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Food marketplace Gustini rebrands with nostalgically Italian identity

Gustini. Identity by Koto, Italy

Germany – Global brand and digital studio Koto has brought a taste of Italy to the digital fore with the unveiling of a fresh identity and a revamped e-shop for Gustini, the renowned Italian food marketplace. The Italian food brand is often associated with tradition and cliché, but Koto manages to balance its update with a contemporary edge. Koto’s creative director Fred North explained: ‘We aimed to create an identity that mirrors the rich flavours and immersive stories of Italian cuisine, drawing inspiration from the country’s incredible history of graphic design for food and packaging.’

Sunset Gothic by Colophon, the chosen typeface, strikes a balance between character and legibility, while a palette of terracotta red, ocean blue and warm golden tones evokes sun-drenched visions of Italy. The site not only showcases producers and culinary stories, but also features patterns inspired by traditional fruit wrappers seen at Italian market stalls.

Beyond aesthetics, Koto modernised Gustini’s e-commerce platform, enhancing user navigation to encourage product discovery. ‘With Koto on board, we got ourselves a creative partner. Together, we’ve infused vitality into our brand, adding significant value to the Gustini experience,’ said Jens Depenau, Gustini’s founder and CEO.

In Vibrant Branding is Elevating Global Cuisine, we previously analysed how a new wave of food brands used similar bold visual language to better represent Asian food as healthy, diverse and accessible.

Strategic opportunity

Harness the power of nostalgia in design. Incorporate vintage fonts, illustrations and colour schemes that evoke a sense of tradition and authenticity, appealing to consumers’ emotional connections with the past

Ganni champions better-for-the-planet leather hybrid Pélinova

Pélinova® by Lenzing Group and Recyc Leather for Ganni, France

Pélinova by Lenzing Group and Recyc Leather for Ganni, France

Denmark – The latest addition to the alt leather arsenal is Pélinova, a next-gen material blending Lyocell with recycled leather fibres using pioneering techniques.

Planet-conscious Pélinova leather is the result of a collaboration between Danish fashion brand Ganni, fibre specialist Lenzing Group and leather alternative expert Recyc Leather. Designed for high-end fashion applications, it is ready for market applications and has been used to make Ganni’s Slouchy Boots, which were showcased during the brand’s latest catwalk presentation. The boots will be launched in 2024, and Ganni plans to roll out Pélinova across accessories shortly.

‘By the end of 2023, we achieved the ambitious goal of phasing out all virgin leather from upcoming collections,’ said Ganni’s chief sustainability officer Lauren Bartley. ‘However, the work doesn’t stop here. Collaborating and experimenting with partners like Tencel and Recyc Leather to develop alternatives to materials as we know them today is crucial to reaching carbon reduction goals.’

Head to our coverage of the Material Matters 2023 design fair to delve more deeply into the transformative potential of next-gen materials.

Strategic opportunity

The fashion industry needs more alliances bringing together brands and fibre experts to fast-track the development and embracing of new materials. Are you seeking out partnerships to supercharge innovation adoption across your supply chain?

Roblox unveils seamless multilingual chat translation AI

Global – Roblox has announced the roll-out of a new AI translation model designed to convert text chats effortlessly in a variety of languages.

Covering 16 languages, including English, French, Japanese and Polish, this innovative feature aims to foster smoother communication among users. Dan Sturman, Roblox’s chief technology officer, told The Verge the company’s objective was to enhance user interaction by ensuring mutual comprehension. The translation process is automatic, but users retain the option to view the original message with a simple click.

The development of this translation capability involved the integration of a transformer-based large language model (LLM) within a mixture of experts (MoE) architecture. This efficient set-up enables Roblox to provide multilingual support without the need for separate LLMs for each language, optimising resource utilisation. Sturman emphasised that privacy and safety remain paramount, with stringent monitoring for prohibited content and mechanisms in place to gather user feedback for continuous improvement.

This latest advance underlines Roblox’s commitment to diversity, which, as revealed in Why Gaming is Your Next Brand Touchpoint, is lagging behind and requires investment in both time and effort.

Roblox, US

Strategic opportunity

Gaming demographics prove that this activity is no longer reserved for geeky teenage boys; girls enjoying gaming equally, so brands should use Roblox’s translation capabilities to better the gaming experience – and expand audience size

Stat: Gen Z men in the UK are more conservative on feminism than Boomers

Photography by Cottonbro Studio, Russia

UK – A King’s College London’s Policy Institute and Global Institute for Women’s Leadership Ipsos poll unveiled in February 2024 shows a notable generational schism among UK males aged 16–29. A staggering 16% of Gen Z males believe feminism has done more harm than good, hinting at a potential societal division. The study, which polled more than 3,600 individuals, found that 25% of UK males aged 16–29 believe it is tougher to be a man than a woman, while 20% view social media influencer Andrew Tate favourably, despite the latter facing charges in Romania, which he denies, of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

Some 32% of young men embrace conservative author Jordan Peterson, compared to 12% of women of the same age. Professor Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute, warns of a ‘real risk of fractious division’ within this generation, noting that 37% of young men reject the term ‘toxic masculinity’. ‘This is a new and unusual generational pattern,’ he told The Guardian. ‘Normally, it tends to be the case that younger generations are consistently more comfortable with emerging social norms, as they grew up with these as a natural part of their lives.’

Professor Rosie Campbell underlines the impact of social media on shaping perceptions, emphasising the need for understanding and dialogue to bridge these emerging divisions. ‘[Young men] hear a lot about girl power but don’t, at this stage in their lives, understand the inequalities that we know are in the world when you hit work and childcare,’ she says.

For more insights on young consumers, head to our Gen Z analysis.

Strategic opportunity

Consider implementing diversity and inclusion training programmes in your organisation to ensure your youngest employees are well informed and sensitive to evolving societal perspectives, and learn how to participate in an inclusive workplace culture