Sneak peak

EMC Trend Report 2022

In collaboration with Fleur Creatif, Rekad & Tooolbox

The only constant in our world is change. Change always brings risks, but it is also the creator of opportunities and possibilities for new, exciting things to be developed. A trend is a general direction into which something is changing, developing, or veering toward.

Trends answer, for most people, the basic evolutionary human need of belonging and it is our quest, as designers, to interpret them so as to balance this need to that for uniqueness.

 "Defining a trend is not an exact science, but first of all, a challenge. The emotional "gut feeling" trends imply is combined with the rational thinking of the facts. It is a balanced exercise that becomes a skill after years of experience and insight into the trend concept." ^{Tomas de Bruyne}

Are we trendsetters or trend-followers? How do we use trends in our day-to-day designs? Can we balance how much we are influenced by a trend and how much we strive to find our own creative individuality?

The floral industry is becoming more and more aware of the influence trends have in future developments of products and designs and there is a lot of inspiration in other industries, such as fashion or cosmetics that we can learn valuable lessons from. Yet, this awareness grows into becoming a need for more and specific trend guides which address the particularities of our industry.

"What a huge turn this world has made, it is as if we were struck by thunder! A huge virus has made the whole planet stand perfectly still while an invisible enemy has crept into our lives. We all reacted in different ways to this fact. Some rolled up their sleeves to help while others were completely overwhelmed and just stared outside not knowing what their next steps should be or what road to go down (...)."

European Master Certification is much more than just a floral design course, it is a program and a community that aims to help designers grow their creative potential. Knowing how much trends influence our metier, we have developed the yearly trend report, a comprehensive inspirational catalogue which brings not only colour trends or materials that are trendy in the spotlight, but rather offers a wide range of information for floral designers to use, from botanicals to techniques, from colour palettes to keywords.

"Using trends and to interpret them keeps your creativity sharp as you’ll continuously adapt yourself to colour, form, flower and design without losing your signature style. Doing huge events myself; what I mostly choose are the colours and the synopsis. These describe the direction of the mood, as they have the biggest visual impact and are the direct communicators of the installation. The play/combination of the colour range in combo in conjunction with the synopsis of a trend makes the story, which on the end has to come together in a design concept. All elements have to interact in a harmonious way and it even gives the highest Gestalt possible--that’s the challenge and what a concept is about. Therefore, trends are great tools to guide you through the design process.

Being different but in sync with society today, is to give a trend your own personal touch. Trends are made to inspire--not to copy! Don’t follow trends. Start your own by adding your personality to it. The right experiences rise when personalising trends for your client."

This years, the knowledge and experience of our lead instructor, Tomas De Bruyne, is being presented in a professional printed edition, in collaboration with the well known floral magazine Fleur Creatif. In order to offer floral designers and florists a comprehensive understanding of how trends work, EMC has extended this year's collaborative work by bringing into the trend report the know-how and conceptual work of Tooolbox, a Dutch bases company who specialises in trends. 

The 2022 Trend Report will be launched mid-September and will be followed in late October by a new edition of our EDGE fanzine which will go more in depth into trends, having always in focus the floral creative community as an audience. 

European Master Certification is committed to support floral designers worldwide to grow, to elevate their creative skills and ultimately, develop a signature style. The educational program in itself is giving all our students the means to be able to achieve this and we are strongly dedicated to this mission, empowering designers to find their own personal style. We all have deep creative talents and possibilities. We are each unique, dynamic in our diversity. Identifying and cultivating that gift is vital for the growth of a floral designer, but we must not forget we are part of a society, we are influenced by social behaviour and in order to always be on top of our game, as designers, we cannot ignore trends.