Creative Solutions

A great retail experience doesn’t always have to come from...

Sun, 06 May 2012 12:02:01 -1000

A great retail experience doesn’t always have to come from the flashy interior or amazing customer service - though it’s highly recommended. A little design where it counts can change peoples attitude to your store or brand.

Benetton goes interactive.

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:26:10 -1000

Benetton goes interactive.

Video

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 02:10:40 -1000

iPad In-Store Solution

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:02:56 -1000

This might seem like a extravagant kiosk solution at the moment, but an inevitable one. Once you’ve upgraded to the latest and greatest tablet, last years model will fit securely in Lilitab’s custom iPad enclosure. Designed to be used as an interactive kiosk, Lilitab has designed complimentary iPad mounts that will work in a variety of situations. From various bezels to free standing or table mounted armature, they’ve thought out every possible use. Expect these real soon, sooner if someone lowers the price of an iPad a bit.

Competing with Amazon - Good Customer Service

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 09:33:49 -1000

Competing with Amazon - Good Customer Service:

The big challenge for any retailer is to make sure that the people coming into the store actually buy stuff, and research suggests that not scrimping on payroll is crucial.

Shoppable Walls in our future?

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 23:33:25 -1000

Shoppable Walls in our future?:

Is this just a novelty or a legitimate solution for shopping in the future? What kind of product makes sense for this method of consumption?

Is technology changing the way we consume?

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:43:00 -1000

Interesting infographic hinting at the changing habits of modern consumers via technology. The last few examples caught our attention regarding off-line habits - but not for long (wink-wink).

Tangerine Tango-2012 Pantone Color of the Year

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:34:00 -1000

I’m sure you’ve already heard what the color of the year is, but we love us some orange (can you tell from our logo). Tangerine Tango can be paired with hot & cool colors for a vibrant and refreshing palette. Here are a few things that we love:

What to look forward to in Fall 2012:

This is a beautiful example of a small business reaching its...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:23:00 -1000

This is a beautiful example of a small business reaching its target demographic, and doing it in an authentic, honest and engaging way. We think every store could take a few pages out of these guys playbook.

Square want to change the Point of Sales area with a new...

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:13:58 -1000

Square want to change the Point of Sales area with a new register system based on their popular money transaction service. Here’s to hoping they do, who needs all the old receipt paper and dirty pennies anyway. Yay for progress.

Why does design matter in a retail space? And, how does it...

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:01:32 -1000

Why does design matter in a retail space? And, how does it effect your customers experience? A creative studio in Helsinki tries to answer these questions by building a pop-up cafe with suspect furniture and fixtures. Like an episode of Candid Camera, the cafe is rigged with poorly designed furniture waiting to fail. Unsuspecting patrons are challenged with the uncomfortableness of good and bad design. And the Internet is involved.

How About Gardening or Golfing at the Mall?

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:55:18 -1000

How About Gardening or Golfing at the Mall?:

After decades of decline, malls across the country are being redeveloped by communities and planners trying to forge new gathering places out of vast lots with empty buildings.

Watch this video for another fine example of an engaging public...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:40:00 -1000

Watch this video for another fine example of an engaging public experience through store front windows and technology. French interactive design group MILK deploy projectors, RED cameras, ballerinas and Microsofts Kinects into Repetto for Paris Fashion Week.

An incredibly inspirational free-standing Starbucks Coffee using...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:25:45 -1000

An incredibly inspirational free-standing Starbucks Coffee using stacked shipping containers. Clever thinking has created an almost effortless gathering space away from the crowded malls. (Just add a few trees to soften things up a bit) Creative Solutions approves of this idea and more like it. We can’t quit you Starbucks.

Ideo Offers 4 Strategies For Reinventing The Retail Experience

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:11:51 -1000

Ideo Offers 4 Strategies For Reinventing The Retail Experience:

IDEO knows a thing or two about designing things that sell. Their suggestions for reinventing the retail experience should be considered money in the bank.

This is a great example of how store fronts can transform into...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:02:21 -1000

This is a great example of how store fronts can transform into engaging interactive displays for the public using off the shelf tech - and lots of creativity. Expect to hear the word ‘aware’ a lot more regarding visual display. Some choice tech notes for those who need a bit more info on how this was done.

We used a high quality projector and semi-matt foil from the hardware store to project the eyes to the window. They are rendered by a WebGL frontend using a shader sphere effect. The detection is performed by OpenFrameworks and the Kinect.
An Arduino controlled servo motor, pushing a button on the projector remote, is turning the installation on at 4pm and off at 11pm.

You knew one day those mannequins would move. Bizarre, yes,...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:49:26 -1000

You knew one day those mannequins would move. Bizarre, yes, amazing - totally.

The Hudson Hotel is a favorite hangout when CS is in NYC. Look...

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 00:41:00 -1000

The Hudson Hotel is a favorite hangout when CS is in NYC. Look what type of retail-bending shenanigans their up to for Fashion Week.

To celebrate Fashion Week in New York, USA, Hudson Hotel will feature a large vending machine in its lobby that will carry fashion ‘necessities.’ The luxury items will be from upcoming and promising designers from the U.S., including a diamond and wood strand bracelet from Ruby Kobo, a python clutch from SANG A, hand-made 7-fold wool ties from Public School, and a rabbit fur jacket from Jolibe. Other designers include Alice Ritter, Gemma Redux and Grey Ant.

Vending machines are always thought of as easy-access for disposable goods. Maybe we’ll see the fortune teller machines revamped into Mac genius bars. We can hope.

An illuminating illustration demonstrating Apples dedication to...

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:44:14 -1000

An illuminating illustration demonstrating Apples dedication to design theory and practice in everything they do. via IFOApplestore

The power of Life-Like mannequins

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:02:32 -1000

The power of Life-Like mannequins:

Interesting NPR Story on Life-Like Mannequins effect on shopping