The Trend Forecaster’s Handbook is a sharp, in-depth and highly visual textbook and teaching aid for students and tutors keen to know more about the world of trends, trend forecasting and consumer-insight techniques.

Trends are a fundamental part of our emotional, physical and psychological landscape, and by forecasting trends, or using them to anticipate what is new and next in the world, we can begin to understand what drives and motivates consumers. This in turn can help to make the difference between a product or design that sells and one that languishes on the shelf.

This ‘how to’ book provides design students with skills to understand and track trends and use them to inform their research, design and product development. Highly visual, the book takes us through the world of trend forecasting and consumer insight in a step-by-step way, with quotes from, interviews with and case studies of key players. Each chapter concludes with a lesson plan, or summary panel, which reviews the key issues covered and describes a course of action or a project-based activity that allows students to experience the techniques or methodologies explored.