Harvey Nichols, London

Another delicious scheme is currently being presented by the wonderfully creative team at Harvey Nichols. Swirls of metallic structure, like undergrowth fill most of this scheme with the occasional organic structure and animals protruding as if growing from the metallic mossy bed. Mannequins embracing with masses of blond hair almost hiding their intimacy flow throughout. This quite a romantic scheme and and interesting direction for this team. The backdrop in muted tones completes the scheme. If you happen to be in Knightsbridge this week, pop your head around the corner of Harvey Niks and take a look. But do go at night time as I have done as it makes the whole experience quite magical.

Liberty, London

If you happen to be in town this week you must swing by Liberty and have a look at these amazing quilts designed by the very talented Maxine Groucutt. I had heard that they were in place through the grapevine and in the press and was dying to go and have a look for myself. The tourists love them and cameras were snapping away around me left right and centre. I even took my students to see them too - much to their amazement at the quality of the work here and we all got our 'Quilty pleasures' too. These tie in very nicely with the Quilts exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum which has recently opened and until 4th July. I am just salivating thinking about going. Anyway, do drop by Liberty, I can guarantee they will bring a smile to your face.

Enchanted at Kensington Palace, London

If you happen to be on the West side of town this week, do go along to Kensington Palace to visit the Enchanted Palace experience. Contemporary fashion designers such as Vivienne Westwood, and milliner Stephen Jones have created pieces which reflect some of its former residents. The Enchanted Palace is an experience through parts of the Palace whose inhabitants included Princesses Diana, Margaret and Victoria. It is such a pleasure to view the inside of these places which most of us have only ever seen from the outside and the experience is quite extraordinary. On entering the reception we were issued with a map of the different rooms to visit and tasked to collect clues as we went to guess who had lived in these historical spaces. Great fun. The installations (only some are shown here) are quite remarkable. Secret doors lead into ballrooms or reveal strategically placed cracked mirrors with hand written messages. Dresses worn by Princesses Diana and Margaret are beautifully lit and surrounded by an enchanted forest and most rooms are in semi darkness with shadows projected onto the ceilings. Anyway, I'll keep some of the mystery to myself so that you can enjoy the experience. But do along, if only to see the view from the Great Hall - the other side of those iconic main gates where masses of flowers were laid when Princess Diana died, incredible.

Chanel, London

Be afraid, very afraid. I find myself in a situation where I would dearly love to be positive about this brand, but sadly yet again I cant think of a single thing to be positive about. While life is too precious to say what I am actually thinking, I know a lot of you, from the messages that you send to me are wildly concerned about this brand. However, try as I may to poke the visual team into some kind of reaction - nothing. This brand clearly has a limitless cash flow without facing any apparent consequences that they can't purchase their way out of. But, what is going on here? Come on followers, you know what I'm thinking here and trying to say. I certainly know what you think beyond here. Is this brand suicide? Tell me what you think? I cant clench my buttocks any more and my toes are curled at 180 degrees.

Zara, London

It is always so refreshing to see localisation of creativity within these multiple global brands and this store always do some wonderful stuff. I do feel that the team possibly have to work very hard to create what they do, in as much as they may not be as supported by the brand as much as they would wish and therefore, while bursting with creativity, they seem to have to pull together what they do, dragging the brand into a creative presentation. I'm not privy to the meetings at Zara Towers, so my comments are not informed, however imagine the flagship creative team were given a little more money and a little more support, what they could do? Of course the usual multiples global scheme can still be seen around the corner of this Oxford St. site, however this one did bring a smile to my face and I love references to Alice in Wonderland contained within it.

Vivienne Westwood, London

One of my favourite stores in London, has to be the Vivienne Westwood store here along Conduit St. Not that I shop here that often you understand. The cost of these pieces would feed a family of five for a month and I just cant justify the expense to myself, although I do like to have a look at least - well thats free. This store rarely change their bust forms (which incidently are made by my dear friends at Proportion>London). However, it was a pleasure to see the team experiment a little using old logs, a dog basket, plastic funnel, bits of old rope and other 'found' ephemera on which to hang the merchandise. This is a refreshing change of direction happening here in these tiny spaces which works quite well. Perhaps because of the nature of the merchandise. After all, I cant see this happening at 'Primarni'. Whether you're a fan of Westwood or not, I am pleased that we do at least have some British designers left who are brave enough to cater for the niche market and for that I am rather thankful.

