It’s that time of year again when we get sucked into the festive frenzy and with it the ever more blatant marketing to children and the endless, endless advertising…But, whilst TV and the Internet may still be huge communication channels of choice for this audience, the fragmentation of communication in recent years means that the opportunity for design expression has exploded. And, we need to think about just how we are designing for children and stop doing them a disservice by dumbing down.

Whilst there is still a massive export value placed on British design, the Western world is not necessarily dominating the global retail markets as it used to. Emerging markets such as the BRIC’s – Brazil, Russia, India and China– where the demand for, and stronger trade with, the global brand giants of the West is generating a greater confidence and potentially shaping the brand and design direction for a new global brand perspective.