Inspiration, Tunisia

Nice Knockers, eh?  OK, cheap joke.  We are currently looking at some of the key pieces in Tunisia in North Africa right now, you can view our findings above at the top of the page.  There aren't exactly key trends here but there are some interesting pieces around the country to look at.  There are of course the multitude of retailers all selling the same old malarkey which we are constantly bombarded with from the guys peddling their wares of fake LV hand bags, Chanel track suits and a mountain of pashminas.  There are also of course the traders who insist on showing you their Lizards (the reptile..!) by hanging it by the scruff of its neck and dangling it in front of our faces.  Oh yes its none stop fun here.  Of course they don't realise that we've haggled with the best of them and one raise of a perfectly manicured eyebrow and the pursing of the lips usually ensures a hasty retreat back to their 'shop'.  We dare not even mention the multitude of cows heads (yes, just the head) hanging up outside what we are guessing is a Butchers store we hope.  Lets not also forget the constant harassment from the guys on the streets approaching us to ask if we remember them as apparently they are the 'waiter', 'barman', 'chef' from our hotel.  They seem a little bemused when we explain that we are not actually staying in a hotel and then they don't really know where to go with that little attempted scam next.  Still it keeps us amused.  However, if we hear 'lovely jubbly', 'cheeky bugger', 'cheeky monkey' or 'Asda price' one more time then we may have to either gag them with one of their cheap pashminas (possibly slap their Lizards) or wack them over the head with yet another crap piece of pottery; purely on humanitarian grounds you understand.  With armed police at every turn, road blocks, razor wire galore we are feeling quite safe, well  apart from a few cursory hostile and tense scowls in Tunis from the local youths that would make even Kate Adie's buttocks clench.  Well sort of safe. Its the teeth dissolving sugary-stewed-mouth-drying-Mint-tea that scares us more right now, and just don't even ask about the Brits abroad; frightening.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

There's nothing better than replenishing our visual resources for our commercial concepts than with a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum.  Very often, as we know, if we work full time for any particular commercial brand our resources can become quickly depleted.  We're often working like battery chickens in banks of desks - possibly placed amongst the procurement department too.  And, we know the joy of that, don't we?  But anyway, with the luxury of a free afternoon, we managed to venture to view the new-ish and amazing Ceramics department with its historical and contemporary collections in this centre-of-the- Universe-Museum - how lucky is London to have this place, hey?   If you do have the opportunity, you must spend days and days here.  There is so much to view and we often visit the same historical exhibits which eventually become like faithful old friends.  If your boss wont let you out of the business for at least one afternoon a week to replenish your resources, then they are clearly bleeding you dry and  its time to move on to a company and brand that will support you as well as embrace your skills and knowledge.  Does one exist or is their way of thinking as historical as some of these pieces in this incredible museum?

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.

Monster Park, Bomarzo, Northern Lazio, Italy

After a few days flaneuring the streets of Rome with its manic police/ambulance sirens and busy streets, I was in much need of a break out of the city in order to seek some inspiration for future schemes. I had heard of Monster Park which is situated in the middle no where (as I discovered) in the countryside and an hour on the train from Rome. This is a stunning 16th Century garden created by Vincini Orsini in Bomarzo. Unfortunately, what I hadn't realised was that the nearest train station was nearly 10km away from the park, and uphill too. Anyway, after arriving at Bomarzo I began to hike my way towards the site, while asking for directions from the locals (using international sign language - you know the one, where we use our fingers to intimate walking etc). They did look rather bemused why I would want to go there. Anyway, after about an hour walking, a friendly local decided to stop his car and offer me a ride to the park. I cannot tell you how grateful I was when I realised how far I would have had to walk to get there. It was worth the effort and the place itself was deserted (I cant think why) so I had the whole experience to myself (well nearly, the garden security guard insisted on stalking me around the park to ensure I didn't take photographs.) He was quite old, so, as you can see, I did manage to out run him over the slippery landscape and take these ones for you - actually many more - he really was old bless him. Treading in the footsteps of Artists such as Salvador Dali etc., who were inspired by this park was an incredible experience and quite cleansing too. So, if you dare to be brave and navigate beyond the usual city stuff, do go there, it really is wonderful, although hire a car..! It took me a further 3 hours walking back to the station through the countryside. I slept well that night though.

The London College of Fashion

This week I took the students of the Fashion Retail branding and Visual Merchandising course at the London College of Fashion to view some of the delights of the Science Museum here in London. Now, one may not think of the Science Museum as the first place to visit while developing a concept for Visual Merchandising but the focus of this exercise was to view and record some of the mathematical models contained within the cabinets, to study shape, curvilinear, centripetal and centrifugal forms and how these can inform the development of a Visual Merchandising concept as seen below in Tiffany, London. The group sketched these pieces which in turn the group will translate into perspex models at the next stage which will then also be sketched. These will be published soon.

