Best of CH 2010: Top Five Retail Visions
Singaporean bags in Amsterdam, architectural shoes in NYC, food as news in Pittsburgh and more in our 2010 retail review
by Phuong-Cac Nguyen in Design on 30 December 2010
Architecture, Conceptual, Interiors, Retail, Stores
Our round-up presents brick-and-mortar stores that took advantage of space and place to give customer experiences that went beyond just shopping and eating.
Melrose Market
Seattle's Melrose Market opened in Capitol Hill boasting 21,000-square-feet of space as home to almost a dozen retailers including Sitka & Spruce, Rain Shadow Meats, Calf and Kid and Still Liquor. With a focus on locally sourced, independent and organic goods, the beautiful building that once produced auto parts now attracts a clientele looking for a more updated version of Pike's Place.
Property Of
The owners of Singaporean bag label Property Of championed their coffee shop roots when conceiving the plans for their flagship store on one of the busiest streets in Amsterdam. Rather than launch a traditional boutique, they instead opened a cafe serving up Seattle's Stumptown Coffee with a shop stocking their goods alongside an array of specialty magazines and books.
Dark Shop
United Nude's Manhattan store Dark Shop is reminiscent of a nightclub, with its dark interior and striking LED wall lighting up the shoes on display. The future-tech interior was designed by creative director Rem D. Koolhaas, and is perfectly aligned with the brand's vision of architecturally-inspired footwear.
Conflict Kitchen
An art installation with a retail side, Conflict Kitchen is a project in Pittsburgh that aims to educate the public through food. Calling attention to countries the United States is currently in conflict with, its current incarnation is Bolani Pazi, which serves Afghani turnovers. All food is wrapped in paper printed with information and facts about that country, such as its traditional customs and the U.S.' involvement.
Converse SoHo
Converse adapted its extensive history as a brand into its second store, located in NYC's SoHo neighborhood. With the world's biggest selection of Converse shoes, there's a pick-up window that's particularly useful for those who already know what they want and a wall featuring an American flag installation made from its iconic Chuck Taylors. Things here are as straightforward as the m.o. that its legions of fans have helped shaped—be unique and yourself. To that end, the decoration is subtle enough without the need to drum up false hype.
Best of CH 2010: Top Five Color Stories
From a Maserati bike to a neighborhood revival project and Yves Klein's retrospective, the year in color
by Richard Prime in Design on 29 December 2010
Best of CH, Bicycles, Color, Exhibitions, Furniture, Interior Design
Color, perhaps the most powerful, immediate and accessible element in a designer or artist's repertoire, blessed 2010 in abundance from all quarters. With products, fashion, art and social projects all proving that color is a key to unlocking human emotion on a multitude of levels, here are five offerings which had us more than tickled pink this year.
Let's Colour
One of the most fantastic things about color is its ability to change the feeling of a place or even a viewer—often without anything more than a bucket and paint brush. Dulux's Let's Colour project typifies the simple power of a splash of color. Throughout the year volunteers have taken the Let's Colour project to all corners of the world, helping to brighten up neighborhoods and locations which needed a little lick of paint. Working in collaboration with the locals, Dulux has been able to not only breathe some life into the downtrodden locations but also empower the inhabitants in the process for a truly inspirational venture.
Zweed
Arming the consumer with a little creative power, Zweed produces bespoke furniture which the buyer can spec out themselves, choosing color, shape, material and form. As we enter 2011, Zweed is truly showing how times of economic strife can lead the increased customer satisfaction, product longevity and beautiful pieces of handmade design which carry with them narrative and meaning in their coloring.
Evolving Image
Color can produce a dizzying array of effects and illusions in an architectural space, shown this year in the renovation of the compact CH HQ bathroom. Designed by Evolving Image, two tones of gray, a geometric pattern and a complimentary aqua accent draw the viewer's attention to the paint job while elongating the small space. The blue-green hue is also a color which will remain fresh and contemporary for a long time, while gray always acts better as a base tone than a purer white if you want to pop an accent.
