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Brands are now harnessing advanced technology, AI, and interactive elements to create tailored experiences, as seen with Gatorade's AI-powered bottle.
Nailed it or missed it? Revisiting our 2024 trends forecast
At the beginning of the year, we sat down with some of our Smart Design designers, strategists, and technologists to predict what 2024 would hold. Let's take a look at what we got right, what we got wrong, and what we saw instead.
Nailed it:
Personalization first
Prediction:
In the beginning of the year, we predicted that a brand’s personalization strategy may be just as important as the success of the product itself. There would be a focus on personalization during the early stages of the design process.
What we saw:
Throughout 2024, we saw personalization and customization as essential components of product strategy. Traditional options—like custom lettering and colors—remained popular, yet new creative approaches helped expand upon the product possibilities.
Examples:
Gatorade’s AI-Powered Bottle, Nike By You, Dyson’s Airwrap Styler with AI Guidance, and Samsung Bespoke AI Refrigerators
Truth tools
Prediction:
As the year began, we noticed a rise in AI generated content and thought there would be an increase in user discernment. Not just when viewing the content itself, but in understanding the inputs the models use.
What we saw:
During the year, we saw a rise in tools integrate fact-checking features directly into their AI software, ensuring that content creators and consumers alike are held to higher standards of accuracy and truthfulness.
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Many platforms now incorporate mechanisms that highlight potential biases or inaccuracies within the content generated, offering real-time corrections or warnings.
Examples:
AI generated labels on content from Meta and TikTok, ChatGPT disclaimer, Gemini and ChatGPT revealing sources, Notebook LM giving user’s control over sources
Close but not quite:
Colorful collaborations
Prediction:
Riding off the success of collaborations in 2023, we thought this momentum would carry into 2024 and bring about new partnerships. We thought brands would double down on this strategy and that consumer reach would be paramount.
What we saw:
While the Wicked Movie is fueling this year’s largest amount of colorful collaborations—like last year’s Barbie—brands seemed to have taken a slightly more cheeky route in 2024. With a focus on thinking outside of the box, a lot of brands decided to be less about color and more about cuteness to drive consumer interest and discovery.
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With a diverse collaboration type across the board, designers continue to be crucial in perfecting these partnerships, and I would argue there’s been an influx in deeper, more strategic thinking behind them this year.
Examples:
Dunkin x Scrub Daddy, Polly Pocket x AirBNB, Heinz x Absolut, Charlotte Tilbury x Formula 1, Lipton x Cruel Pancake, and Lush x Minecraft
Perfectly imperfect