Diesel, London

I'm a huge fan of this brands ideas and schemes, although I must admit I am a little bemused by this one. Having followed them for quite some time I cant quite work this one out. During the day it is difficult to record due to the reflection on the glass and late at night it appears so sinister. This, perhaps is not the intention and I love Black as a shade of light (as we know, Black is not a colour), however, the Black sprayed legs protruding from the bases on which this scheme stand are a little unnerving to me. Perhaps, my perpetual fear of being buried alive is something which this scheme reminds me of? I don't know. Perhaps, its a little to Haiti-esque. As we know, references to death are rather taboo in window schemes (at least -and I tend to agree - according to my incredibly talented American colleague Sara K. Schneider from Chicago in her fantastic avant garde book Vital Mummies and with whom I have swapped many wonderful e-mail messages) however I cant help feeling that this was not the brands actual intention here, just my perception. For me, at least, it is not one of their best schemes (perhaps a gap filler?) but I do look forward to the next scheme which I am sure will be a winner.

Burberry, London

It was quite a relief to see that Burberry have finally moved on from their motif schemes that they have been using for the past 12 months in favour of these land of the giant type letter forms. Depending on which store you look at, some are in Black and others are in White. It is a welcome break from the monotony of the previous schemes although the motif does still form the background so its not a complete departure but it a step in a refreshing direction at least. Headless forms carry the merchandise sprayed in White.

Juicy Couture, London

A brightly printed tee pee forms the focal point of the Juicy Store window along Bruton St. here in London. I must say that I do prefer the New York windows of this brand at the moment, although of course they have so much more space than this comparatively micro store. Anyway, the layout is (almost) symmetrical. The fact that is isn't quite is far more interesting of course. Flowers are placed along the floor and an equally vibrant vinyl has been applied to the fenestration. The figures remain in the same high gloss White that we have seen for several months now with Butterfly transfers applied to their faces. As you may know motifs do ruffle me the wrong way, although somehow these do work quite well.

Moschino, London

Ever confident Moschino along Conduit St. have placed just one piece of merchandise in their window scheme. With such spaces at a premium, particularly in this area, this is a bold statement indeed which few retailers would ever risk. However, the one Black and White coat placed as if flying with kites is rather interesting. I think I would perhaps have used the kites as if morphing into the coat rather than placing the coat within Black and White kites as they do jar a little for me, or perhaps if the kites were printed with the same design as the coat it may have worked a little better. Still, I do like the basic concept here and it is a fun idea.

Selfridges, London

If you happen to be along Oxford street this week, you must have seen these absolutely fun windows from Selfridges. Mannequins sprayed in a Blue finish with Red and Blue wigs surrounded with posters screaming Hot Wang's, Prada Burgers, Hot Herve and Fendi Kebabs. I have always wondered, not so much about Fendi Kebabs, or Prada Burgers, but what if Fendi did weddings or Gucci did funerals what that may look like? Wouldn't it be bizarre if these incredible brands actually offered these services? In the meantime, swing by Selfridges and check out their windows with neon signage, toys from yesteryear, a rickshaw and homage to Alice in Wonderland. The only disappointing element about these windows is the Chanel scheme either side of the main entrance (image below). Of course, these kind of windows pay huge dividends to these department stores and I bet they cost a lot too. However, if I were looking at this scheme from the visual teams point of view, my toes would be curling at the thought that the latest, and lets be honest, drab Chanel scheme interrupted the flow of this fun concept. It must have really stung discovering they had been sold.....ouch.

Ponte Milvio Bridge Padlocks, Rome.

On my last few days in the city of Rome, having explored the wealth of Pompeii, Tivoli, and Bosano seeking inspiration for new concepts, and reviewing the cities windows for you, I happened to be crossing over the Ponte Milvio Bridge. I knew very little about this bridge and was intrigued to find padlocks attached at different points along the bridge. I felt compelled to photograph these without really knowing why and just by chance happened to turn on the radio in the early hours of the following morning to hear some guests on a radio station somewhere talking about these padlocks. Bizarre coincidence I know. Anyway, it transpires that these padlocks are left by lovers swearing their eternal love for each other. They attach a locked padlock to the bridge and throw the key in the Tiber river below. Apparently some lamp posts were so heavily laden with padlocks that they have collapsed. Being Romes oldest bridge the Government have put up more contemporary posts to which lovers may attach their padlocks and seal their love. In the meantime, however there are opportunities to use and develop ideas such as this for ourselves within our Commercial Environments.

