Set Design & Creative Retail Displays

Here’s a short round up of a few retail displays in and around New York, enjoy!

Aritzia: I find myself snapping Aritzia’s windows just as much as Anthopologie’s. From a creative perspective, they’re just as interesting, though carefully minimalist. Here the retail team devised 3D cardboard hexagons covered in a lux marbling technique.

Anthropologie: These in-store ornaments resemble mythical suns and the spirograph application of the rubber bands add a fascinating touch. These could easily be a DIY project to do at home.

Hugo Boss: This unisex window represents the gift-giving season in a subtle, stately way: a swing of gift boxes constructed together gets the point across after a sidewalk double-take.

Best Pizza: This Williamsburg Pizza shop has crowd sourced their wall art, using customer drawings to make a fabulous and familiar texture. It’s delightful to get lost in the illustrations while getting a late night slice.

November 20, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

Paper Mache Trends in Paris

I’ve been sitting on this for a while for no good reason, and today’s the day I finally get it out the door. The last few hours I was in Paris over the summer, I remember having to go to the bathroom. I was running around Le Marais like a mad woman, looking for a bar to pop into, when I realized there was a department store across the street. I dashed inside, ran to the eighth floor, then realized, with 15 minutes to spare before heading to the train station, I was upon a paper mache mecca.

Just like we have our Legos, our rubber band jewelry and embroidery sets in America, an entire tenth of this floor was devoted to children’s paper mache. There were robot, bear and penguin bases alongside decorative papers, paints, buttons and markers. Interestingly, it reminded me of a show I had seen earlier that weekend at a gallery lining the Place des Vosges by Hausey Leplat.

Leplat’s a sculpture artist who creates life size animals covered in burlap. They’re incredibly intricate, rough and emotive. It’s an interesting thing – this parallel of the art domain alongside the DIY craft world. It may seem coincidental, but after comparing palettes, themes and construction, the trend has legs, and hopefully, will be making it’s way overseas.

October 30, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

Patriotic Merchandising in Soho

When brands open shop in Soho, on Fifth Ave, Madison or Broadway, they’ve arrived (in a financial sense). Whether or not the flagship sales support the rent, the physical presence represents retail grandeur – and advertising in a way. Here, we have Broadway’s Converse store and Fjallraven‘s latest opening on Spring Street, both in Soho.

The wall displays are amusingly similar, it almost seems like one’s riffed the other. There’s patriotism, product placement, mood lighting and serious merchandising going on here and both brands are displaying DIY finesse. What do you think of the dueling flags? Does it bother you?

October 29, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

Opposing Worlds in Social Media

These two are really the antithesis of each other- it’s almost comical to compare the stratospheres. Sean Williams, an exceptionally talented tattoo artist living in LA, recently posted his latest work to instagram. Take a deep dive into his reel, and while it’s rather dark, you’ll find beautiful illustrations and inticate body art.

Fast forward four minutes, and I’m looking at Facebook, then Refinery29’s piece on Erica Domesek of P.S I Made This. For those who are unaware, Erica is one of the internet queens of DIY replica fashion. My brain had a fission, but when you’re visual, you can’t deny the obvious comparison, and with social media, you also can’t control or avoid the stream coming at you. Alas, I’m sharing these military tassel themes.

Any odd but poignant compare/contrasts in your reels? Would love to see…

September 25, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

Coworking, Kickstarter & Makeshift

I was in San Francisco earlier this summer for precisely one day. The morning I arrived, I tweeted that I’d love to meet anyone who was around and available for coffee. Minutes later, the internet worked it’s magic, and before I knew it, I had a full day of meetings with fellow creatives and friends of Pattern Pulp. Pretty awesome…especially coming from New York where you make plans two weeks in advance and still move the date the day before.

I kicked off the afternoon at Makeshift – a place I’d heard about countless times, via Grace Bonney, Janette Crawford, Lisa Congdon and Rena Tom (one of the spearheading co-founders). It was very much a DIY creative oasis and incredibly special in it’s coworking purpose. I had immediate admiration of the layout, the decor and the community…even a hint of jealousy that the west coasters had a jewel of a space to collaborate, toss ideas around and share small business knowhow.

Fast forward 6 months and it looks like Williamsburg’s getting it’s very own version! How do I know? I was a part of the Kickstarter/Makeshift shoot last month, and got to mingle, craft and share a beer with Rena’s incredible (and tall) team of supporters as we set up shop for the afternoon. I brought some Role Modoll prototypes, a color forecasting card and talked sampling with Amy Azzarito while the Wild Combination team worked their magic.

The prizes are fabulous- hello – for $250, Julia Rothman will incorporate your face into the wallpaper…so very cool…and for $50, you’ll get an equally impressive print, by the talented Kate Bingaman. Spaces like this are important for the neighborhood and community at large. The goal’s $30,000 and will cover the cost of the library, which will be filled with video cameras, lighting equipment, sewing machines, and the like. If you can donate, go ahead, and make your mark.

September 18, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik

Prices, Sums & Ticket Art

5Bl67_ticketart

I don’t typically post work from art aliases, but I really love simplistic complexity in this collection. Devised and executed by the French artist BI67, these canvases, entitled, Prices, are made with stickers and the accompanying titles share the total sum of the canvas. To view more of his work, click here.

August 29, 2013 | By: Shayna Kulik