1. Emotional Austerity: IMM Cologne believes that as a  result of the financial crisis people are questioning what it is they need to  live well. This is leading to the emergence of simplistic, formal or severe  designs that combine the basic and old with the modern and the high-tech.

2. Surprising Empathy: consumers are no longer content with  re-imagined concepts and are instead forcing designers to push boundaries and  create truly innovative new products. Aesthetically this trend is characterized  by angular or folded structures and ash greys or blacks brightened with dashes  of yellows or orange.

3. Re-balancing: IMM Cologne believes that consumers have  grown tired of being bombarded by constant marketing and instead are searching  for products that are personal and create a sense of home in an increasingly  globalized world. Within this trend there is a preference for simple angular  structures and soft natural materials such as wool.

4. Transforming perspectives: designers are beginning to  question the boundaries between art and design, the virtual world and the real  world - leading them to propose radical new designs that experiment with archaic  forms and nature. These designs are characterized by glass and metal complemented with hard and soft plastics that combine to form a changeable  surface.