Material Girl

In my Revisioning Retail studio Monday, we were asked to draw two pieces of paper out of a bucket; one pink and one yellow. The pink piece of paper had what our retail space would sell and the yellow was our concept. Our assignment was to come up with an idea for a store that would go in a mall that is trying to transform itself into a more upscale shopping center. My pink piece of paper said sleepwear and undergarments, and my yellow concept paper said supernova. To say that I had to think for a long time on how to relate my concept to the product sold in the store would be a lie. After doing some research, came across a description of different types of supernovae. It was on this website that my concept took shape for this project, in the form of a supernova created from Binary stars (A binary star is a pair of stars that are close together and orbit about each other), also referred to as a type I supernova.

How a type I supernova occurs:
a pair of stars are close together
they begin to orbit and revolve around each other
the pull of the smaller star draws mass and energy from it's larger companion
when the stars become too unstable, they collapse and explode

After reading this, I decided that the store needed to be an upscale, classy, deisgner lingerie and undergarment boutique.



"Most supernovae reach maximum brightness a few days after they occur and shine intensely for several weeks. Some fade within months. Others fade over a period of years."
With this model I decided to separate the store into different sections based on what the product was. Articles that were for special occasions, and only intended to be worn once, articles for everyday use, and articles that would be kept for years.

Some designers that I am looking at for inspiration for the product to go into the store are:

I also found that scientists believe that heavy metals like gold came from supernovas. In response to this I decided that instead of the traditional chrome clothing racks, I was going to have gold, and gold accents throughout the store. I found gold mannequins that I thought would be amazing in the store, they not only will match the display accents but they have an alien look about them which lends itself well to the supernova concept.

In my exploration of the internet, I found these heat sensitive wall panels that are amazing. I was trying to find something different to put in part of the store to give a little dimension and also bring down the noise level. These fabric panels can be arranged in different configurations and when touched or when a change in temperature occurs around them, they change like a mood ring. The colors and design created by the change resemble the pictures of supernovas, and relates back to the bright, colorful show brought on by heat. I invite you to visit the NunoErin website to check out these panels.

I would like to have a gold leaf ceiling in at least part of the store, possibly the dressing rooms, or at the center of the store. This picture shows a room with recessed cans set in a gold leaf ceiling which gives the room an ethereal feel, which is ideal for this space.

I decided to offset the gold with black floors and black ceilings in most of the space.

I know that I want to use black lacquered drawers in the space, but I can't decide between the sleek, modern 6 drawer units found in most stores, or actual chest of drawers to give the store a bedroom feel.

Retail Recon-Material Investigation case study

In an effort to heighten my awareness on details in the retail environment, I did a materials case study on some of my favorite stores. When trying to decide which stores to look at, I thought about local favorites (anthropologie, gap, apple, etc.) but I wanted to get a more broad range of stores. Over Easter, I went to New York City for the first time with my Mom, and did some major shopping. While most of our time was spent meandering through Macy's, we managed to hit a wide variety of stores, some of which had amazing designs.


The first store I would like to look at in Swatch Watch Times Square. This store catches your eye from the street with it's bright facade and window displays. When you walk into the store through the revolving door you are greeted by bright lights, bright colors, bright displays, and loud music. The only thing sold at Swatch is their line of distinctly unique plastic watches. Shiny plastic displays throughout the store hold the large collection watches. Bold blue terrazzo floors with glitter are accented with cylindrical, plastic displays in a complimentary orange. The metal ceiling, dotted with more recessed cans than I could count, reflects the entire store. The swatch store is just like their watches, bright, fun, and trendy





Another Store in Times Square that I found interesting was the M&M's store. The M&M's store sold all things M&M from the candy itself all the way up to dishes and aprons all while promoting New York City. Concrete floors and a black ceiling left the store's product to be the decor. As the store was on a corner on Broadway, two whole walls were floor to ceiling windows that overlooked times square. The other walls were painted the colors of the M&M's packages and the logo. Other areas of the store had murals painted on them like the one below depicting Time's Square overtaken by the M&M's logo. One of the largest walls in the store was covered in plastic containers that held M&M's in every color imaginable. Giant plastic statues of M&M's were dressed up all around the store, giving the store an almost theme park feel. The most important thing that I noted while visiting this store was that the store itself was a fairly bland space that was made bright and lively by the product inside it. This allows the store to reinvent how it looks by just changing up the product.









