Those of you who are frequent readers of my blog may be wondering where I have been. So have I!
Beginning in January, I traveled to Frankfurt, Dublin, Frankfurt again, Paris, Las Vegas, New York and Frankfurt for a third time—all in about 30 days. I attended trade shows, developed the themes for trend exhibits for one of the European trade fairs, spoke six times in Europe, again at the Las Vegas Market and the New York International Gift Fair and met with clients in three of the cities.
After that barrage of trend-tracking, it was time to create four European reports. They have now all been released in the latest update to our Trend Album™ CD-ROM series.
- Trend Album™ Heimtextil 2008 was first. This European report from Heimtextil in Frankfurt, Germany is all about home textiles, floor coverings and wall coverings, but the emphasis is clearly on textiles, embellishments, techniques and pattern.
- Trend Album™ Christmas World 2008 focuses on what was new at the trade fair of the same name organized by Messe Frankfurt in Germany. I wrote about color, texture, materials, themes and motifs. When I was done, I had created our biggest report ever from this market, with 150 images.
- Trend Album™ Maison & Objet is always a bestseller because this décor fair is considered one of the most directional in the world. The January 2008 version gave me plenty to write about. There was new color direction, interesting materials and lots of shift and change with pattern.
- Trend Album™ Ambiente 2008 was another big report, filled with the latest in dinnerware, glassware, vases and other decorative accessories, cookware, utensils, food storage, housewares and more. It took breath away to see all the innovation at Ambiente in Frankfurt.
With all that behind me, I feel like I can get back into the rhythm of writing for my blog again. I am especially happy to be doing so as part of our newly designed website. So watch for much more frequent posts from me in the weeks and months ahead. I’m Back!