New Year, New Age of Wonders

2018 sets the scene for soft power strategies, whereby art and culture continue to be platforms for self-expression and promotion of consumer change. This year, we expect to see more kind brands setting the benchmark for meaningful engagement. Empathy engagement is essential and we caught up with New York Artist Adam Kiyoshi Fujita to explore this concept more.

This is prevalent in our trend report Optimism Omnipresence, in which we collaborated with ESP Trendlab to explore how this will manifest throughout the rest of the year.

Art is a powerful tool for delivering positive change and this sentiment is most notable at the Barbican’s yearlong exhibit ‘Art for Change’, thus echoing the message explored in soft power brands, that art is an opportunity for nurturing engagement with consumers.

Mirroring this yearlong exhibit, and the potential that art has for retailers, throughout 2018 Sheridan&Co will interview cultural creatives each month. For January, we reflect upon the thematic inspirations brands take from the world of jazz. We caught up with Professor Catherine Tackley, a UK leading authority on Jazz and discuss her exhibit, Rhythm and Reaction, which launched in London on the 27th.

In London, we drew inspiration from Lumiere, as the city lit up before us with fantastic installations wallpapering the streets. Retail Focus shared an article about our work for Bucherer that currently resides in Selfridges.

As the month drew to a close, our co-founder Michael Sheridan sat on a panel at the Future Cities Forum. Last year, we reflected upon how the future of our cities will shape store design. As we move into the second calendar month, we are dreaming up an entirely innovative future for retail whereby the high street will be authored by wonderment.