On a pedestal

Gschwendtner says the inspiration for the drawers came not from retail, but from the cabinet of curiosities, originally a Renaissance idea. The drawers also answer what Gschwendtner saw as a need for tidiness – she felt that a similar exhibition last year featuring ceramics felt cluttered. The drawers are cut out of the same wood as the wall panel, creating a continuous grain effect when they are shut.

The Storyboard

Selling light bulbs is not an easy business – they’re seen as a distress purchase, bought largely on price by a confused consumer. Philips, keen to take the fight to cheaply produced Far Eastern products, decided it needed to help consumers differentiate its light bulbs. So London consultancy Vivid Brand was enlisted to look at how retail fixtures could become a communications vehicle. The results, which are being rolled out throughout Europe, focus on what light is about, using subdivisions such as soft versus bright, allowing merchandising according to effect rather than the usual fixture category, says Charlie Mitchell-Heggs, integration director at Vivid Brand.

The Wall

In its lavish 4000m2 Brandcentre in Nuremberg, which opened this month, Puma needed a display that could handle up to 1500 pairs of shoes. Intended as a kind of laboratory for the sportswear manufacturer, Decoprojekt’s design makes use of a bespoke display system. Called the Nimbus 2000, the stainless steel elements function as displays and flexible room dividers, but also play an important acoustic role in preventing arbitrary sound problems in the space.