VISUAL COMMUNICATION
trend journal
Celine Aquino // Prof. Daniel Green // Winter 2016
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1970’s Prairie
3
Minimal Luxe
5
Sneakerhead White
7
Tory Sport
9
Kit & Ace
11
Barney’s New York
13
COLO
15
L’Appartement Sezane
17
1970’s PRAIRIE january ten two thousand sixteen
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january ten two thousand sixteen One trend that I have noticed that designers have been taking interest in is the 1970’s / Praire trend. Not only have I seen this influence the clothing and accessory designs, but the sets for runway shows and store designs. The bohemian trend has been taking the world by storm, but it’s interesting to see it in displays and visual merchandising. There has been small influences of these natural warm tones of the prairie incorporated in stores, mainly through lighting fixtures and small props for displays. I’ve seen a lot of twine, florals, and animal bones used for these props. One brand I was surprised that took part in this trend was Coach. Stuart Vevers has been looking to go towards a new direction for the brand that has a fresh new look, and that includes the 70’s and prairie trend. The most interesting way he incorporated it, however, was through the runway set for the Sping / Summer 2016 collection. He built an entire greenhouse to release the collection in. It was filled with wild flowers and tall grass to give the illusion of being in the wild. I always find it interesting when a designer takes the collection to a new level by incorporating a trend in their visuals and environment rather than just displaying it through their designs. I think that this trend is going to be a popular one for the Spring / Summer season, especially with the festival season coming right around the corner.
Celine Aquino // Visual Communication Trend Journal // Winter 2016
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MINIMAL LUXE january fifteen two thousand sixteen
january fifteen two thousand sixteen
One of my favorite trends in store design of the moment is the idea of minimalism in luxury boutiques. A lot of them are implementing a lot more open space within small shops to create more attraction to the product itself. The interesting aspect of this minimalist trend is how they incorporating textures to create more interest in the limited color palette.Popular pattern and texture luxury boutiques like to use is marble and metallic. Stark whites and light greys usually dominate the color palette for these shops so customers are more drawn toward the products.
In order for merchandisers to still control the pathway in which customers shop, they have been installing railings for clothing racks that wrap around the stores and keeping fixutures to a minimum. This way, customers are not overwhelmed by the amount of product in the store and can really appreciate the detail and quality of each individual product the brand has to offer.
Celine Aquino // Visual Communication Trend Journal // Winter 2016
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SNEAKERHEAD WHITE january twenty three two thousand sixteen
7
While browsing store designs, I came across this store in Russia selling only white sneakers. Sneakerhead is popular sportwear footwear shop that also has a strong e-commerce presence. The company opened up Sneakerhead White, adding to the brands already five existing shops in Moscow, to cater to the men who have trouble searching for their perfect white sneaker. The white sneaker in itself is a huge trend right now and has always been a staple in any sneakerhead’s collection. Sneakerhead decided to make it a little bit easier for them to find their white sneaker by selling the hottest and somewhat harder to find white sneakers in the market right now by opening this shop.
The design of the shop is so sleek and crisp, feeding into the minimalist trend that I talked about previously. It’s as if they took a preexisting sneaker shop and dipped it in giant bucket of white paint. Usually, I feel as if designers would think to draw attention to the white products by contrasting them with dark colors to make them pop. But the store in its entirety is white. Fixtures, props, products, lights-- all white.
january twenty three two thousand sixteen
Celine Aquino // Visual Communication Trend Journal // Winter 2016
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TORY SPORT january thirty two thousand sixteen
Celine Aquino // Visual Communication Trend Journal // Winter 2016
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january thirty two thousand sixteen
One store opening that happened this past year that surprisingly really impressed my was Tory Sport. As a tomboy, Tory Burch products rarely caught my attention, but once I heard about her activewear line and the shop opening up, I was finally intrigued. Granted, the style of the products themselves are still true to the Tory Burch brand. But what I am more impressed with was the design of the store. There are a few key things that I really appreciate in the design, but there are also some opportunities I think that Tory Burch could have really capitalized on. I love the clean white throughout the store with the slight pops of your classic varsity-like blues and greens with the hints of pastel pink. The props also are true and fit the aesthetic well.
I think the overall theme and designing of the shop will attract and impress Tory’s existing consumer market, but also bring in a few new customers--like me! Little things in the shop could be changed however to feed more on the active theme. I love the idea of the tennis rackets and the varsity stripes, but I think maybe including a turf carpet instead of the burlap would have really added to the space. There’s a slight disconnect with the palm leaves and resort-like wicker seating that doesn’t really make sense to me. Changing those would really make the store that little bit better in my opinion.
