So many card publishers rely on picture libraries and artists’ agents to be their eyes for the emerging design trends, providing them with artwork that reflects and ignites the public’s aesthetic appetite.
Flora Spens, account manager for Bridgeman Images highlights some key cultural events and influences in 2019 that she feels will have an impact on visual product trends: “Renaissance art, from Leonardo da Vinci to Raphael, will reignite our passion for the 14th and 15th century European cultural period.
The 500th anniversary of Leonardo’s da Vinci’s birth will be central in the design world in 2019. There will be amazing exhibitions of his work all over Europe, from the Louvre to Leonardo Da Vinci: A Life In Drawing, at the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace that will take place in November 2019.
The Bridgeman archive is an absolute treasure trove of Leonardo da Vinci works, from the collections that we represent including the British Library, the Royal Collection and our new addition, the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana collection. The Ambrosian Library is the oldest public library in Italy, and has a great collection of manuscripts from all over the world. Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus is among the treasures on view, the largest anthology of his drawings and writings. Leonardo left hundreds of drawings and a small collection of paintings including the world famous Mona Lisa.
Leonardo’s quincentenary provides an opportunity for us to delve deeper into his fascinating life and work, and with the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death in 2020, we have two consecutive years to rekindle our love for the Renaissance.”
Key trends for 2019:
Anni Albers: textile weaving
“Anni Albers combined the ancient craft of hand weaving with the language of modern art, and her influence is still being felt, indeed it is invigorating the interest in textile art the world over. Her pivotal contribution to art and design was showcased recently at Tate Modern, the first exhibition of her work in the UK.
Albers was one of the most inspirational weaving designers who blazed a trail for women in the design world. As a female student at the radical Bauhaus art school, Albers enrolled in the weaving workshop and made textiles her key form of expression.
Albers had a significant influence on artists and the exhibition of over 350 objects at Tate Modern was truly inspiring. From her tiny ‘pictorial weavings’ to huge wall hangings and magical textiles, prints and drawings, the show will have a lasting influence on British designers.”
Bauhaus 100 years celebration
“The year 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus, the revolutionary art school founded by the German architect, Walter Gropius. It exerted a profound impact on the development of modern art and continues to impact on design in the 21st century. The artists Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy were among the leaders of the Bauhaus movement that sought to redefine art, with the focus on craft and functionality, and they sought to bring together artistic disciplines. These ideals were translated into superb geometric abstraction and stripped-back minimal designs that are set to re-emerge in manifold design projects and objects in 2019.
The Bauhaus centenary will be huge, with museums and galleries across the world hosting events to mark the occasion.”
Living Coral
“Living Coral is officially Pantone’s new colour for 2019 and at Bridgeman we are keeping a close eye on the hue – it is a terracotta shade bringing about a sense of serenity and calm, and what will designers and consumers make of it for 2019?
It has been referred as a pastel desert colour, a tempered earthy shade that might pop up in elegant interiors in Californian homes. According to Pantone experts, Living Coral evokes a mood, a feeling that emerges from the zeitgeist; and as a warm, natural, solid colour it provides stability, optimism and comfort in uncertain times.
Sunshine shades have been a retail trend for some time now, but in 2019 they will step fully into the spotlight. We are seeing a wave of sunny yellows, from Sicilian lemon shades, ‘Gen Z yellow’, to marigold and neon on the catwalks for Spring 2019, so we anticipate that the optimistic shades will also be used in giftware, cards and stationery. Like Living Coral, sunshine shades lift the mood.”
