VMSD - February 2016 - (Page 14)

NEXT STORE By Brian Dyches Clear Skies Ahead for Digital in 2016 There's nothing like a fresh new year to take stock of the one prior and consider the clean slate ahead of us. For the past year, I've written this column to make VMSD readers aware of the opportunities digital technologies can offer the store design community. As such, I shall continue to bring you information and analyses of the most relevant advances that are sure to become the talk of the design experience community throughout 2016. The Internet of Things (IoT), essentially the network of physical objects that contain embedded technology to communicate and interact with their internal states or the external environment, has become a powerful force for business transformation, according to Gartner Inc. (Stamford, Conn.). The IT research firm forecasts that 6.4 billion connected "things" will be in use in 2016, up 30 percent from 2015. The IoT's disruptive impact will be felt across all industries and all areas of society, including our own slice of design heaven. "The digital shift instigated by the 'nexus of forces' (cloud, mobile, social and information), and boosted by IoT, threatens many existing businesses," Jim Tully, vp and analyst at Gartner, said in a report on connected devices. "They have no choice but to pursue IoT, like they've done with the consumerization of IT." This sudden expansion will boost the economic impact of IoT as consumers, businesses, cities and other organizations find new ways of leveraging the technology. Gartner estimates that IoT will support total services spending of $69.5 billion in 2016 and $263 billion by 2020. 14 FEBRUARY 2016 | vmsd.com FULL SPEED AHEAD The IoT is doing more than opening our eyes to the opportunities connected devices will bring. The definition of design, and that of its practitioners, is changing as well. Job titles in the industry are shifting from director of store design to director of digital creative experience, and other similar designations. Make no mistake that a true sea change is underway, and our community must prepare. In an article titled, "The Most Important Design Jobs of the Future" by Fast Company, recruiter Dave Miller said, "Over the next five years, design as a profession will continue to evolve into a hybrid industry that is considered as much technical as it is creative." I was recently invited to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., for its Student Portfolio Review, and in comparing some of the work from this year and last, I recognized the shift that digital is making in the minds of this next generation of designers. Their digital presentation capabilities morph seamlessly into their work, exhibiting a future in which "digital interface" is just another layer of the total design experience. It's subtle, but undeniably there, making day-to-day lives, including shopping, part of a flow that honors time and delivers personalized bits of information, relevant to them in that moment. In this fast-paced, revolutionary time, is your agency thinking ahead about new positions to better prepare for clients' digital needs? Is acquiring a "real-time 3-D designer" part of your talent strategy? The reality is, there might soon come a day when an "augmented real- C O UR TE S Y OF BR I AN DYC HE S, S AN F RAN C IS C O; KOB BY DAGA N / S H UT T E R S T O C K Recent tech innovations will become part of the future designer's toolkit. http://www.vmsd.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of VMSD - February 2016

VMSD - February 2016
Contents
From the Editor
VMSD Editorial Advisory Board
The Goods
Next Store
It's In the Bag
A Nontraditional Noel
Eye Candy
Natural Curves
Luxury in Paradise
Showroom
Ad Index
Checking Out

VMSD - February 2016