Across town, off of 5th ave in NYC was the Coach store on 57th street. The 5th ave shopping district is swanky to say the least, but the stores are beautiful. The all black outdoor facade from the store is a complete contrast from what you see when you enter. White marble floors, white shelves and tables, and white walls. Like the M&M's store, Coach allows the products to decorate the store. The shelving displays are all white, shiny plastic that create rectangular holes to put the purses in. Each hole is back-lit and lit from above with one of each different bag in each hole. This makes the store look more like a gallery, showing off artwork than a retail store. A band of wood paneling underneath the shelving units goes throughout the store, and keeps the white from being too overpowering, and gives the space a more luxurious feel. This is a beautiful store, and one of my favorites that I visited.






One store that I did visit here in Greensboro this weekend was Forever21. I have a love/hate relationship with this store simply because I feel like I am on sensory overload whenever I go in there. Forever21 uses the same principles as Coach in having a completely white space to allow the product to speak for itself. White marble floors, white walls, white ceiling, white tables, white mannequins. The difference here is that while the coach store had subdued lighting and music, giving a soft, luxurious feeling to the store, Forever21 has bright lights and loud music. Everything in Forever21 is trendy and bright, and the store lends itself to the clothes nicely. There is always a quick turn-around of the product in this store, and the blank canvas allows itself to the ever-changing inventory well.





The last store that I looked at for this case study was the Fossil store on Broadway in New York. This store was without a doubt my favorite store (except for Macy's) and not just because I got the cutest bag ever there. I actually did a little sketching while I was waiting on my Mom, and later in the hotel room. I'm not sure why I enjoyed that space as much as I did, but it felt really welcoming. The outside of the store had a large wall of white stone which carried over to the inside of the store as if the store was carved into the side of a mountain of stone instead of being a part of the buildings around it. White wood shelves and wood paneling around the store continued the natural feel created by the rock, which was mirrored in the concrete on part of the floor. The contrast of the natural materials of the store to the view of Times Square out the window gave the store a very unique feel. All of the other stores around Times Square were designed to reflect it, but not Fossil. It was a warm, inviting space, and one of my favorites.

THE HIVE- final draft

THE HIVE:
A residential complex for members of the fast paced, high-tech x-y generation.

Below are images used in my final presentation of the Hipster Haven project. I really enjoyed working on this project, and I feel that my images convey that. My post-critique critique of my own project lead me to think about things I would do differently if I had the chance to redo this project. I would love input from others to help me grow as a designer. Having said that, scroll down, and I hope that you enjoy THE HIVE.

Downstairs Plan View

Loft Plan View

Living and Dining Areas

Kitchen and Dining Areas

View of Terrace on Roof

Stairs

Loft

Kitchen

Hipster Haven update with Podium first drafts

Dining AreaLiving Area

Stairs

Kitchen

One side of the bedroom loft area

Becher-Weaver Conversion to Hipter-Haven Update

The conversion of the Becher-Weaver Building continues. I am designing a prototype unit for the building. The following are plan and perspective views of my design of one of the rectangular units from the floor plan below.

Becher-Weaver Conversion to Hipter-Haven

This project required us to convert the existing Becher-Weaver building in Greensboro into apartments for young adults of the x-y generation. The first part of this project, shown here, was to layout where the 900 square foot apartments would be as well as the 900 square foot coffee house. We chose to stay away from the idea of a long, thin hallway with straight walls and rows of doors. Some of our units just out into a trapezoid shape to show where the different units are. Below is the plan for the building as well as two perspectives of the space.
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