WGSN - Global Trend Forecasting (OUAN401)

I listened to a podcast named 99% invisible, which ran an episode which I found really relevant to my area of study. It discussed WSGN, a company that predicts what will be popular in years to come and then sells that information for inordinate sums of money to huuuge companies.

This company predicts all sorts of trends, from fashion to interior design to hospitality and food and beverage.

This is important because so many companies use WGSN's services, which means they're all getting the same information and as a result, a lot of the stuff sold to us on the high street all looks the same.

It made me think about how we regular people have no clue that we are being manipulated by large companies. All of us like to believe that we are INDIVIDUALS WHO defy the trends, but we are almost certainly being SUBCONCIOUSLY manipulated.

This inspired me to devote a large portion of my sketchbook to conveying the theme that humans are being manipulated by some unseen force.