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A Window into What Inspires Us

Yet, we’re always on the move – traveling, exploring, listening, and learning. We  pause to reflect, and truly understand. And when something’s worth sharing, we never keep it to ourselves. Dive into our diary for trends, insights, and fresh perspectives.
But most importantly, we want to hear from you. You, the human behind the screen, are our biggest source of inspiration. So join us & drop your thoughts below!

Close-up of a Christmas tree with red ornaments and warm lights, illustrating Christmas 2025 graphic codes in festive decor.
Cultural Branding

GRAPHIC CODES SHAPING CHRISTMAS 2025

Christmas 2025 arrives with a new set of visual codes: jewel-toned luxury, minimalist calm, theatre-lit nostalgia, playful kidult energy, cultural architecture and global winter aesthetics. The season’s limited editions and advent calendars signal how packaging has become cultural storytelling, shaping value and desire long before a gift is opened. This article explores the graphic languages brands are using to win the festive moment — and how CPG brands can design editions people want to keep.

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Signpost showing directions to the past and future, symbolising nostalgia as cultural strategy.
Culture

The past is working overtime: How Nostalgia became a Cultural Strategy

Nostalgia isn’t just a mood; it’s a marketing movement. In 2025, brands are remixing retro aesthetics, Y2K design, and childhood comfort into clever cultural strategy. From ugly-cute collectibles to vintage packaging, the past is working overtime. This piece explores how nostalgia evolved from trend to tool—and how brands can use it meaningfully without getting stuck in rewind.

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White ceramic plate repaired with a bright pink line, symbolising Kintsugi and the Wabi Sabi philosophy of imperfect beauty.
Cultural Branding

Wabi Sabi : Perfectly Imperfect

Perfection is overrated. Wabi Sabi — the Japanese philosophy of finding beauty in imperfection — offers brands a way to be real, human, and emotionally resonant. From golden Kintsugi cracks to the ritual of Furoshiki wrapping, these cultural codes remind us that authenticity, not gloss, creates connection. Explore how CPG and beauty brands can move beyond surface aesthetics to embrace repair, ritual, and truth in design.

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Food imagery in marketing showing honey, cream, and honeycomb symbolizing indulgence and sensory appeal
Inspiration

Food Imagery in Beauty: Marketing shortcut to desire

From glazed doughnuts to cherry gloss, food imagery in marketing has become the visual shortcut to craving and desire. Beauty, fashion, and FMCG brands alike are using edible cues to evoke emotion, texture, and pleasure. In this article, Intercult Brands explores how sensory storytelling and cultural codes shape appetite in design—and why one drizzle or glaze can make a product irresistible.

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