Max Mara, London

We can hardly believe its been almost a month since we looked at London windows.  However, nothing revolutionary has happened in our absence of course.   Margaret Thatcher still thinks she's the Queen, everyone in the US still thinks that Sarah 'Fergie' Ferguson sings with the Black Eyed Peas and H an M have rolled out their Jessie 'J' Its not about the Money, Money, Money 2011 video referenced scheme.  Of course its freezing not having the luxury and the warmth of the Nevada Winter sun after we had warmed up like little lizards on a rock (and simultaneously air con'd), but ah well, we're glad to be back in Blighty.  Anyway, while popping down to Bond street with jet lag the size of a small European country and looking like the old craggy stewardesses who still think they are flying Pan-Am, we happened upon this very delicious scheme at Max Mara.  Wow, look at these colours, just superb.  Such a simple scheme, bust forms placed in a repetition format with a large format graphic.  Not revolutionary, but all beautifully done of course.  In the meantime someone please pass the Melatonin and a pint of something Duty Free (on the rocks)

Learning from Las Vegas, Parts 5 and 6

In our final entry on Las Vegas (and learning from it) we decided to go back to where it all began - Fremont st.  In now what appears visually as an in town /out of town shopping area reminiscent, albeit vaguely of a northern city shopping centre back in the UK or a Russian shopping mall, only with better weather and more lights. This area has a huge worn-out-curly-edged-dog-eared-tinge of faded glory about it, although it appears that someone somewhere has attempted to regenerate it with the addition of an enormous 'light-show' canopy over the main drag.  This is what Vegas always appeared to be from the outside looking in and from every kind of media we've ever seen, and we are fascinated to be part of  it.  Now sadly,  here, the vagrants hassle tourists for money by attempting to strike up a conversation at the loudest level possible.  We impolitely ignore them as our British accents appears to give them more opportunity to converse and they move on to the next passing flaneurs.  The proudly and literally named 'heart attack grill' delivers steaks the size of a cow (complete with parked ambulance and waitresses dressed as nurses) and deep fried Oreo's are on the surrounding menu's - nice.  This area seems to be a populated Farmagusta of the West, or an homage to the way things were only with a lot more lights attached. The flashing signs at the toe curling Glitter Gulch Gentleman's club, 4 Queens (with missing or broken lights) and the Golden Nugget beckoned us in - we easily manage to resist.  Our eyes smart at the strap line of Oscar's casino which announces that it has 'beef, booze and broads' (interesting how cultural dynamics change but some places are to vacuous to keep up) and the ill-fitting ruched lurid Pink and Green outfits of the 'door-whores' at Mermaids drive the final nail in the visual coffin and so its time to move on.

In Part 6, our final entry and further along the road less travelled we ventured into the surrounding streets in an attempt to scratch a little deeper into the skin of this place.  We found a lot of interesting graffiti which communicate political frustrations as well as the humour of the local population.  Some of the signs and signifier's beyond the sanitised resorts really are quite telling of how the main drag is perceived and how life really is beyond the gloss and glamour.  We have only touched on the fringes of this incredible place, and only been able to show you a tiny snapshot of what we are looking at and our emotional response to it.  These things of course are best experienced, but hopefully the small slides that we have given you at least offer a kind of 'Google Earth' view of Las Vegas. We would recommend that you visit here yourself and experience all it has to offer.  The pendulum between perceived ecstasy and sadness, despair and hopelessness seems to swing quite far out here but then it was always going to be in the Casino's favour, wasn't it?  In the meantime, we're London bound. 

