The designs of today’s products, architecture, and commercial offices are different from the products of the past. In the 1980s and 1990s, the focus was different than the focus today. Recent economic recessions and the push for eco-friendly lifestyles have drastically changed the face of designs in all areas of the world. While past designs focuses on function or individuality, today’s designs are more likely to focus on eco-friendly aspects or other aspects of the design that are more earth-centric. All you have to do to make any space look modern is to incorporate some of these modern design elements into products or space designs.

Past design trends

The 1980s and 90s were all about function and individuality. Products were designed with function over design elegance. Many of the designs from the 80s and 90s seem clunky and awkward by today’s design standards, but in their time, they were the height of modern with focus on function over anything else. Anything unnecessary was eliminated from many spaces and products during these years. If products did have special features, they were features to promote individuality, such as a unique style or feature on sneakers or special office design features that promoted individuality and function at the same time. Creative appearances and designs were not as prevalent during these decades.

Today’s trends

Today’s trends for products, office spaces, and everything else focus much more on aesthetically pleasing designs and environmentally-friendly features. Modern designs are created with the use of eco-friendly products, reduced plastic and other features that can harm the environment. Office spaces and architecture is designed to fit in with the surrounding area, so that buildings look like they grew in the space, rather than sticking out from the surrounding environment. Beauty and elegance are important features in all tools. You can see this progression in the logo changes that many companies have made in recent years. Cursive writing and other elegant touches are present on even traditionally inexpensive brands- even fast-food restaurants. All companies and brands try to promote their eco-friendly aspects, emphasizing how they reduce paper and plastic use or use sustainable growing practices in their foods.

Eco-friendly design in commercial products

Commercial products have taken a huge leap forward in eco-friendly design. Products are eliminating excess packaging, using recyclable materials rather than plastic, and switching paint to eco-friendly mixtures. Even the product designs themselves are designed to look sleek, elegant, and eco-friendly, even if the product itself is not. The perception of environmentally friendly is a larger priority than the actual environmental impact of the item. Colors tend toward natural earth tones and pure white to signify earth-friendly products and pure designs.

Eco-friendly design in architecture

Modern architecture is also much friendlier to the earth than in the past. Today’s buildings are not just built with function in mind, but also with beauty and environmental flow. Buildings are build to match the surrounding environment and have a more natural shape. Many construction companies use eco-friendly products in their buildings. Sustainability is important, and buildings are designed to take advantage of local beauty and resources, such as with solar power panels or shapes that mimic the traditional architecture styles of the area.

Eco-friendly design in the office

Modern offices are also embracing the environmentally-friendly trend. Some offices ban the use of Styrofoam cups and plates in the office to cut down on waste. Other offices are switching to paperless offices to save trees and other resources. Some offices even have installed wind power or solar power generators. The modern office decorations are also eco-friendly, with office art and other design features focusing on natural photos and colors. The use of plants and natural materials like wood and bamboo in the office is a popular design trend that embraces the earth in the office rather than shunning it like in offices past.

This is a guest post by Andras Deak, a part-time guest blogger and a full-time green communication specialist. Currently he works for Eco-Kinetics, an innovative company installing the best solar panels for homes. Andras believes that switching to alternative energy resources is the only way of future, and he also likes to keep things simple.