People & Platforms Shaping What’s Next

I spend a lot of my downtime following consumer trend and futurist platforms. The endless access to ideas, insights, and deep perspectives is something I genuinely value. I’m then able to pull from these trends to shape the concepts I imagine, paired with my own lived experiences and creative thinking.

I’m drawn to this space because trend forecasting is speculative, imaginative, and rooted in data. It reminds me of my background in marketing, where creativity and strategy work hand in hand.

One of the goals of trend work is to foster cross-sector intelligence. That means pulling from different lived experiences, communities, and disciplines, not just echo chambers. Different inputs lead to sharper and more diverse insights.

So if you’re like me and live in a perpetual state of curiosity, here are a few folks and platforms shaping what’s next.

01. AUTHOR, AFROFUTURIST, DIRECTOR - Ytasha Womack / https://www.ytashawomack.com/#ytashawomackbio-section

02. London-based Argentine industrial designer, ethnographer, trends forecaster, creative strategist and visual artist - Paula Zuccotti / https://www.paulazuccotti.com/About

03. Concept + Creative Strategy - Marian Park / https://www.miscellanea.studio/

04. Kwame Frerreira / https://www.impossible.com/about

05. Professor of Communication and Media at the University of Michigan - Devon Powers, PH.D. / https://www.devonpowers.com/about

06. JOURNALIST, EDITOR & TREND FORECASTER - Dan Hastings / https://www.danhastings.co.uk/about

07. Black Quantum Futurism / https://www.blackquantumfuturism.com/about