Celine Aquino // Visual Communication Trend Journal // Winter 2016
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KIT & ACE february four two thousand sixteen
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Kit & Ace has been one of the brands that I have really enjoyed watching grow and evolve. They recently opened up a new shop on Redchurch Street in London that included a collaboration with Sorry Coffee Co. to have a coffee bar in the shop. Recently, a trend that I have been noticing with retailers is the integration of some sort of food or drink service within the store. I love this concept because it gives the customer another incentive to stay in the shop and buy something, whether it be a fashion piece or a latte. Store design involving coffee shops themselves have been a trend, so integrating them into fashion retail spaces just feeds more into both consumer markets.
Aesthetically, Kit & Ace and Sorry Coffee Co. definitely attract their target consumers with the way they designed the store. There are clean lines with mainly stark whites, cool greys, and accents of wood and copper. The minimalist trend in consistent throughout the store and plays good homage the the brands’ set aesthetic already. I love every aspect to the store, and as someone who is definitely a target for Kit & Ace as well as a coffee shop, this store design and merchandising instantly caught my attention. With that said, the visual merchandisers definitely did their job beautifully well with this specific location.
february four two thousand sixteen
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BARNEYS NEW YORK february twelve two thousand sixteen
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february twelve two thousand sixteen
This past fashion week in the New York, Barneys decided to reopen their original flagship store in Chelsea. The design of the store has pieces of Barney’s heritage as well as a completely stunning modern take on the brand. It’s definitely a much different take on a design for Barney’s than one would usually associate with the store, but I think it was a smart move in order to market and attract the hip customers in the Chelsea area. Steven Harris Architects designed both the inside and the outside of the store to achieve the complete luxury makeover with the main attraction and design element being the spiral staircase that winds up the entire five stories of the building.
The new Barney’s flagship includes Blind Barber which includes in-house shaving and Fred’s, a restaurant, giving customers a chance to refuel while making their way through the store. Within the store, Barney’s also really wanted to integrate technology into their customer service. Instead of normal POS systems, the store has evolved into iPad check out, with every sales associate equipped with them.
Celine Aquino // Visual Communication Trend Journal // Winter 2016
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COLO february twenty two thousand sixteen
15
To me, visual communication is not just how well you can merchandise your products in a store and how well executed your windows are, but also how you are able to visually communicate your product and brand online since the internet is the largest community you can reach. While doing my research for this journal, I came across this small, upand-coming brand COLO--a Swedish clothing company, mainly based online. I think that for brands to market to millenials, the internet is the best way to do it. COLO’s entire design aesthetic definitely relates to all things techy even though their clothing is made of entirely certified organic materials. The style is mainly the minimal sporty/athleisure trend that
we see in most millenial-based brands. The way their website is designed also plays well with the aesthetic, it’s easy to navigate and will most definitely attract their target consumer. COLO’s campaigns are unique to their brand and is what initially attracted me to continue to looking into their product. Much like WGSN, I think that they’re definitely a brand to watch, not only in terms of their product and collections, but their visual communication techniques.
february twenty two two thousand sixteen
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L’APPARTEMENT SEZANE february twenty eight two thousand sixteen
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february twenty eught two thousand sixteen
One of my favorite brands ever since they first collaborated with Madewell on a collection, is Sezane. Sezane is a French based company that is 100% online and is the first French label to do so; however, they have a retail space called L’Appartement Sezane in the heart of Paris that is much more like a gallery/showroom/pop-up shop. The space is designed as if it was Morgane Sezalory’s (the designer herself) own apartment. Here, customers are able to try on the entire collection to see how the product fits and feels. You can’t directly take the pieces home with you if you decide to purchase, but it gives you a better feeling on what you wanted to buy and if you want, you’re able to order it through them in the apartment.
After ordering through L’Appartement, customers will usually receive their product within 48 hours. I think that this showrooming concept is such an important one for smaller brands and brands that are online-based to implement so that their customers have a way to experience the brand in a more physical aspect. I love the entire space and its design and I feel as if it is the greatest way to bring the brand to life. It’s the best representation of the brand, since Sezane is solely online. The space is definitely on my top places to visit once I have the chance to visit Paris.
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SOURCES www.wgsn.com www.retaildesignblog.net thewindow.barneys.com www.sezane.com google images
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