“red dot trend report” just introduced 5 of most important trends in furniture design 2008:

• All in white: the clearest trend is: white – it is not new, but very dominant and nowhere near its peak yet. The opposing trend to the colour white consists of bright, shining colours.
• All in gloss: Clearly dominant is also the trend towards high-gloss, lacquered fronts. Smooth, shiny surfaces dominate – regardless of whether its cupboards, chairs or tables.
• The play with tradition: The borders between professional production and technical ornamentation are blurring more and more. Furniture designs which refer to traditional techniques and which are combined with new materials show new ways of using a material and finding a new visual language.
• The play of the materials: combining materials is still a hot trend, which give furniture a haptic and at the same time visually interesting look
• Completely classic? This year, the tendency to use ornamental patterns alternates with a clear purist language of forms. New interpretations and re-editions of tried and tested classics combine the familiar with the new.

For more information and full report, please refer to http://en.red-dot.org/82.html?&ftu=8613913d7c and http://en.red-dot.org/newgallery/page.php?id=90&lang=en