STYLESIGHT WHITE PAPER: FAST FORWARD: HOW DESIGNERS CAN MANAGE INFORMATION OVERLOAD

1. FAST FORWARD: HOW DESIGNERS CAN
MANAGE INFORMATION OVERLOAD
KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Effective technology helps creative professionals find, capture,
store, and share content while enabling them to work the way
they want.
• Curated content and aggregation tools save time while
improving content quality.
• A cloud-based approach greatly simplifies content capture,
storage, and use. storage, and use.
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2. TOO MUCH OF
A GOOD THING?
The Internet has become a virtually unlimited source of inspiration for
creative professionals. With the explosion of websites, messaging,
social media, and cloud computing, the amount of available information
is staggering. According to International Data Corporation (IDC),
the world’s volume of digital content is equal to 2.7 zettabytes—2.7
followed by 21 zeros bytes. Ninety percent of that is unstructured data,
such as images, videos, MP3 files, and social media.
Rich, yes. Easy to find, retrieve, and manage? Not exactly.
In the past, fashion trade magazines, travel, and library research provided
inspiration and industry information. Today, creative professionals have
the world at their fingertips. They can scour design and celebrity blogs,
fashion websites, news sites, e-commerce sites, and social media
outlets ranging from Pinterest to Tumblr and Facebook. They can find
music, exhibits, films, and openings of stores, hotels, and restaurants. Searchable Image Library
Research on raw materials, scientific and technological developments,
competitors, retailers, and demographics is much simpler.
can view all of their content and projects. Now it takes only minutes to
synthesize, edit, and assemble content into mood boards. Designers
Yet, thousands of information sources can create a new problem—
can also upload images from their mobile devices—anywhere and
too much raw data. With new sites and social media applications
anytime—and automatically save them to a virtual workspace folder.
appearing (or disconcertingly disappearing) daily, finding high-quality,
Once stored, files are available for access anytime, anywhere, with any
consistent sources of original content is challenging. Traditional Google
device, without having to worry about translating file formats or saving
searches are time-consuming and inefficient. Once found, content has
content on external devices.
been difficult to capture, save, and share. Synchronizing files between
desktop computers, smartphones, laptops, and tablets simply adds to
frustration.
No one—from first-time assistants to senior design executives—has
time to sift through millions of images and thousands of news articles CAPTURE
and then deal with the hassles of keeping good content where it can
be used. Creative professionals crave big picture messages, like
recaps, must-haves, key colors and items, and editors’ picks, to use
INSPIRATION WITH
as a springboard for a season. They can now benefit from innovative
technology to store, manage, find, and share content while enabling CURATED CONTENT
AND EXPERTISE
them to work the way they want.
We’re past the initial giddy phase of Internet growth where every new
STORE AND MANAGE capability was an improvement over old ways of finding information.
Design professionals today need content distinguished by its
CREATIVE ASSETS IN professionalism, consistency, and timeliness. Technology tools and
curated content puts high-quality sources of inspiration at designers’
THE CLOUD fingertips.
GET TRUSTED EXPERT PERSPECTIVES
Cloud-based storage is revolutionizing the way that we store and use Curated content services offer a wealth of relevant, original content
creative assets. For example, image libraries with millions of images for up-to-the-moment sources of inspiration or news. For example,
can be stored and managed cost-effectively. Designers can search Stylesight’s Sites That Inspire offers a continually curated collection of
items and narrow down selections in seconds, and with a click, they websites selected for their leading-edge thinking and creativity.

3. The best sources of curated content are always evolving, often with
information updates and images added daily. Designers can count on
fresh inspiration each time they visit, and combine curated content
with user-generated content, such as Pinterest and Tumblr, with their
own favorites for instant portfolios of inspiration. Fast, easy access to
superior content streamlines workflow to deliver product design that is
on-trend for better sell-through and fewer markdowns.
COLLABORATE WITH
EASY-TO-USE TOOLS
Content in the cloud, curated services, and access to premium content
is enhanced with technology tools that support easy sharing and
Sites That Inspire collaboration. Look for a tool that enables designers to view shared
folders, instantly send images or content to design colleagues, and
A similar feature, Retail & Showrooms, enables professionals to easily edit on the fly—all with a click.
research the latest products from competitors and aspirational brands.
Here, you can quickly skim the six must-know contemporary brands, Global organizations also use private Pinterest, Tumblr, and blog
the most influential footwear trends, or see how Le Bon Marche features to easily and effectively communicate across distances and
celebrated its 160th anniversary. time zones. Other tools that can enhance collaboration include Skype
audio and video conferencing and other conferencing solutions such
Curated content also saves time and highlights important “must-dos” as Go To Meeting and WebEx.
for fashion-related travel. Style Traveler scouts the best offerings from
the world’s leading design cities and delivers top picks of places to
stay, eat, and drink; refined lists of the best local shops sorted by
HOW STYLESIGHT
neighborhood; and exhibits, sights to see, museums and ways to relax.
GATHER FRESH CONTENT QUICKLY
Image libraries make it possible to pull together ideas in seconds, and REDUCES
curated content targeted to specific interests saves hours of time that
would otherwise be spent searching across the Internet universe. For
example, if your interest is footwear, the most pertinent footwear news,
INFORMATION
analysis, trend information, and blogger perspectives can be delivered
directly to your mailbox or personal workspace. OVERLOAD
Stylesight is the industry-leading content and technology solution
for professionals in the style, fashion, and design sectors. Our
mission is simple—to inspire and enable creativity. The Stylesight
platform provides a system for management to inspire creativity with
demonstrable cost savings and return on investment. At the same
time, it provides creative professionals with unmatched breadth and
depth of images, proprietary expert content, curated information, and
tools for search, storing, arranging, and sharing ideas and inspiration.
Our 200+ person team combines proven forecasting and trend
analysis, the industry’s largest image library, and workflow tools to
make the creative journey more inspirational, as well as more efficient
and cost-effective. Today, 3000 companies rely on Stylesight every day
to be their eyes and ears in the most important fashion cities and to
provide the latest trend, business, materials, and sourcing information.
Our mission—to inspire and enable—is changing the face of fashion
Retail Analysis every day.
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4. Stylesight is the industry-leading content and technology solution for professionals in the style, fashion, and design sectors. Our
mission is simple—to inspire and enable creativity. The Stylesight platform provides a system for management to inspire creativity
with demonstrable cost savings and return on investment. At the same time, it provides creatives with unmatched breadth and depth
of images, proprietary expert content, curated information, and tools for search, storing, arranging, and sharing ideas and inspiration.
NEW YORK GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS: LONDON EMEA HEADQUARTERS:
+1 212 675 8877 | sales@stylesight.com +44 (0)20 7613 6280 | uk@stylesight.com
25 West 39th Street, 14th Floor Unit 1G | Zetland House, 5-25 Scrutton Street
New York, NY 10018 London, EC2A 4HJ
HONG KONG APAC HEADQUARTERS: STYLESIGHT CHINA in partnership with CTIC:
+852 2530 0553 | asiapac@stylesight.com +86 21 6278 7201 | china@stylesight.com
702-703 7/F Winway Bldg. 50 Wellington Street 7F32 ShanghaiMart | 2299 Yan-an-xi-lu
Central, Hong Kong Shanghai, China, 200336
For more information visit www.stylesight.com
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