Challenge

Helping a small music lesson and retail business gain attention and increase foot traffic during the Holiday Season with a budget of $100

Opportunity

Invite a sense of wonder through windows with a dynamic and memorable design

Solution

A hand-crafted three-dimensional installation that communicates the mission of the business and delivers a visual message of both innocence and sophistication

Project Holiday is a collaboration between the Westhampton Merchants Association, a collection of small local businesses in Richmond and the First Year Experience Design track students at the VCU Brandcenter during the winter of 2017.

Twenty-eight small businesses participated in the project. Each student was paired randomly with a business and was asked to design and construct a window display for the business window or storefront with a budget of $100.

The project was inspired by the festive and visionary holiday window displays of 5th Avenue in New York City. It is a way for the Westhampton Merchants to showcase their products while offering our community a magical and free event for the holiday season.

Client

Grove Avenue Piano Richmond

My client was Grove Avenue Piano, a business that offers music classes as well as instrument retail and tuning services.

I started off the project with client interview and location inspection. I gathered information regarding the business’ customer demographics, brand values, the interior design and aesthetic, and even the client’ personality, during two store visits and through email exchanges with the client. This was followed by presenting the client a proof-of-concept mockup and receiving feedbacks.

Concept

An Ethereal Performance

I wanted to design something that not only showcases my client’s products, but also invite a sense of wonder while staying on brand.

Since the shop’s primary customer base is children aged 6 - 12, I decided to create a scene that visually communicates a bedtime story.

The formation of the boats, which were made out of music sheets, was staged to create a sense of movement. Its goal was to visually represent the way piano sounds - fluid, yet dynamic. The invisible piano player, along with the clouds and celestial elements, were created to invoke a sense of innocence and whimsicality.

Production

Once my client approved the final design, the production began.

FINAL RESULT

After 30+ hours of labor, this was born.

Conclusion

Project Holiday was publicized by several media outlets, including Richmond Times-Dispatch, Style Weekly and Richmond BizSense.
My installation was awarded the “Best Concept” by a panel of judges.
For more information on Project Holiday, please visit www.projectholidayrva.com.