Montante Maserati 8CTF
This year the cycling world has enthralled and inspired in terms of color use, but it's hard to find a pursuit which has a better grip on color combinations and selection than the Montante Maserati 8CTF. If you think about the physical constraints of a bicycle, in terms of the actual surface area one has to color, it makes the achievement of creating a mind-blowing color combination—one which is staggering to even the most skilled colorist. Examples of quality coloring on bikes this year are endless but this piece—produced in honor of the Maserati 8CTF winner of the Indy 500—demonstrates a great subtlety of tone played out with gold accents. Deep, luxurious, completely desirable and proof that you don't have to go chromatic to make a statement.
With the Void, Full Power
No top five of color would be complete without finding some way of mentioning the retrospective of Yves Klein, whose famed International Klein Blue pigment remains the most acute colors seen with the human eye. With the Void, Full Power is still showing and is an absolute must-see. In fact, we recommend everyone at some stage in life gaze in awe at even the smallest pile of the powdery IKB. The glow of this color brings out such a gloriously base emotion that the very thought of it makes me want to weep joyfully in a corner.
Best of CH 2010: Top Five Books
From public radio to public art, our favorite books for 2010 exemplify the beauty in freedom of speech and beyond
by Phuong-Cac Nguyen in Culture on 28 December 2010
Best of CH, Books, Interior Design, Photography, Radio, Rap, Street Art
Though this year consumers had their pick of platforms with the e-reader, iPad and at its tail end, the ambitious Google eBooks project all at the pinnacle of published matter, print stood strong and proved that just like with the movies, the book is usually better.
3DD
Photographer Henry Hargreaves' "3DD" took an in-your-face approach with 86 pages of topless women, whose all-natural breasts were maximized with the clever graphic design best experienced with the included pair of 3D aviator glasses. The Kiwi model-turned-photographer shot the women, most of whom are friends, in NYC.
Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art
Written by Carlo McCormick and with an introduction by Banksy, "Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art" is a large-format book featuring the unsolicited works of over 150 artists curated by Marc and Sara Schiller of the street art site Wooster Collective. From never-before-published photos of work by Keith Haring and Jean-Michael Basquiat to more known pieces by Krink, Os Gemeos and Shepard Fairey, "Trespass" goes beyond street art to include essential outdoor performances and protests such as those by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
Ikea, The Book
Ikea gives industrial designers a look into the company's most successful designs with its 450-page tome "Ikea, The Book." Stories include how they persuaded various creatives—including the iconic Danish designer Verner Panton—to make an original piece to how Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad turned his vision into an international brand that the rest of the world instantly associates with Scandinavian design.
Understand Rap
Successful lyrics decoders got opportunities to win prizes during Jay-Z's recent treasure hunt in support of the recent launch of his new book, but sometimes insight is the prize in and of itself, as "Understand Rap: Explanations of Confusing Rap Lyrics You and Your Grandma Can Understand" proves. Divided into chapters that explore ten categories from fashion to places, the book breaks down the slang and diction of lyrics like "Hockey players pagin' me to practice on my wrist" into plain English (with so much diamond jewelry, my wrist is like an ice rink). This is reading for the whole family.
This is NPR: The First Forty Years
Correspondents including Cokie Roberts, Susan Stamberg, Noah Adams, John Ydstie, Renée Montagne, Ari Shapiro and David Folkeflick all contribute to "This is NPR: The First Forty Years," a look back on the first four decades of National Public Radio that covers the station's development as important news events unfolded. The book is accompanied by a special bonus CD with selected broadcasts that exemplify the mantra "always put the listener first," beginning with Jeff Kamen's 1971 May Day demonstrations reporting. Keeping in line with its always cutting-edge content, the book is designed by Design Army, whose type treatments and infographics make it a true must-have for NPR-oholics.