The article is written by Cheryl Swanson, Principal at Toniq, USA

Here at Toniq, we are heavily rooted in the ongoing study of semiotics. Semiotics is a study of the elements of communication in our culture that we create, evolve and interact with on a daily basis. This includes symbols and signs, linguistics and semantics, and the effects of how these codes come to define trends and shape cultures.  With methodologies stemming from anthropology and social sciences, we are able to uncover the semiotics that defines current generational trends. Here are a few examples.

The article is written by Dave Timothy, Senior Account Director at strategic packaging and design consultancy Anthem Worldwide

Looking back at previous times of austerity, our lives and shopping habits seemed a lot simpler then. People used to save up for what they wanted and ‘make do and mend’ was a way of life, rather than a fashionable hobby. However, with so many years of boom before the bust, we have tasted the good life, and we liked it!

Modern technologies can provide you with almost any kind of relevant information in just a blink of an eye—searching information on a PC at a desk has already became an essential part of our life, but with the rapid development of mobile technologies, tech giants are now offering us more opportunities as we can learn about things on-the-go by entering not text, but images to get information.

With less than a few weeks left before we all enter the year of 2012 (as some believe, the last one in our calendar), we are looking back at what innovations captured consumers’ attention over the past 12 months. Some of the new projects and products appeared within the trends, which emerged earlier, and some of them are truly innovative and ambitions and pave the way for something completely unseen and unpredicted by average minds.

Defining which global brands are better at the current moment, which of them has shown striking results in the tough economic conditions of the recent year is a challenging task. For the 12th consecutive year, Interbrand, the world’s leading brand consultancy, undertakes profound research, building the Top100 Global Brands 2011 list by taking several criteria such as presence on the global market and financial performance of the brand into consideration.