Monday, November 14, 2011

Here Comes . . . The Holidays!

Anthropologie

Readers! Guess what is just around the corner?! The holiday window display season but of course! It's the biggest and brightest part of the year within our industry and The Visual Beat is very excited to be featuring as many windows as possible this year.  Last year I featured the windows on my sister blog Fourth Floor Walk Up - where I captured many new readers and allowed many non-New Yorkers to experience the terrific windows of New York. This year however, FFWU will still be showcasing some windows but it will always be linking back to this site, which will cover everything we can possibly gather.  So please get excited and check back often to see the newest coverage on the New York holiday installations.

For a little bit of fun I wanted to show some of my favorites from last year. Please enjoy!

Tiffany & Co.

Ralph Lauren
Bergdorf Goodman

Bergdorf Goodman

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Club Monaco: Collecting Dinnerware

Gather your grandmother's dishes and execute a window display.  Possibly inspired by the trend of mixed and matched dinnerware at weddings, brands like Club Monaco, Bergdorf Goodman and Alice & Olivia have created displays that use collections of objects to showcase the product.  

Club Monaco

Club Monaco

Club Monaco


At Club Monaco, mix and match dinnerware has been arranged salon style on the back walls. Although simple and somewhat abstracted from the product, these decorative windows have been an interesting appeal about them.  

Bergdorf Goodman

Bergdorf Goodman

Earlier this year, Bergdorfs did a similar window using strictly the John Derian collection of decoupaged plates and trays. 

Alice & Olivia

Alice & Olivia

Alice & Olivia, chose lamp shades as their collectible and opted to hang the objects from cords and wires rather than to affix them to the wall.  Creating a bit messier look, the approach is still there with the emphasis on collected, vintage pieces. 

Crate & Barrel


Lastly, other brands like Crate & Barrel have caught on to the trend and have hung their actual product in similar compositions.

All photos are taken by Lauren Gries © The Visual Beat 2011 All Rights Reserved

Thursday, November 3, 2011

A Shout Out To Hermes: For Standout Window Displays


A few months back I spent a day photographing the windows through out New York, it was the last week in August.  Summer was coming to an end but the best time of year for was right around the corner.  Usually later summer windows a little dull and often the lower budget installations of the year.




The one brand that really stood out during this time (and often stands out all of the time) was Hermes.  Working with a simplified color palette of white fixtures or props the color product truly is the hero in these windows.




I also ended up stumbling upon Hermes mall windows in New Jersey about a week later. I have to say, these windows were just as well executed and just as interesting.

In both scenarios they're playing with proportions.  In NYC the product is scaled much larger to fit the large windows and life sized props. In New Jersey, the props are brought down in scale to make the smaller product look large.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Welcome: To the Visual Beat!

Anthropologie - Rockafeller Center Store - New York, NY

The Visual Beat is a blog that tracks, follows and forecasts trends and concepts within the Visual Merchandising industry.  Which includes but is not only constrained to Window Displays, Interior Design, Styling and Graphic Design.

Anthropologie - Rockafeller Center Store - New York, NY

Why?  Because our industry is at a loss for style forecasting. Visual takes its influences from many directions but we have to admit that it's strange how every brand seems to be somewhat in tuned to each other and often creates very similar displays.  It has to be more than just a coincidence!

Anthropologie - Rockafeller Center Store - New York, NY
So please, I invite you to read along and use this site as reference.  Being based in New York City, I'll showcase some of the top designer's windows on a weekly basis, along with any other interesting ideas that pop up.