Learning From Las Vegas, Parts 3 and 4

Having now spend hours and hours looking, identifying and recording what Venturi called 'International jet set style, Arte Moderne Hollywood Orgasmic, Organic behind, Niemeyer Moorish....Bauhaus Hawaiian' we are now beginning to get into the rhythm of this town.  As Venturi also wrote, 'people are looking for illusions: they don't want the world's realities', then here is certainly the place for it'.  We've ventured into every resort on the Las Vegas boulevard and recorded everything that grabbed our attention which also has a 'non-chip-on-the-shoulder' place here and we have also come to view how the environment is not enhanced through additional 'bits' but rather torn down and begun again.  This town is unapologetic, has a shameless consumerist attitude and really couldn't give a damn what anyone else thinks.  As long as the slot machines are 'ringing-an-a-blinging' and the poker tables are busy, then the smiles from the doorman will keep coming as will the drinks from the middle-aged women in their hostess uniforms of short creased Red 'satin' dresses being poured to the cigar smoking punters.  This is pure wonderful decadence and escapism.  We are in our element.....well, at least to a point.  While we could be carried away and drawn into this fantasy world, we manage to keep our perspective.  No dime or penny has been wasted on the slots and no chips bought,  in fact we probably are the anti-consumer as far as Vegas is concerned.  Sadly the rings, bells, flashing lights and fabulously glossy sports cars on turntables surrounded by the 'slots' just don't touch us, although we do love the spectacle of it all.  The symbols, the images, the sounds, the smells, the Elvis lookie-likies,  the pumping music - even outside -  its all quite intoxicating, but we can resist.

Learning From Las Vegas: Parts 1 and 2

In our final three entries on Las Vegas, we wanted to offer a kind of synopsis of our journey.  We don't take holidays as such and therefore we don't take holiday snaps, so our images are simply of what we see, what we wish to communicate to a wider audience and what our emotional response is to whatever we are viewing.  Naturally, the thoughts we share are ours and we like to leave our audience to make up their own minds about what they view too, after all we're not always 'right' (whatever that means) however, it is at least one voice reflecting on our Visual Merchandising industry and where we are now and where (we think) we need to be.  We approached Las Vegas in a similar way to that of the Architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, albeit very humbly following in their giant footsteps. 

Venturi and Brown visited Las Vegas nearly 40 years ago which led to their incredible book, Learning from Las Vegas.  Of course it was unrealistic to attempt to do everything that these phenomenal people did on their journey and therefore we were only ever going to be able to skim the surface of what they produced, however we have looked at some of the iconography contained within this urban sprawl from a commercial and visual perspective and attempted to record the journey to sale and the experience on that journey.  Also, we wanted to see for ourselves how these incredibly huge resorts work so hard to capture their often big money spending customers and how they attempt to keep them there by offering everything that one could possibly desire under one roof.  Each resort vies for the attention of the potential customer at every possible level in a very different way, to ensure that we part with our hard earned cash. These strategies in particular fascinate us.  Part 1, records very much how Vegas should be seen - from the automobile, where we have recorded what Venturi so wonderfully called the Architecture of Persuasion, or perhaps more commonly known to us as Visual Merchandisers as (the miss-named) Point of Sale (we prefer The Journey to Sale).  In Part 2 we look at some of the resorts and what some of the key elements are that hook us and reel us so willingingly in by capturing our attention, teasing us, promising so much, but ultimately one realises that the thin veneer of gloss, is just that.

(Please note that if you are receiving this via e-mail you will need to check into http://www.retailstorewindows.com/ in order to view the slides)

Grand Canyon, Arizona

We decided to escape the constant blinging of the slot machines for a couple of days in search of some hidden Gems further afield.  It was quite bizarre to see the time on our telephones change, particularly as back in the UK we only have one time zone.  Anyway, we're just across the next time zone in Arizona right now looking at some of the trading posts and visitor villages.  OK, well we haven't found much in the form of Visual Merchandising, per se, although we have found some wooden structured buildings painted in the most delicious colours which we've captured for our records.  We did come across the local undertakers and some interesting examples of POS however.  Well, 'it does what it says on the tin' kind of scenario and brought an ironic smile to our faces at least.  While we weren't that surprised not to find the most cutting edge 'stuff', this really is a most stunning area to visit nonetheless. 

