Fürth, 1 February 2012: The team of designers employed by visual merchandising specialist Barthelmess has published a book featuring five future shop window and point of sale trends. It is entitled 'Work', and will be available from 30 January 2012. The five featured trends for autumn, winter and Christmas 2012/13 are called 'Letterpress', 'Gilded Wood', 'Wired', 'Wild Spirit' and 'Tell me a story!'. The Barthelmess designers and trendscouts travelled around the globe to collect inspirations for this book, visiting major cities, fashion, design and interior design trade fairs and a number of art galleries as well as scouring trendy neighbourhoods for the latest street styles. The new book not only covers the coming visual merchandising trends, like all of the workbooks published by Barthelmess every six months for the past few years, but also features accounts of the trendscouts' travels. The book's title is very apt indeed. It is more than just a handy reference book for professional visual merchandisers, it also has plenty of blank space for jotting down initial ideas and concepts developed on the basis of the inspiration it provides. And – despite its almost 100 pages – it is lightweight and pocket-sized.

A book to work with

Markus Xyländer, head of the Barthelmess design team: 'Our 'Work' book provides answers to anyone wondering what the next trends will be. Although it focuses on autumn and winter, many of the styles and designs featured also work well in all seasons. It is a compact yet multifaceted overview of the directions visual merchandising trends and themes are going in. During the book's compilation, we realised it was very important to explain where the individual trends and developments are coming from, their driving force and background. Or, to put it simply: how and where they emerged. As we travel all over the world to discover the latest trends, the featured themes work well beyond Europe's borders, they apply internationally. Ultimately, the book's title says it all – it was principally designed to be worked with.'

Trends 2012: A fusion of contemporary with nostalgic, of nature with luxury

Two of the five trends featured in the new 'Work' book are 'Wired' and 'Gilded Wood'. The 'Wired' theme is characterised by transparency, translucence and lightness. This trend works primarily with muted shades such as matte blues, beiges and greens, although the focus of its colour palette is a rich black. Simple wire shapes add a touch of nostalgia. They are reminiscent of the 1920s and intentionally combined with modern, linear objects. Filigree metalwork stands for simplicity and lightness. The focus is on the imperfect, on the often naive design: no attempt is made to hide their handmade character. 'Undone' is the cue for the 'Wired' theme.

The trend 'Gilded Wood', on the other hand, picks up on the longing for harmony with nature and translates it into glamour. The central theme is a forest environment made glamorous by glimmer, glitter and mirror effects. Familiar natural objects are turned into something precious. This trend also shows the contrast between the past and modern times, and highlights the fusion of nature and luxury. To achieve this, outdoor elements are brought indoors. The colour gold plays an important role here: gold represents this trend's sophisticated and premium aspect and lets the forest seem to shine in a new light. This is contrasted with extremely natural colours such as deep black, inky blue, concrete grey and olive green. The use of sheer materials, glimmer and above all wire adds an interesting touch to the theme. An important design element is playing with mirror effects.

Movie based on the book

For the first time ever, Barthelmess has also made a film to go with the book. It explains each theme's background, shows the design team at work creating the themes and gives an insight into the crafting of individual elements. The film may be watched online at: www.barthelmess.com/workbook

(Currently, only the German version of our movie is available. The English version will follow soon.)

Press contact:

Barthelmess Group

Julia Rupprecht Schwabacher

Strasse 510 90763 Fürth

Germany

Tel.: +49 (0)911-9713-246

Fax: +49 (0)911-9713-328

E-mail: jr[at]barthelmess.com

www.barthelmess.com

Contact UK:

Paul J Alloway

Managing Director

Barthelmess UK Ltd

14 chase Park Road

Yardley Hastings

Northampton NN7 1HD

Phone: 01604 696560

E mail paul[at]barthelmess.com

www.barthelmessuk.com