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The Trend Forecaster's Handbook by
The Trend Forecaster's Handbook is a sharp, 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. This 'how to' book provides the skills to understand and track trends and use them to inform their research, design and product development. Highly visual, the book introduces 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 provides practical exercises and examples that allow students to experience the techniques or methodologies explored. Trends are a fundamental part of our emotional, physical and psychological landscape, and by forecasting trends we can begin to understand what drives and motivates consumers. This in turn can help to make the difference between a design that sells and one that languishes on the shelf. Reviews: "Highly visual and a genuinely eye-opening insight into the way designers can spot and dictate visual and cultural trends, keeping their work constantly at the cutting edge." -Computers Arts Project "The book is clear and concise, offers a journey through the unexpected, and engages the reader with clear guidelines. It offers insider knowledge and soundbites from those working in the industry." -Just4Textiles "The Trend Forecaster's Handbook is a well published and intelligently written book for starting 'forecasters' looking for theoretical background and interesting experiences." -The Pop-Up City
Hit Makers by
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A Book of the Year Selection for Inc. and Library Journal "This book picks up where The Tipping Point left off." -- Adam Grant, Wharton professor and New York Times bestselling author of ORIGINALS and GIVE AND TAKE Nothing "goes viral." If you think a popular movie, song, or app came out of nowhere to become a word-of-mouth success in today's crowded media environment, you're missing the real story. Each blockbuster has a secret history--of power, influence, dark broadcasters, and passionate cults that turn some new products into cultural phenomena. Even the most brilliant ideas wither in obscurity if they fail to connect with the right network, and the consumers that matter most aren't the early adopters, but rather their friends, followers, and imitators -- the audience of your audience. In his groundbreaking investigation, Atlantic senior editor Derek Thompson uncovers the hidden psychology of why we like what we like and reveals the economics of cultural markets that invisibly shape our lives. Shattering the sentimental myths of hit-making that dominate pop culture and business, Thompson shows quality is insufficient for success, nobody has "good taste," and some of the most popular products in history were one bad break away from utter failure. It may be a new world, but there are some enduring truths to what audiences and consumers want. People love a familiar surprise: a product that is bold, yet sneakily recognizable. Every business, every artist, every person looking to promote themselves and their work wants to know what makes some works so successful while others disappear. Hit Makers is a magical mystery tour through the last century of pop culture blockbusters and the most valuable currency of the twenty-first century--people's attention. From the dawn of impressionist art to the future of Facebook, from small Etsy designers to the origin of Star Wars, Derek Thompson leaves no pet rock unturned to tell the fascinating story of how culture happens and why things become popular. In Hit Makers, Derek Thompson investigates: · The secret link between ESPN's sticky programming and the The Weeknd's catchy choruses · Why Facebook is today's most important newspaper · How advertising critics predicted Donald Trump · The 5th grader who accidentally launched "Rock Around the Clock," the biggest hit in rock and roll history · How Barack Obama and his speechwriters think of themselves as songwriters · How Disney conquered the world--but the future of hits belongs to savvy amateurs and individuals · The French collector who accidentally created the Impressionist canon · Quantitative evidence that the biggest music hits aren't always the best · Why almost all Hollywood blockbusters are sequels, reboots, and adaptations · Why one year--1991--is responsible for the way pop music sounds today · Why another year --1932--created the business model of film · How data scientists proved that "going viral" is a myth · How 19th century immigration patterns explain the most heard song in the Western Hemisphere
Talking to Strangers by
Malcolm Gladwell, host of the podcast Revisionist History and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Outliers, offers a powerful examination of our interactions with strangers -- and why they often go wrong. How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true? While tackling these questions, Malcolm Gladwell was not solely writing a book for the page. He was also producing for the ear. In the audiobook version of Talking to Strangers, you'll hear the voices of people he interviewed--scientists, criminologists, military psychologists. Court transcripts are brought to life with re-enactments. You actually hear the contentious arrest of Sandra Bland by the side of the road in Texas. As Gladwell revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, and the suicide of Sylvia Plath, you hear directly from many of the players in these real-life tragedies. There's even a theme song - Janelle Monae's "Hell You Talmbout." Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know. And because we don't know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world.
This link opens in a new windowPew Research Center is a non-partisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions.
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