Visual Summary
Instagram Trends
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According to a journal article by Sarah Owen (2017), certain key trends have played a huge part in the way brands have been able to market themselves on Instagram in the past year. She claims that every year, trends within a brand’s consumer’s style of posting / aesthetic changes how they market themselves in order to start a social media conversation with their consumers. The first trend she touches on is that of a digital collage – in which brands use a range of different images to sell their product with the aim to come across as more “abstract” than other brands. (Owen, 2017) Looking at the GCDS Instagram feed however, minimal collaging has been taken into consideration, as their current colour focused and product heavy aesthetic currently works for their target consumer. Introducing a collage idea for the magazine would be a way of trialing whether or not the consumer likes the idea – monitored by the interaction on the pictures with the collaging featured..
The same WGSN (2017) report also talked about how brands are also embracing a “small subject” trend, where the product/person look miniscule to the background in which they are in. This trend is one that makes the brand seem “intercontinental” with ever changing backgrounds, displaying to consumers that they are not afraid for their subjects to be surrounded by a creative and sometimes outlandish background, to draw attention to the entire atmosphere of the picture rather than just one aspect. (WGSN, 2017) Incorporating this trend to their own feed would again combine both what they already post (abstract colour and mood lighting) with a trend that has been spotted by WGSN (2017) within their target consumer behavior and aesthetic.