Itsugar, Las Vegas

If you happen to be in New York, New York, in Las Vegas (that's confusing..!)  then do go and have a look at the the jelly bean Statue of Liberty in the main entrance from MGM.  Thousands of these sugary little beans have been (we assume glued) to create this  huge replica.  We saw something similar in New York (the city not the hotel/resort) at Henri Bendel over Christmas.  But anyway, this is great fun and immediately tells you what the product is even if Miss. Liberty looks perhaps ever so slightly annoyed.

H and M, Las Vegas

If you do happen to go and watch the animatronics show at Caesars Palace, do go and check out H and M.  How cool is this store - we even had to make a video of it as we were so impressed with the video wall, the suspended mannequins and disco balls and the flashing lights on the back wall - all of these elements cant be appreciated through still images so we've included our video here too for you to view.

http://youtu.be/7-fWGHn8qiM  

The Chandelier, Las Vegas

If you happen to swing by the Cosmopolitan here in Vegas, then you must go and have a look at The Chandelier.  Essentially the Chandelier is a giant chandelier hanging over two floors around a bar and a seating area.  Hilarious fun? or trashy Vegas?  Well, we'll let you decide.  In the meantime we did make a short video of this as we were rather bemused and it certainly is a sight to see.  It is also quite a novelty although we did get over it quite quickly.  Anyway, do check out the video. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l6egczQLM4&list=UUsubIQJFMNM6ZVPlgxA4MaQ&index=3&feature=plcp

Beijing Noodle No.9, Las Vegas

Quite a relief for these little fellas we would imagine?  Wandering in and out of the slots and poker tables, teasingly named Rembrandt's riches, Pussy cat delights, Aces high......the list is almost endless, here at Caesars palace, there are a few wonderful little oases such as Beijing Noodle No. 9.  Two rows of these fish tanks teaming with Goldfish dominate the entrance to this space, however, of course, these spaces don't seem to offer very much rest bite from the bling-bling and all the whistles and bells of the gaming machines. although they are a rather great to at least view (oh and free..!).

Nanette Lepore, Las Vegas

Sitting amongst the mass of global brands all peddling the same schemes that we've seen either in London or in New York, it is always a pleasure to find brands that we don't know or don't have a global presence yet.  Here at Nanette Lepore, situated within The Forum (inside Caesars Palace resort) we were struck by these fabulous palm trees in neon colours.  The scheme is a little messy for our tastes, particularly with the Green and Pink wrapped gifts, although it is a break at least from the usual global schemes from the lux brands that appear to dominate the resorts here. 

 

Versace, Las Vegas

We loved the colour of the merchandise within the womens wear at Versace (Aria Center) next to the Gold of the plinths and backdrop.  Sadly, as always menswear is the usual choice of Black, Brown or Grey, however the lighting of this scheme with the merchandise made it almost impossible to miss.  We actually quite like this scheme, which is a slightly different offer from the other Versace stores that we've seen recently in Europe and New York.  What do you think?

Hermes, Las Vegas

This is the only store for this brand that we could find here in Vegas.  There may be more however?  But, anyway, we weren't entirely sure quite what this is?  It looked to us like an under-water-coral-and-jelly-fish theme?  What is refreshing to see is the lack of the brand colour being used here, and the brand do tend to use localised creativity rather than one company to do all of their stores, so this is quite an interesting direction.  With its small reveals containing the merchandise within this huge expanse of fenestration, these guys clearly know and understand how to use a mall window space.  Don't you think?

10 Commandments of Visual Merchandising 2012

OK well here you go........from all of your messages and comments we know that you have been dying to see what we think the 10 commandments for Visual Merchandising 2012 should be.  After another seemingly fleeting year, we reflect on the highlights and low lights of 2011, although this year from a very warm and sunny Las Vegas (cool, eh?).  The cookie cutter tourists are screeching their way along the strip waiting for midnight to strike (somewhere) and the bling-bling of the 'slots' is quite deafening.  With their low levels of lighting in the unavoidable casinos,  screams from the roller coasters, and pumping loud music to encourage the punters to play harder and faster until every penny and dime has been extracted from their wallets and purses, we've stolen ourselves  away to our rooms on the 19th floor of our hotel (which incidentally is rather reminiscent of the set from the 80's US sitcom the 'Golden Girls').  Overlooking the Pyramid of the Luxor, the Gold wrapped Mandalay and faux castle of the Excalibur resorts we're sat at our computers to go through the thousands of images we've taken over the year and pick out the best (and worst) of 2011. 

