IMPACT COMMUNICATION
AND INNOVATION
AND INNOVATION
In partnership with WGSN, Adobe released the first part of a visual trend report earlier this year, which includes the pursuit of Quiet and Solitudeas one of its key focuses. According to Brenda Milis, Adobe’s principal of creative services and visual trends, this growing demand for imagery that conveys comfort and restoration, a return to nature, and an emphasis on minimalism is a response to an era of information overload, as well as intellectual conflict.
“Viewers are responding to imagery that offers rest—these images act as a breath of fresh air for the observer. They provide a refuge in such a demanding and confusing time.”
Brenda listed several of these disruptive elements, starting with noise. As pointed out by New York Timesarchitecture critic Michael Kimmelman, if smell was the primary source of urban disturbance in the Middle Ages, today our plague is noise. According to the World Health Organization, a vast number of people are exposed to unhealthy noise levels every day, which impacts various aspects of our health: from sleep quality to cardiovascular health and our performance at work and in school.
Furthermore, our 24-hour cycles of news, politics, and digital distractions point to a routine where, as one study suggests, we spend 5 hours a day on mobile devices, and more than 10 hours a day consuming information through screens. As Brenda points out, the sum of these hours is much greater than the time we actually set aside for sleep.
Given this, it is the search for rest and reconnection that drives designers to find solutions like noise-canceling headphones for use in offices, or even architectural and furniture solutions specifically created to address the problem of noise in work environments. This scenario is so pressing that, as Brenda noted, a studyfound that we only have 11 minutes of focus before being interrupted in our work. “Combine that with the fact that it takes us about 25 minutes to return to our original task after an interruption, and you can see how an oasis of silence can mean everything for productivity.”
Other less technological solutions come along with practices such as setting aside an hour of silence in the office, as proposed by a design agency based in Melbourne, Australia. According to an analysis by the company, their teams became 23% more productive and significantly less stressed since they started the program. This resulted in the possibility of having Friday afternoons off, precisely because of the greater efficiency gained by implementing the silence routine.
But beyond the office, the feeling of silence goes far beyond the idea of an “absence of noise.” In some cases, travel agencies have been offering packages that provide quiet and peaceful experiences. Furthermore, the Parisian exhibition Maison et Objet showcases decor pieces, from vases to furniture, that are created to form spaces of silence. Design also acts in another form of visualization, as is the case with the app created by the startup Watermelon Sugar, which allows users to see themselves as little monsters as they consume more and more digital information.
In this sense, the search for spaces of silence and solitude can stem from exhibitions, such as the recent work by Doug Wheeler at the Guggenheimmuseum, to simpler approaches, such as the photographic work of Sander van der Werf. During a trip through Swedish Lapland, the photographer faced low temperatures and adverse conditions, but at the same time, he also found beautiful landscapes and the opportunity to take photographs at night that reveal the artist's simplicity and detachment.
The same goes for the work of Julia Nimke who, through an Adobe creative residency, has been traveling to remote locations to recapture the imagery of ancient European folklore.
“I’ve always been interested in the remote and being completely alone in a place. Finding people to interview and photograph without the need for the internet helps me maintain a slower pace of work. It forces me to spend more time in the area so I can get to know people in person.”
Although the photographer admits that it can sometimes be difficult to feel lonely, there is always that sense of peace that follows. “I feel like it’s more important than ever to escape the world of overconsumption and surround myself with small things and as much nature as possible, or whatever it is you want.”
Also check out the gallery created by Adobe for this trend.
