Design

Travel isn’t just about going somewhere anymore—it’s about becoming someone. The quiet revolution of gamification is reshaping how we experience destinations, and smart marketers are already playing several moves ahead.

Pantone are pretty good at picking colour trends or perhaps its just that people follow what they say and therefore create products in those colours.  Either way we’re likely to see lots of turquoise in 2010, both in products and retail outlets. “Turquoise evokes thoughts of soothing, tropical waters and a languorous, effective escape from […]

Nobody can say jetBlue lacks either a sense of humor or creativity.  They recognise that many people don’t fly jetBlue and even though they’re expanding routes, passengers can’t always fly with them.  So they designed a series of products to assist those poor people who have to fly with another airline – in typical jetBlue […]

Uniqlo opened its largest format store in Southeast Asia this week, making three stores in Singapore.  The store is 1320m2 and stocks not only Uniqlo’s range of basics and the +J range from Jil Sander, but also a range of exclusive designer collaborations available only at this new store. The first limited edition collection will […]

“The SOHO” in Tokyo Bay is set to open January 2010, deseigned by Wonder-wall’s Masamichi Kitayama. Typically known more for retail design, his attention to detail has been turned to an office complex which is perhaps more reminiscent of a 5 star hotel in terms of its ammenities and design aesthetic. As you approach the […]

Located at Millenia Walk, Singapore, Chocolate Research Facility claim to be the world’s first with their boutique/cafe offering 100 different flavours of chocolate bars. I’m not sure if they’re correct in claiming world first status but certainly there an an awful lot of chocolates and they’re not bad tasting either.  The chocolates are designed in […]

I love creative use of alternative media and this example from Germany takes the cake this month. A German book publisher Eichborn attached small ultra-light advertising banners to 200 flies using wax. The banners fell off after a few hours so no harm to the flies except of course that it made them easier targets […]

Another similar concept to Planeshop (although not in airports) has opened in Holland and have plans to spread. BrandNew Stores are basically creating a chain store concept around pop-up retail, taking permanent stores in premium locations and then allowing brands to temporarily present themselves within this space. Their immediate plans involve expansion to Groningen, Den […]

I’ve always been both fascinated and fond of the whole swatch story.  They entered the market around 83-84 and caught on quickly because they were fun, fashionable and affordable.  The meaning of the name “Swatch” was a derivative of “second watch”. It was never intended to be a main watch and indeed was practically a […]

Most airports have chocolate shops these days, its one of the fastest growing travel retail categories. Aside from Brussels and to some degree Zurich though, I haven’t found many airport chocolate shops which really impressed me – which stood out as something unique or special.  Vosges Haut-Chocolat at O’Hare (T1 B Concourse) changed that, with […]

Its a problem in regional areas and also in small airports, convenience stores aren’t cheap to run and in many locations convenience can’t be achieved cost effectively because of small volumes. In these markets small farmers get caught in a catch 22 – do they sell to the supermarkets with low returns or do they […]

There really can be no doubt now that Uniqlo‘s +J range by Jull Sander is working and working remarkably well. The range gives a glimpse at what happens when a high-end designer with a penchant for tailoring & quality fabrics successfully meets with true mass production. The style of the range is true Jull Sander […]

Tiffany & Co have released design details for their new Las Vegas store at CityCentre. Its a two-level store slated for opening in December, occupying around 1000m2. What is creating the biggest buzz is the 85ft high glass facade that is canted slightly over the street & shaped like a diamond – certainly creating an […]

I have to admit when I first saw this concept I nearly threw up but at the same time was amused and intrigued.  I hadn’t really thought about where the line between fun & bad taste lay with themed food establishments but certainly “Modern Toilet” in Taiwan does challenge that line. My first assumption was […]

I do like all white fitouts but too frequently they lack texture & dimension so look very sterile.  Japan does some of the best all-white fitouts you can find and the Patrick Cox boutique in Tokyo’s Aoyama district is one of the best.  It was done by local architect Chikara Ohno who used only three […]

Not much smells better than freshly baked cookies and every food retailer knows, nothing stimulates purchase like something that gets the mouth salivating and the stomach gurgling.  So how terrific is this new idea from Toronto’s Sweet Flour Bake Shop!.  They let customers design their own cookies and bake them fresh in only 2 minutes. […]

Exports of Swiss watches have continued to fall, with July recording a 25.9% decline over the previous year. Overall since January, Swiss watch exports have fallen 26.3% or US6.8 billion. Sales of Swiss watches have been in significant decline since the end of 2008 with exports now below 2006 levels. Those surviving best are watches […]

Bloomingdales in Manhattan are doing a total makeover on their 5500m2 main floor, due to be finished in October 15.  To launch the new layout they have organised 525 different events in cosmetics alone through December. The renovations apparently are costing between $US45-55million including vendor contributions for which the vendors are hoping to see a […]

New Balance has a long history, at least by US standards, starting in Boston in 1906 when William J. Riley discovered that he could apply the balance system he saw in chickens to arch support in shoes. New Balance have always been proud of their somewhat quirky start & their history so its perhaps not […]

When you think about Louis Vuitton you don’t normally thing of particularly innovative store design, but two of their most recent openings have really set a new bar for the brand.  In May they opened a store in the Seibu department store in Ikebukuro Japan. It was only a limited opening store, not a permanent […]

Alright, “pop-up” is probably not the best term  to use when describing this new Prada store, but it is only open for 5 months. The store is at Place Beauvau in Paris and the design by Roberto Baciocchi is inspired by the French poet, Apollinaire’s ‘Le Pont Mirabeau’ – which amongst other things immortalised Mirabeau […]

Earlier this month Nike opened its first store with all its action sports brands under the one roof – Nike 6.0, Hurley, Converse and Nike SB – in Laguna Beach. The two level space has the store area on the lower level, with the upper level dedicated to workshops where customers can customise products by […]

Much has been written & researched about the psychology of colour and its application to retail environments. The general rule of thumb being to choose colours which support both the shopper experience & the psychological headspace you want to draw out in the consumer, then use them judiciously – by which I mean don’t splash […]

I spend a lot of time in airports & visit a lot of different airports. I know a fair bit about what goes on behind the scenes in them, particularly with airport development, and the amount of money which goes into designing signage. Which is perhaps why I’m left scratching my head at some airport […]

Image by Getty Images via Daylife Michael Jackson’s Memorial was one of those events which will no doubt not only go down in music history but will stay in the minds of the millions of viewers for a very long time. With so much to organise, consider & deal with, it’s perhaps a little surprising […]

OK I know smoking is a bad habit but the simple fact is that many people still smoke. In airports this becomes a bit of an issue, particularly transit airports. The typical smoking rooms are nothing short of disgusting and whilst smokers may arguably be ill-concerned about their health, we really don’t want to kill […]

Microsoft’s new Project Natal has the retail world buzzing but not only because of its potential gaming sales. Its also potentially game-changing for retail store design. Project Natal is, in a nutshell, “controller-free gaming”. Its a small black bar with a RGB camera, depth sensor and microphone. What it does is track your full body […]

Carspaze have created a new advertising platform for car park walls. It uses relatively new (dev 3 years ago) technology which allows high quality images to be printed onto specially developed fire retardant materials. Using these “posters” areas of the carpark can be strongly branded. The posters can run around 20 car spaces wide and […]