Spring Wonderland Display Window Featuring Paper Mache Animal Masks

My client sheepishly made what she thought was a strange request.  "Can we have animal heads for the store mannequins?", adding that she loved it when the big department stores did that for Christmas.  Well, of course I said yes.  That discussion lead to the idea of a Wonderland, minus Alice and all the trappings of red hearts, cards and royalty.  It would be a Spring garden party.

Within the Spring soiree, I designed and created some "Drink Me" potion filled bottles, an "Eat Me" faux cake and arranged it all among a scattering of staked chairs.  All of the chairs, including the upholstery were painted with a tried and true homemade chalk paint.  One dry, a glaze of pastel color washed over the upholstery to give it a fresh Spring feel.  Continued.....

The animal masks needed to fit the mannequins snuggly, so the process of creating them began with my wrapping a head in bubble wrap and saran wrap to protect it while I applied plaster.  I then stretched felt over the wrap, taping and zip tying it to stay.  A healthy coating of plater of paris was applied onto the felt and nuanced to be smooth.  This gave me the base for the paper mache.  After a coating of paste wax to ensure easy removal, strips of paper and tissue were applied with glue.  Features were roughed in with styrofoam and tape wads and applied to the mache with hot glue.  These areas were again coated in mache.  

One of the few nods I gave to the Wonderland theme was the addition of clock hand and key garlands.  These were cut out on the studio laser from 1/8 inch plywood faux painted into mixed metal and rust tones.  The components were connected using hog ring pliers.  The hog rings are like giant necklace links.

A cake was made from foam coated with Plaster of Paris adorned with silk flowers.  Chalk painted frames were decorated with the flowers as well.

Studio made rustic clocks were added in key areas to center and draw focus into the display.  The bottles of potions were suspended down from hanging shelves. 

I think the trim evokes Spring, implies Wonderland and seems magical with the addition of the animal masks.  I'm happy and most importantly my client is very pleased.  

I've been designing the company's stores and all of their fixtures and visuals for 23 years now.  The power of the visuals and the store design has help elevate the store's brand to where it is today.  In this competitive world where it's too easy to order online, hit the strip mall or big box, a brand's identity and the customers experience is of the upmost importance.  You must give the customer something to hold as a gold standard.  It could be any combination of things, but it must be more than just opening the door for sales.  In this store's case, Willows provides quality clothing at affordable prices, is on trend for women of various age and body types.  The customer service is top notch and (wink wink), it has some pretty fun seasonal displays if I may say.

If your brand needs a refresh.  If your store needs a makeover or you're just not sure what gold standard to bring about to elevate your customer experience I am available for consultations and projects.  Reach out on my contact page and tell me a little about your situation.  I'd be happy to be part of your brand success.

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source https://www.embellishmentsstudio.com/blog/spring-wonderland-display-window-featuring-paper-mache-animal-masks

Tropical Boho Store Window Display

Who doesn't love a good tropical vibe?  My latest installation for my client Willows, in Vancouver Wa. was a bohemian tropical trim.

My client and their customers enjoyed the live plants, making them well worth the trip.  You see, Willows is in Vancouver, Washington just across the river from my home base Portland, Oregon.  Neither of these cities can play host to tropical plants, it's far too cold in the winter.  You don't really see great quality plants at the big box stores, so I needed to come up with some other option.

So I hit the nurseries in Phoenix, Arizona and Palm Springs, California with a U-haul.  I partnered the trip up with some other business.  I rented a truck and began my quest for tropical boho beauties.

I'm an avid gardener and a bit of a tropical denial plant enthusiast.  I'm my Portland garden, I've gathered as many tropical looking plants as the garden could hold.  Many of them are knocked back severely if we happen to have an extreme winter but otherwise bounce back from our more mild ones.  Anyway, I've learned a lot about tropicals and selected varieties for the store that would endure the intense window light and the drier humidity of a store environment.   I also incorporated timber bamboo into the displays.  As a matter of fact, the timber bamboo is from my garden.  After a decade plus of growing freely, there were some great 3 and 4 inch diameter pieces to harvest.

The addition of macrame added a bohemian charm to the displays.  There are a ton of great macrame tutorials online.  I found them easy enough to follow and I think  I came up with some simple yet fun pieces.  The lanterns were from different sources.  They were originally table top lanterns with glass votives to hold candles.  I tore out the inner workings and nailed in some plywood bases to hold a lamp socket.  The 10 ft. wiring follows the weavings and turns them into hanging lanterns.  

The tropicals were planted in various pots and planters.  To accentuate the curated tropical theme and throw in a bit of on-trend garden love, I created various pot stands from a white oak and teak.  They smelt so good when I made them.  There's nothing better then the scent of wood shavings.

It was amazing how much the plants grew during the 3 month display.  The store was looking so lush and event had the fragrance of the tropics.  You see, I also dangled a real pineapple in a macrame hanger.  The fruit gave off the perfect aroma.

In one of the displays I also included a baby pineapple.  It was a great novelty to have a growing pineapple in a Northwest store.  It continued to thrive but didn't grow to more than 3 inches wide or so before it started to ripen on the "vine".

The boho tropical themed summer display was a hit.  My client loved it and the customers were surprised and delighted.  

If your visuals need some help or you need some fresh ideas, I'm available for consultations and/or I can provide you information on my visual display services.  Contact Info

source https://www.embellishmentsstudio.com/blog/tropical-boho-store-window-display