Having only recently moved to London, I’d been so impressed by the outrageously creative and eye catching window displays in the touristic shopping areas, I decided to go back and properly inspect them including the products they’re meant to be advertising. These are four of the Christmas visual merchandising displays on the street facing exterior of Fortnum & Mason – a tourist hotspot for certain. The animals entered in each window are paper and plastic sculptures.
The above is one of my favourite windows from the Fortnum display, and below I’ve edited together two videos of animated window displays. I’d like to keep my work as simple as possible in order to give myself the best possible chance of finishing it to a high standard, and the below moving windows inspired me in that sense.
I included the video above to show the subtle, small animatronic movements in some of the display windows. I envision my own work being slightly more complex than this but it’s a good starting point for me to generate ideas.
Above I’ve edited together two photographs I took of the Liberty display dedicated to Wicked (film) coming out this year. These displays contain fresh flowers as one of the signature products Liberty is known for, I was astounded at the creativity and clever use of colour contrast to generate instantly recognisable elements reminiscent of the film’s best known posters and set designs. Left: wicked witch of the West meets the good witch of the East, right: follow the yellow brick road.
The flower based display above impressed me so much, it’s hard to imagine a better use of Liberty’s resources for the sake of promoting this film release.
Below is included the lowest quality image in this collection (it was taken indoors and the store was too bright to avoid the reflection seen in the glass) but the display itself is so clever and creative I decided to include it anyway. The display perfectly encapsulates the meaning of what it’s meant to be showcasing, the dark blue acts as a perfect contrast to the gold jewellery encased within, and the thorn motifs tie in effortlessly with the velveteen forest surroundings. This small display is the perfect starting point for me to begin sketching ideas and creating assets for working in 3D, as it’s so easy to imagine how it would move and the design itself speaks to so many of the things I like.