VT Living? It's nice, but it's hardly surprising. Who does bring fresh ideas? Buro Jan Trendman. Jan understands what's going on in the world and translates it to trends that you can do something with. Clear, creative and always with a wink.
Whether it's a scholarship, brainstorm or strategy session: Jan makes brands and makers look different. Sharp insights, strong images and quite a dose of humor.
With this article we want to stimulate, challenge and inspire. That's why we asked Jan to make his own contribution. In the article you can read about the latest trend: the rise of the child. About why playfulness, also for adults, has become bloody serious. About color, fun and wonder as a source of creativity and resilience.
Why we all want to play again
"When we talk about playfulness, it's not about sticking our heads in the sand and pretending that the world has no dark and frightening sides," says designer Sophia Schullan. "But by approaching serious themes in a playful way, they become more discussable and often even more meaningful." At a time when everything feels complex, the need for lightness grows from climate to artificial intelligence. Not as a flight, but as a form of resistance. We want to learn to play again: home, retail, in our heads.
The emergence of the child, a contraction of kid and adult, reflects a collective desire for wonder, colour and intuitive action. In design, fashion and experience, pleasure shifts to the center. From a roller coaster in the Swedish office of The Great Exhibition to confetti clouds at Courrèges FW25: fun is taken seriously.
The advance of playful retail
According to writer Steven Johnson (Wonderland) curiosity and game have always been the basis for great innovations. We also see this in retail, where playfulness goes beyond pure entertainment: It stimulates creativity, enhances emotional connections and increases well-being. In Utrecht, Karma Kebab transforms their location into a giant arcade hall of 2,000 m2, where interactive giant games, food and community come together in a total experience.
The Rise of the Kidult: fun with meaning
Also in interior and product design, attention is growing for intuitive and sensory experiences. Objects with a wink, soft materials that you want to touch and surprising shapes that stimulate interaction: Playfulness and spontaneity are not decor, but active design values have become hampered and increasingly important in a world that requires renewal.
Who plays, looks differently. And anyone who looks differently sees opportunities where others see obstacles. Playfulness is not only an aesthetic, but an attitude, one that invites participation, creativity and resilience.
The Rise of the Kidult is not a style, not a hype, but a mental reset. Right now we need spaces, products and experiences that are dared to be light. Because behind each game lies the serious question: What if there's another way?
