While the annual Interior Design Show in Toronto is a high calibre design show, it is squarely focused at the residential market and the end consumer, rather than the commercial and retail sectors. Yet, every year I come away from the show with inspiration, not so much from the products but from the exhibits – and sometimes with big ideas and other times with small nuggets. From this year’s IDS15, here are the 4 most inspired ideas that can be borrowed as retail inspiration:
1. Caesarstone’s Swing Set
A collaboration between Caesarstone, the manufacturer of quartz surfacing, and Canadian-born, London-based designer Philippe Malouin, the interactive installation, Swings, was by far the WOW feature of the entire show. The 12-piece circular swing set featuring seats fabricated from Caesarstone’s newest colours and finishes, was not only of a grand scale, it was afforded the luxury of space to magnify its playground reference. The result: playful interactivity that both engages and conjures childhood memories while re-imagining the possibilities of a functional material. Although perhaps not literally transferable to retail, we are reminded that retail must surprise and delight customers, touching their heart chords and providing engaging opportunities to interact directly or indirectly with the product, or with each other – retail inspiration at its best!
2. Montauk Sofa’s Plaid World
Montauk Sofa’s booth was all about plaid – plaid sofa, plaid walls, plaid floor, and staff in plaid kilts. It was a simple idea taken to the max. The Montreal-based designer and manufacturer of premium quality hand-made sofas, even topped off their booth with a photo-opp spot allowing visitors to sport plaid kilts and record the moment with their smart phones. For retail, sometimes it’s the simplest ideas that can have the biggest impact when carried through to every detail. Go bold or go home. And don’t forget the opportunity for social media sharing.
3. designboom mart
In retail, adaptability is the new norm; permanent retail spaces must be flexible and temporary pop-ups must be cost-effective and easily mountable. As retail inspiration, this designboom mart demonstrates what can be achieved with simplicity and graphics. Every year designboom, the online design and architecture magazine, hosts a design bazaar highlighting emerging and established designers from around the world, who are testing and selling new products such as household items, accessories, jewellery and small furnishings. This year’s market area, designed by Arc & Co, a collaborative design agency specializing in branding, product, packaging, exhibit & environmental graphic design, employed a simple industrial pipe system and over-scaled printed and layered graphics. Striking a balance between creating an intimate enclosed space and remaining an extension of the show floor, the cost effective installation reinforced the temporary market concept.
4. Artemano’s pivot doors
Sometimes it’s the nuggets that provide inspiration, such as simple solutions to design problems. Artemano, the retailer of Zen-inspired home furnishings mostly involving hand-crafted wood, created a simple enclosed box for their booth. The experience within, was accessed via pivoting doors, of which the pivot function was cleverly achieved via castor hardware with the wheels removed. The solution was brilliant given that typical recessed pivot hinges would have been nearly impossible to use without raising the floor of the booth. For retail or any other sector of design, a concept can be realized even within limited parameters with creativity. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention.
