D&AD and trend forecasting consultancy, The Future Laboratory, will add a series of trend reports to what D&AD shares with adland this year.

“Each year, D&AD is privy to the world’s best in commercial creativity. D&AD is synonymous with creative excellence and no other body gets to see such an extensive and diverse spread of brilliance across both advertising and design,” D&AD awards director, Holly Hall, noted.

So D&AD created a partnership with trend forecasting consultancy, The Future Laboratory, to use the adland insights and understanding that the Professional Awards supply to benefit the creative industries.

Following the annual judging of the D&AD Professional Awards, which takes place between 19 and 23 April this year, The Future Laboratory will produce a series of trend reports split across seven creative disciplines. The reports will be released exclusively to D&AD members following the Professional Awards ceremony in May, before being made widely available in June.

“By joining up with The Future Laboratory, we’re aiming to turn this wealth of creative data and case studies that we have into real actionable insight for the benefit of the industry. This partnership will help us provide further inspiration and professional development to both young and old creatives alike, positioning D&AD as an invaluable community resource,” Hall added.

The Future Laboratory first began working with D&AD in 2014, with the two organisations collaborating on the 2015 New Blood Awards. In a step-change from previous years, entrants to the D&AD New Blood Awards were given four trend tool kits to tackle a range of newly designed multidisciplinary briefs. Each brief was specifically crafted to replicate the real challenges faced by modern brands and develop the skills the industry wants. So, this first Future Laboratory partnership gave young creatives access to the same high-level insight used by industry.

The new partnership will be launched via a special president’s lecture titled, Awakening Tech, on January 21, at Logan Hall, Institute of Education in London. The Future Laboratory will introduce one of their key macro trends for 2015, the rise of ‘phygital’, exploring how technological advancements and the digital universe are impacting creative practitioners.

Included in the presentation are three digital artists who are using technology to push their craft forward:

• Andreas Fischer, investigating the effects of technology and automation on society and contemporary art.
• Quayola, a visual artist whose work explores photography, geometry, time-based digital sculptures and immersive audiovisual installations and performances.
• Lawrence Lek, who is interested in the transformation of utopian visions through prototypes, simulations, videos and installations.