Pompeii, Italy

For several years I have been fascinated by these figures that lay within a glass case on the edge of the Garden of the Fugitives here in Pompeii. In total, 13 'body spaces' where people fleeing the hot volcanic ash from Vesuvius's eruption were caught in the fall out. Interestingly, in his book Living Pictures, Missing persons, Mark B. Sandberg describes these figures as "Concave bodily indentations....where the corporeal form is outlined, not by the flesh, bone and skin but by the array of objects and clothing that mark the boundaries where it should be, but is not". The figures are of course not casts of bodies but that of the spaces and the voids where bodies once lay and therefore, as Sandberg describes it, "they appear substantial in absentia". It is always quite moving to see these figures and one cant help but feel a sense of mortality. They are eery in as much as we can see figures almost attempting to crawl away, dogs are asleep and figures of young children curled up protecting themselves from the falling ash. One cant help but feel moved too.

Pompeii, Italy, Shopping from Antiquity.

After travelling for four hours on the bus along the Italian autostrade from Rome, I finally arrived in Pompeii. I think most people are familiar with this town around the world so I don't think a context is particularly necessary here. I adore this place, although it can be eerily quiet and every time I have been here it has been a grey day, therefore adding to the drama while walking along the High Street below. I cannot think of anywhere quite like Pompeii. Significant work has been done since it was discovered in 1748 in clearing the mountains of volcanic ash from these stores. What remained after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius 3500 years ago is a high street incredibly similar to ones we know today (albeit a lot smaller). Along the streets are a whole variety of stores that would have sold, vegetables, textiles, wine (as above) with marble counter tops with holes that would have held the vessels of wine in them. They have examples of these wine vessels too. Store after store can be found here, including a Bakers and to the excitement of the tourists, a brothel. We can learn so much from these environments in how we can develop our own concepts within Design if we scratch a little below the surface, from viewing early examples of modern branding, early fascias and how these people worked. Pompeii is layered in so many details, too much to describe here, and not being an expert I can only really view it for its aesthetic appeal. However, if there is one place to see before you die, it should be Pompeii.

Tivoli, Villa D'este, (Gardens) Italy

The gardens at the Villa D'este are probably the most spectacular I think I have ever seen and besides cleansing the creative spirit they do bring a kind of inner peace. The gardens contain 500 jets in fountains, pools and troughs of water. Guiding one throughout the space are a series of inclines and steps, Cris-crossing around a central axis. At every turn there is something else to see which draws to viewer toward it. If this were a commercial space it would probably be enormously successful and therefore there are particular lessons to be learned in relation to creating focal points, pause points and so on. Throughout the gardens there are sudden surprises at every turn and perfect for those of you seeking inspiration from viewing Classical Architecture and renaissance spaces. The Cardinals also certainly had a sense of humour. Well, they were Borgia's, and known for their rape, bribery, incest and murder, although the below image is very tame by today's standards.

Tivoli, Ville D'este, Italy

About an hours bus ride from Rome is the Villa D'este. Built in a remarkable 1572, this Renaissance palace built by Ippolito II D'este and Lucrezia Borgia (of the Borgia's infamy of ruthless Machiavellian politics and sexual corruption characteristic of the Renaissance Papacy). The Palace is now a UNESCO world heritage site and has the most incredible gardens (which I will show tomorrow). I love to look at these places for inspiration in my own work and as besides being so uplifting emotionally they are layered and loaded with so much History that they cannot do anything other than inspire so many ideas. While these ideas are not always used immediately one can store them and leave them to germinate over time and pull upon these resources when needed in the future. A little like a battery. Capturing the image of the place also reminds me of the whole experience and how I felt at the time. How this can be encapsulated into a Commercial Design environment, I don't know yet, but the answer always comes. In the meantime, if you just so happen to be in the area I'm sure it will be on your list of things to do.