It's been about 2 years since I've whole heartedly fully committed to surface pattern design and when I create patterns, I am doing so with the intention of licensing my art to buyers who will put my patterns and icons on gift bags, apparel, pillows or whatever.
To be successful in this venture, I'm supposed to be creating what's forecasted to be coming into trend, not tomorrow or next week but an entire year from now. Wow. I've never been very trendy, I'm an artist so I kind of skip to the beat of my own drum... I wear what's comfortable and fill my house with things that make me happy. Who's with me on that one? 

If you like me are in the position where you've got to add psychic to your artist title and figure out how to be trendy and fast for the sake of selling some of your designs to the wide world of art buyers, here's what I now know.  

Forecasting

The weather changes with the seasons and generally there a few solid things you can be sure of depending on where you live. Here in North Carolina it's going to get hot in the summer, then it will cool down in the fall before getting cold in the winter and warming up again in the summer. March is windy, it rains in April and as everyone knows, next comes the May flowers! This happens every year and I know this because I've lived here long enough to recognize the pattern. I wish I could tell you that predicting fashion was just as easy but it's not and it's still a very new topic to me that I am learning more about on a daily basis.
The best advice I can give you right now on this topic is to familiarize yourself with the term Trend Forecast. Open up Pinterest and type in SS19. What pops up is pretty neat. The photo included in this post is example of one of the pins I've found. You can click through for the pin and then click again to be taken to Amber Grant's website where you'll find a whole world of trend forecasts. This is just one example of many. Trend Forecasting, like surface pattern design, illustration or graphic design is a professional service. You may be able to gather enough information based on what's available, especially as you start to see the trends emerge. Your own research may be good enough for you to put together the rest OR you can take it a step further and buy more in-depth trend reports. It also helps to join in on Facebook or Instagram discussions and ask questions. There are plenty of resources out there and now that you are familiar with the word Trend Forecast or Trend Report, use it and hopefully you'll know what to design and wear next summer!