The categories of household products are extremely complex because they have to meet different needs. Children's furniture and elderly furniture are two types of products that deserve attention. In these two special product areas, how should businesses build their brand appeal?

Children's room: Too much staying in "cute" and too little care for changing needs

"Children's room" has always been a topic of social concern. Now you can see that Shenzhen's home shopping malls are basically equipped with various levels of children's furniture, in fact, there is no lack of high-end and high-priced children's furniture. It seems that we have paid enough attention to children's furniture, but in the past two years, children's room space and furniture have always given people a rigid feeling: blue represents boys, cars, sports, animation; pink represents girls, lace, dolls, pets ……At the same time, our eyes always seem to be limited to the design style. Apart from the basic concerns about product quality and safety, the design of children's furniture should have a deeper level.

There is no shortage of cute and beautiful children's furniture. As long as you visit the children's furniture area of ​​several major stores in Shenzhen, you will agree with this point of view. "There are more and more designs of children's furniture. This is a good phenomenon, but it only stays at the level of beauty and cuteness. Will ignore the need for variability that children’s furniture ** should pay attention to.” Shenzhen interior designer 3 meters said, why separate the variability part separately, because from the cases I have done in the past, it is often When you can't find suitable variable children's furniture and run around, furniture designers sometimes seem to forget that their target users grow very fast, and even the most beautiful furniture will appear useless if it is not changeable.

3 meters said that in fact, furniture such as beds, bookshelves, desks, etc. are also suitable for the design and production of variable furniture. “Variable furniture not only better adapts to changes in children and families, but also can create a lot of fun and fun. It is often more important than simple style." Especially after Shenzhen opened up the "two-child" policy, such changeable children's furniture appears to have more market value.

Hong Kong designer Sam uel believes that there is a misunderstanding in the current display of children's furniture on the market, which is to divide the space for children's activities with the walls of the children's room.

"When I went to a furniture store in Shenzhen, I saw that the children’s furniture area was almost exclusively the display of children’s model rooms, but in fact, in order to better parent-child interaction, children’s room furniture should not only be applied to the children’s room space, the living room, Living spaces such as the study should actually have corresponding children’s furniture.” In a design case by Sam uel, a green carpet was used to enclose a children’s activity area in the living room. The pink elephant chair ordered from Sweden fits well with each other. The style of the living room is integrated, and the mini-type bookshelf is filled with picture books. Samuel believes that the living room is a space for parents to do more activities. In fact, it should also be a space for more parent-child interaction. Children's furniture should take this kind of needs into consideration.

Furniture for the old: Shenzhen needs relevant basic research and standards

In the past year or two, furniture specially designed for the elderly will appear on the market from time to time, but has the market in Shenzhen really opened up? "No company in Shenzhen is really engaged in the production of furniture suitable for the elderly." Shenzhen Furniture Association Residential Decoration Research Institute Dean Guan Yongkang said that as a person who has been dealing with furniture for decades, Guan Yongkang's tone is a little helpless.

Extended reading: 2017 International Famous Furniture Fair unveiled in Hangzhou, the future of the elderly furniture market has a huge prospect

"In most cases, we would think that because Shenzhen is very young, but this is only one of many reasons. What's more important is that old-fashioned furniture cannot be developed and produced by only a few companies. It needs to be stricter than ordinary furniture. Basic research and higher production standards.” Guan Yongkang explained. Even with the resources of furniture design and research and development that are all over the country, Shenzhen has not been able to develop in this field.

In the past year or two, the Shenzhen Furniture Association has conducted research and surveys on supporting furniture for the elderly when it has cooperated with some real estate companies. It will find that there is very little basic research on this content in my country.

"When we went to Japan to do research, we found that Japan already has good basic research on home furnishings for the elderly." Guan Yongkang is still impressed by the auxiliary equipment of the research institutes he has seen there: the designer’s neck, shoulder, and neck are measured by the machine. Even the waist and legs are restricted to simulate the life state of the elderly. "When your movement is really restricted like the elderly, you will have a different feeling about how to design furniture that suits them." Such basic equipment is Expensive, the research of the entire system is even larger. "Furniture suitable for the elderly" is not simply a drawing of a few designers after a simple imagination, but a specific design based on basic research. Guan Yongkang explained that the university's research institutions should have been involved in relevant research, but it seems that there are not many at present. At the same time, research institutions like the Home Furnishing Association want to do such a costly research, they also need financial support.

At the same time, with the support of basic research, the country should also introduce corresponding industry production standards accordingly, after which the enterprise design and production links can be considered as entering the chain.