In the first two weeks class exercises teach the techniques of on and off-line evidence gathering which is used to create an unfiltered picture of what they have discovered, known as an Evidence Wall. As the course progresses we focus on fashion forecasting and analytical tools are learned. Students start to hone their intuition and learn methods of triangulating their findings in order to create a Trend Cartogram, highlighting more concrete and specific signals affecting certain aspects of culture, design and society. Then emphasis is put on learning the skills and best practices of oral, visual and written trend reports so students can confidently present their final work.

The course objective is to give students a holistic understanding of trends investigation and the ability to inspire and inform with trends via the best practices and tools they learn during classes. Students finish the course with a strategy to enter into the field of trends investigation.