Gaiam

My team met with some ideas on how to compose the space. We were struggling with which part of the assignment to design first. Should we start with the structure, then the display and then the packaging? Or do we start small with the packaging and move up to the overall space. The product we chose was Gaiam, an all natural product line. We looked to see if we could market the nail polish in a way that was consistent with their existing campaign.

Our first challenge was to find a way to represent a brand whose main asset, in our minds, was its non-toxic nature. So we looked for ways to represent nature and what we felt people might connect with. In using this product you can take a breath of fresh air and not worry about any harmful side effects. So how could we represent fresh air? We thought of being outside with a breeze blowing and the trees waving in the wind. We jumped up into the trees and sat under its canopy. And, hence, the concept of the canopy of trees was born.

We designed a 10'x 10' x 12' space that felt a lot like a traditional retail space, four walls, a floor and a ceiling. We saw some examples of spaces that took the outdoors and brought it inside. We thought we could develop our own way. Our walls came together pretty well and we liked the idea of using thin shelving on one wall as a display for our packaging. So we started there.

One of our biggest challenges was giving the space the feeling of being up in the treetops therefore not using heavy solid pieces to bring the experience back down to the trunk. We needed to find a way to capture the light, airy feeling of being in the treetops. We decided to each work on it along with packaging ideas and display and meet again.

Until next time,
Ciao!