Designing futures: aesthetic labour in the representation of future market ecosystems

This paper identifies aesthetic labour as a central mechanism in future market-making. In light of increasing sustainability challenges, understanding how future market ecosystems are visually and materially shaped is critical. Drawing on a longitudinal ethnographic study, the paper examines how a portfolio of futures artefacts from early sketches to immersive prototypes engages both sensory and cognitive processes to shape stakeholder perceptions. The study contributes in two key ways. First, it identifies how design aesthetics can support or constrain future market imaginaries. Second, it extends beyond cognitive framings by introducing two critical dynamics: mutability, or how future market representations evolve through stakeholder input; and mobility, or how they circulate across organisational contexts to enable broader enrolment. The findings highlight the role of sensory world-building and emotional engagement in shaping strategic alignment. The paper concludes by considering how aesthetic labour might also support critical and post-capitalist imaginaries in future market making.