Need to Know
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At the beginning of 2022, we released our Meta-tainment Futures report, dissecting the rise of Web3 and the metaverse as well as highlighting the innovators already reaping the potential.

The metaverse, despite what big tech was hinting at, was and still is very much in development. The report offered a more realistic, practical and concrete view of how the metaverse and immersive technologies have so far influenced key sectors such as fashion and travel.

Familiar names were spotlighted such as Nike, Balenciaga, Spotify and Gucci, alongside rising pioneers such as ByondXR, Republic Realm and MYAMI. We revealed how and where they are mixing, merging and magnifying different mediums and technologies to extend and explore what media, entertainment and immersive brand experiences can and should become when we fuse our imaginations with accelerating tech.

In 2022, the reckoning of generation Zalpha could be seen in the changing visual identity of numerous sectors. This hybrid generation had given birth to a curious and unmistakable design direction, Pliable Playscapes.

A stand out rebrand came from Collins in the latter half of the year, unifying the 1.7m members of the Girl Scouts of the USA under one refreshed visual identity.

Branding assets were designed to work with the organisation’s long-standing fondness for badges, encouraging interactivity with geometric forms and a consistent new typeface, Girl Scouts Serif. While its signature trefoil logo has been freed up to work in a range of colours, adding another layer of freedom to how it can be used on uniforms, badges and communications.

The rebranding signals a shift from childhood as a time of innocence to a time of productivity. It provides a rising generation with a visual framework to express a sense of purposeful positivity.

One of the most anticipated spaces of the year had to be the revival of Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace at the Rockefeller Center in April. Capitalising on the pandemic boom for new hobbies, Liberty Ross followed in her father’s footsteps and reimagined the 1980’s skating rink described as ‘Studio 54 on wheels’.

With the resurgence of retro and nostalgic hobbies, Ross decided it was the appropriate time to re-open Flipper’s to provide a health and community-orientated space for people to congregate in real life.

Designed by Bureau Betak, the rink includes food and dining areas, a viewing platform and a store, with events such as music performances and live DJ sets regularly taking place. The venue offers young people a hangout space to foster IRL connections and counterbalances a year overrun with tech innovations.

Now that you know what shaped 2022, discover what’s on the horizon. Download our Future Forecast 2023 report comprising 50 new trends across 10 key consumer sectors, insights from our analysts and interviews with global innovators.