One of the most popular trends from this year’s edition of Non-Obvious was a trend I called RetroTrust – the idea that we trust in brands and experiences from our past. Since I wrote the chapter, I am discovering new examples of the trend in real life all the time. Last week I told the story at the IHRSA Conferenceabout a video game I used to play when I was a kid made by the renowned Japanese video game maker Konami. The game was memorable because it had a secret code my brother and I would use to get extra lives. This week I saw a story that Konami is bringing back the game called Contra and a few of other beloved games too.
To celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the web, Google changed their logo to a retro version. A bunch of tech geeks in China are retrofitting old Thinkpad laptops with new modern motherboards. The website for the hit new film Captain Marvel celebrated the era that the film is set in by creating a wonderfully 90’s style website. Kodak even announced they are bringing back Kodachrome film.
The 1964 Tokyo Olympics were the first to have pictograms and this week the original designs were updated and released. Even the pictogram for Equestrian Dressage is almost beautiful enough to convince you that ridiculous sport belongs in the Olympics. Almost.
