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.

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.

Zara, Rome

I know a lot of you ask me to include Zara here on the blog which I do quite regularly. So, here we go. This site is along the Via Del Corso here in Rome (actually there are two along this street quite close to each other) What is interesting is this didn't have the usual schemes we can see currently around the world and this called out to me to record it. I was drawn in as the product presentation was such fun with the use of the multiple head scarves stacked up on the mannequins head with her hat perched precariously and almost daring to fall off. Anyway, they are fun and it is a pleasure to see that this brand has confidence in allowing the odd store to be creative with their schemes .

Louis Vuitton, Rome

Walking along the Via Condotti here in Rome, I couldn't help myself but look in to see what LV were doing. I do like their presentations and this store is probably one of the nicest that I have seen. OK, well I'm not over enthusiastic about the suspended cages although they have this incredible staircase leading up to the first floor of this store. I have made a short video of it which you can see on my YouTube site: Jhvefun which had the Romans mesmerised. The stairs are an LED screen with moving images and graphics. I cant imagine this would work particularly well during the daytime but at night time it really does come alive. If there is one store to take a look at there in Rome it certainly is this one. I've noticed that quite a few people have made videos of this too, so clearly it draws in the customers - job well done.

Pure, Rome

I don't normally include these types of stores here as I do find child mannequins quite creepy. However, this scheme at the Pure store on Via Frattina here in Rome compelled me to record it and share it with you. This is clearly a children's brand, and although I did search around their web site, the English translation didn't work so I cant find out much for you. Here, however we have a small scenario of the usual creepy figures dressed as if adults (which is why I probably find them so sinister). The mannequins have been placed quite randomly on a Black and White chequered vinyl floor and surrounded with these drawn cut outs of the Eiffel Tower, various products and Black vinyl designs applied to the walls. Further within the Interior Space the surfaces are in a vibrant Lime Green tone. I guess children like this kind of stuff? Anyway, this isn't one of my favourite stores in the city but I guess people like it.

Dior, Rome

I really do like this brands schemes. The Dior store along Via Condotti (opposite the Spanish steps) was quite treat to see, well at least initially. I felt that the ideas here worked well with the use of the printed backdrop illustrating a perspective view of, potentially where these items were conceived, although on closer inspection the attention to any detail was quite lacking. Lights illuminating the product were broken and it appears that the left hand of this mannequin is actually the wrong one? Out of the four window schemes the one below is undoubtedly the most considered and so carefully produced which is indicative of this brand. However, for such a high profile brand and incredible location is was a little disappointing to see such apparent lack of care.