3. 5. 2004’s COLORS
A few years ago, when lime green and electric orange seemed to be getting burnt out (they haven’t), I predicted that pink would be the new black. In 2003, that judgment was a bit premature, but pink is making significant inroads.

It’s all over www.nike.com/nikeskateboarding [13], for instance. It’s the theme color for the “Not So Cute & Cuddly” exhibition catalog. It gets star billing on the cover of Fiber [14]. And pink accents are everywhere, from the cover of Modern Dog’s logo booklet to www.gotused.com [15], a textbook-finding site for broke college students. Notice that the audiences for these items are youth, and remember where trends come from.

Still, the new black never replaces black. Designers will never fall out of love with black, and now they’re pairing it with strong, bright colors, such as red, orange, bright green, or sky blue.

6. 2004’s ILLUSTRATION
What illustration? Apart from a few novelty pieces and the exquisite “Beauty Counter” illustrations by Theresa Fung that appeared in Nylon [16], there is very little. Photography is king. You could set a new trend: Stop worshipping the machine, start honoring the thousands of brilliant, highly skilled illustrators out there, and give ’em some work.

7. 2004’s MOST INEXPLICABLE FAD—GUM
In the self-promotion category, there are no less than three winners who have branded themselves by giving out gum in funny packages: Modern Dog [17], Charles S. Anderson Design [18], and Gum LLC [19]. As a related entry in the foods-you-don’t-really-eat, the MRA group sent out packages of NogDerm [20], a patch to help the eggnog-dependent cope with holiday parties. Maybe food-grotesques have replaced the ’90s human-figure grotesques.

8. IN CONCLUSION
Design has become very professional, and very sophisticated—perhaps in reaction to the bursting of the bubble and the ensuing mistrust of loose-minded creative nonsense. But production values and big books are back. And creative experimentation may follow. Not to mention a lot more pink.