There were of course clear trends from the brand leaders and naturally Luxury brands generally led the way followed closely by the mid range and laggards of the high street as one would expect.  Hopefully some of the trends will now die away and new key elements will emerge - although we wont be betting on that. 

One of the saddest moments of 2011 was of course the sudden death of our great Visual Merchandising friend and colleague Professor Ronald Knoth at LIM (NYC) in September.  We still miss him enormously.   However, equally we have also had enormous highs through working on projects, new concept development and mentoring a young Visual Merchandiser who subsequently achieved a Gold medal at the Worldskills Global competition for the UK, all of which continues to feed our desire to keep writing these entries.  After all, the whole point was to have our say, within an industry that always ignored anyone who had no cash to spend or prior experience to share and highlight that we are also consumers and/or customers (and in fact, actually have the prior experience and are also knowledge providers and facilitators) and also have an emotional response to whatever we see on the high street. Therefore, we were always going to shout a little louder about it until we were heard - and with over 1/2 million visitors, over 1000 posts we have been, at least just a little more.

We've kicked a few less tyres this year as we are just a smidgen less frustrated with our industry although the 'old school' and very naive mentality that future creative leaders should be 'scouted' from the shop floor and work their way through the ranks to the top jobs, while fearing or dismissing anyone who may actually be educated, creative and perfectly able to jump a few rungs of the corporate career ladder, still sadly apparently dominates.

We try to avoid any didactic approaches to our own work like the plague preferring the bizarrely seemingly feared (by the rest of Europe, the US and Asia at least) educated, experiential and reflective approach in conjunction with direct experience, otherwise, we feel, we will simply encourage a future work force to adopt a  'battery farming' approach with the end result, visual merchandising employees looking for and working toward (and with) some kind of pre-determined brand formulae or at worst, under developed dependent non-thinkers.  Clearly, the latter  is the preferred option for retailers which is perhaps why our high street often looks so visually bland and why we have a Visual work force that just do what they are told.  How can there be a formula for being creative as if it comes as a kit of parts that gives one all of the answers?  And, why does no-one else or at least so few in this industry appear to understand this or push away from it?  While our leaning toward and favouring of a more holistic and reflective approach to Design and Visual Merchandising may be frowned upon, misunderstood, feared, discarded or viewed as grandiose or unnecessary within our industry, the evidence is clear that Visual Merchandising research, Design and development  still remains, currently, at most, either 'testing a new fixture or prototype' (often designed by an external source), brands shamelessly plagiarising each other, concepts are literal translations from initial thought to completion or no creativity exists or is evident at all.  Celebrating dullards and simpletons in 'top' corporate visual merchandising jobs is still not cool, paying them whacking wages, criminal.  How are we ever able to move forward and develop our industry, pushing the boundaries of Design at least a little further forward, developing, redesigning and rethinking our Visual Merchandising Design agenda to avoid the blandness we see so often beaming shamelessly  from so many of our high streets?  Perhaps too many corporate 'creative' Visual Merchandising leaders are just not creative enough, if at all?  Or, so overwhelmed and outnumbered by marketing and finance departments (or absorbed into either one) that any creative energy is sapped simply just through managing to maintain some basic level of 'creativity' while fending off  or having to accommodate other department's cynicism?  Who knows?  That said, we certainly wouldn't wish to encourage potential mavericks, Machiavellian Princes or misunderstood geniuses, this is much bigger than simply adopting  an 'x-factor', stroppy teenager, rogue or feral approach.  This will take rather more gravitas.  In the meantime, the fact remains that so many of our Visual Merchandisers at every level lack a Design education background or basic design skills at the very least, and this needs to be addressed by our industry.  We are already doing our part.  This, surely should form the base of the Visual Merchandising agenda and certainly the base of the 'pyramid' from which everything else is built upon and therefore enable us as an industry to move forward through the century and become the tour do force that we should be?  Leaps are clearly ambitious right now and there are certainly too many people in our industry who will fear our thinking and dig their heels in further but ultimately we must acknowledge that the seemingly halcyon days of the trimmers and the 'display artists' (who incidentally were rather more informed and skilled)  are long gone and we must now either pack a punch and move forward, move over or simply move down the bench and allow a new Visual Merchandising agenda to flourish so that our industry is one that can be reckoned with, has longevity and no longer seen or used as something fluffy, flowery, glittery, ephemeral or a sticky plaster on the wound of bad retailing. Instead, we would suggest that it needs to be, simultaneously the overview and the detail, having a strong Design philosophy, be an integral part of a Design process, non formulaic and Visual Merchandising Design led in the first instance are just some of the solutions, although these will probably fall on quivering highly paid deaf ears.  Don't you think?

