2007 Visual Competition – 1st Place Winners, Part II

Holiday Exterior

LED Display

Cartier, New York

Cartier’s New York flagship was decked in its holiday best last year thanks to a 215-foot ribbon and 8-foot bow constructed of 95,000 custom red LED lights. Also adorning the façade were fifteen 15-foot boxes cascading down the Fifth Avenue building and landing just outside the store’s second-floor windows.

Existing store canopies were converted into oversized box tops and above the entrance, an animated box opened and closed to custom music. Judges applauded the movement of the boxes and the overall size of the spectacle.

Client: Cartier, New York – Janette Greenburg

Design: Holiday Image Inc., Long Island City, N.Y. – Matthew Schwam, president

Photography: Richard Cadan Photography, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Home Goods Window Display

Waterford Ballet

Macy’s North, Chicago

The delicate Macy’s Waterford Ballet window installation, celebrating the launch of a new Waterford china line, wowed judges for its beauty and drama. In the single window, actual Waterford plates were used to create a custom tutu that was fitted to a graceful mannequin poised atop a base of rose petals. Ballet slippers hanging from pink satin ribbons encircled the dancer, while subdued lighting spotlighted the merchandise skirt.

Client: Macy’s, Chicago — Amy Meadows, senior manager, windows and events marketing; Jamie Becker, ovp, visual marketing; Windows and Events marketing team

Outside Design Consultants: Kinc Inc., Chicago

Photography: Susan Kezon, Chicago

Holiday Window Display

The Trees of Wonder

Macy’s Herald Square, New York

For the second year in a row, Macy’s Paul Olszewski took home top honors in the holiday windows category for his holiday creation for the department store’s Herald Square flagship. This time, the window director literally thought outside the box with his “Trees of Wonder” theme that celebrated the magic and excitement of the Christmas tree.

Several visual elements in each of the windows broke the sidewalk-window boundary, coming out onto the building exterior. Touchpads installed on the window glass allowed viewers to control animation, lighting, music and sound. In one scene, a dragon’s eyes were actually video monitors showing images of the crowd outside. Other animated elements included a spinning tree being decorated by fairies in an underwater Christmas festival.

Client

Macy’s Herald Square, New York – Paul Olszewski, director of windows; Douglas Fowler, assistant window director

Production: Spaeth Design Inc., New York

Musical Arrangements: Glen Tarachow, New York

Audio Engineering: Manu Sawkar, New York

Lighting: Joshua Epstein, New York

Photography: James Mulea, New York

Visual Technology in a Visual Display

Touchwall

Bellevue Towers, Bellevue, Wash.

Shopping for condominium units at the twin luxury Bellevue Towers in Bellevue, Wash., is a high-tech experience thanks to a 22-foot-long free-standing glass Touchwall. The digital technology touchscreen allows users to shop for their next home by virtually walking around the building and viewing floor plans. Users can also zoom out from a single home to an entire floor to get contextual information about the property and its amenities.

“A deeper emotional connection is forged when users discover they are seeing real panoramic views from their future home,” says producer Beth Kluender of Ziba Design. “They have full control over these perspectives and can look around from any floor height, in every direction, elevating the abstract concept to a real vision living here.”

Judges agreed the technology was a great way to elevate the home-buying experience to a new level.

Client: Gerding Edlen Development LLC, Portland, Ore. – Beth Scott, marketing manager

Design: Ziba Design Inc., Portland, Ore. – Tom Lakovic, interaction design director; Steve McCallion, executive creative director; Greg Martin, interaction designer; Elizabeth Blades, art director; Beth Kluender, producer

Projectors: Avidex, Redmond, Wash.

Custom Touchfilm: Keytec, Garland, Texas

Custom Chandelier: Sharon Marston Ltd., London

Photography: Rich Strode, Strode Photographic, Portland, Ore.