The course of design is changing radically amid the global economic crisis. A new generation of designers have emerged who are designing with a greater deal of freedom and are looking to the past to create for the future.

In Post Fossil: Excavating 21st-Century Creation, leading trend analyst Li Edelkoort explores how designers are retracing the steps of human history, and incorporating elements of nature into materials and the creation process.

The exhibition poses the question: “How will the designers of tomorrow look to the past in order to invent the future?” It aims to “excavate” and analyse creative trends in and for the 21st century with a focus on materials, colours, shapes and images. Post Fossil attempts to search for clues necessary for human beings to live and shape their future.

“In the aftermath of the worst financial crisis in decades, a period of glamorous and streamlined design for design’s sake comes to an end,” says Edelkoort. “A new generation of designers retrace their roots, refine their earth and research their history, sometimes going back to the beginning of time.”

The exhibition will bring together 120 works from 66 designers that Edelkoort considers "post fossil". From graphic designer Anthon Beeke and textile designer Hanne Friis, to multidisciplinary designer Julia Lohmann and product designer Peter Marigold, the exhibition features work that breaks with creative conventions, theoretic rules and stigmas.

Post Fossil: Excavating 21st-Century Creation, runs until 27 June 2010 at 21_21 Design Sight in Tokyo.