Anyway, that said, here are just some of thoughts for 2012........

1. Thou shalt not use literal translations

Is no-one else bored with seeing this kind of stuff.  We understand the Son of Man by Magritte reference here but where is the design element other than a literal translation?

2. Thou shall employ professional Visual Merchandisers

We come across these kinds of schemes on a daily basis.  Why do retailers not employ professional Visual Merchandisers to produce these schemes.  Of course, the cost element.  However, the amount of damage these kinds of schemes do both to the Visual Merchandising industry but moreover to the retailer themselves versus the cost of employing a freelance VM at the very least, staggering.

3. Thou shall maintain Visual Merchandising standards

Would you invite people into your home if it was unclean and untidy?  Probably not.  Its not very clear why retailers allow these examples as above to happen, although it does scream at us that they just don't care (but they will still take your money).

4. Thou shalt not use clocks in a repetition format

This not about the use of clocks per se, but about the use of the same old stuff churned out time and time again.  Worse still are the clocks representing different time zones.  We did have the urge to do as Salvador Dahli did at Bonwit Teller, but resisted.  Can we move on beyond these cliches please?

5.  Thou shalt not produce incomprehensible or meaningless schemes

These are just another few examples of the thousands of schemes that we see on our travels.  Meaningless, incomprehensible schemes.  Where is the Design in these schemes?  There isn't any, is there?

6.  Thou shalt avoid the corpse look.

If one has fashion product either fold it or show it on a bust form (preferably with articulated arms) or on a mannequin.   The hanging corpse look that we see every so often does nothing for the product.

7.  Thou shalt avoid the coffin look

We're not massive fans of this brand anyway, and we have poked them a lot during 2011.  Strangely they seem to simply just either take it on the chin or are completely unaware of what we say.  Does it matter anyway?  Not really.  However, we do wish for 2012 that they would breathe some life into their brand and give it some personality beyond the celebrity endorsements, or at least for someone to nail these coffins firmly shut.

8. Thou shalt not use stacked suitcases

We were really very surprised that this brand put suitcases stacked in their window schemes.  Yes, of course they are quite beautiful suitcases, but we saw this trend throughout the whole of 2010 and 2011 already.  The concept had already reached the 'value' retailers, therefore we're not entirely sure why this amazing and avant garde retailer  produced such a scheme.

9. Thou shall continue to produce incredible schemes.

The likes of Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys and Liberty really helped us keep our sanity this year.  The creativity that these brands communicate is quite exceptional versus the bland brands of the high street.  Thank you guys.

10.  Thou shall have a wonderful and Happy New Year.

If you've read this far, please do have a Wonderful, Happy and successful (whatever that may mean to you) Year and we look forward to sharing our thoughts with you throughout 2012.