Lascco, Vauxhall, London

One of my favourite places in London is Lascco the Architectural reclaimer's based in Vauxhall. I often take students here to look at the wide variety of pieces for sale whether from an Interior Styling angle or from a Commercial Retail context. This is also a great example of recycling and sustainability and perfect for those Eco projects one may have lined up. Lascco is housed within Brunswick House, the former home of the Dukes of Brunswick and built in 1758. Sadly, it now teeters on the edge of new private high rise blocks which seem to be almost nudging the building out of the way, however the building makes a stand and appears quite defiant against these urban mega structures, and is determined not to be moved and I particularly like that about it. Anyway, the selection of products is quite magnificent and very much reminds me of Anthropologie. In fact, looking back through my archives of images there are spaces within Lassco which look almost identical to the store which only opened a few months ago. Coincidence? Possibly. However, if you want to be inspired, find new ideas and touch a bit of History go along to Vauxhall and have a look yourself. I can guarantee you will be amazed.

The Natural History Museum, London

While wandering around the Natural History Museum I came across this Exhibition. I have included it here simply because of the fact that it contains products and also because of the way the Exhibition has included some interesting elements that could work quite well in a Commercial space. It is therefore really worth applying a 'detective' approach to sourcing inspiration for new concepts in some of these unexpected places. Sure, the Exhibition contains elements which may not immediately seem to relate to the shopping experience such as maintaining soil, drilling holes for water and the demand for living space. However, what the Exhibition does do is tackle some of the issues based on human needs and managing the environment. Every day we throw away countless objects made from the Earth's raw materials and the Exhibition explores how much we consume and how we can manage this effectively. Perhaps this is something which some retailers don't wish to hear as well as hungry-for-stuff-type-customers. Although, I do feel that we do need to look at the whole area of Commercial Interiors and Visual Merchandising in a far more holistic way and understand the consequences of the convenience that we all enjoy so much. This Exhibition does that.

The Natural History Museum, London

Housed within the Natural History Museum here in London are the most incredible collection of natural forms such as these. Very often, within a Commercial context we see these kind of formations used to display small products such as jewellery. (I must say here that I am quite tired of seeing this personally). It is understandable, I suppose for a small independent retailer which undoubtedly will not have huge budgets to lavish on developing a new scheme every few weeks as the seasons, products, events and so on change, however much larger and established retailers also tend to follow this route. What I encourage my students to do is to look at these objects purely as the initial starting point from which to develop a concept rather than these becoming the concept itself - otherwise there is no concept. Ideas can literally spark from studying natural forms if one is willing to view them openly, and identifying shape, form, content, colour etc. from which to draw inspiration providing a much richer experience for the shopper and pushing the boundaries of our current understanding of what Visual Merchandising is or can become.

The Natural History Museum, London

The Natural History Museum is not just about prehistoric skeletons, rocks and stuffed animals. Some of the more contemporary exhibits are particularly relevant to my students subject area. Here we have an example of a simulated commercial space in Japan. Every few minutes, the floor begins to shake, the products rattle on the shelves and one is able to experience (at least to a point) what it may feel like to be within these spaces during an earth quake. It probably is a rather gentle experience in comparison to the reality, however, what these kinds of environments do is to promote thoughts and ideas about where were we can move next within Commercial Design. While of course this topic is perhaps a rather sensitive one considering the current situation in Haiti, we can perhaps use the concept of these kind of exhibits to enhance the thrill and experience of the shopper. It does of course need to be targeted carefully and these kind of experiences can become tiresome very quickly. However, the use of natural phenomena within a Commercial space? Who knows, lets see who does it first.

The Natural History Museum, London

In order to explain to my students the process and principles of three dimensional design, I find that places such as the Natural History Museum are a fantastic resource to begin to identify quite literally the bare bones of the process. Students had the opportunity to study these skeletons with words such as Repetition, Radiation, Curvilinear and so on at the forefront of their minds and with the knowledge that they were going to use these observational drawings to begin moving from the two dimensional drawings to three dimensional models. One may question how this relates to Visual Merchandising or Commercial Interior Design? However, what I want to do here is encourage the group, not to literally take some of these objects and place them in store - as we all too often see - but to begin to use these objects as the staring point of their inspiration and begin to test and experiment, include and exclude ideas and begin to really understand how to become Designers or at least understand the difference between 'good' design - establishing a need and unravelling a concept and 'bad' design - simply lifting the motif.

Jihad the Musical, London

As part of my teaching practice I always encourage my students to see as many Shows, Exhibitions, Films, go to the Theatre, view animations, experience Concerts and so on as part of their research. I find it is far easier to work as a Designer if one is able to establish what already exists and therefore avoid a time consuming journey reinventing the wheel and use these experiences to draw upon within ones own work. I happened to have been bought a ticket to see Jihad the musical which of course I jumped at the chance if only because of the name itself. I do adore the Theatre and I highly recommend visiting as many shows as possible in order to find Inspiration and ideas from the whole spectacle, which can of course include the sets, the lighting used, the costumes, the music etc. as well as being an enjoyable experience. The reviews for this musical were rather scathing and rather than a musical were described more as Pantomime. Well it still is Panto. season, so who cares. If you fancy a bit of camp frippery, do go an see this 'musical'. It is a little trashy but the venue holds possibly 30 people so it does feel like a private show, there are some great one liners and it does have a feel good factor about it.