the end of 2020. This is to be expected as the pandemic has halted any in-store shopping, shifting consumers to online channels instead. Within premium beauty’s digital growth, sales of luxury skincare including hand soaps rose by 38% in 2020 year on year.

The amplified interest in premium skincare could be due to the growing need for hygienic solutions driving sales of luxury hand soaps and skincare. As consumers cannot splurge on outings or holidays, they may view premium beauty products as a small indulgence they can afford.

With beauty routines adapting to increased periods spent at home, many consumers are spending more on elevating their skincare experience, opting for products that are natural and hygienic. For more discover Enhanced Natural Beauty.