VISUAL MEETING - Revista de escaparatismo y visual merchandising

I guess when we’re editing this issue we’ll be well into the Christmas-holidays, at least we in Spain are, as here the holidays don’t end until the sixth of January when we celebrate Epiphany. The actual mixture of cultures and influences that we undergo allows us to adopt traditions like Santa Claus or Father Christmas who have been added to our three kings, together with the Catalonian Tío and the Basque Olentzero. With so many benefactors around there is ample opportunity for us to make our wishes. With our profession in mind my wishes for next year are the following.

That we who participate in the Linkedin Visual Merchandising group decide for once and for all how to name our profession, a profession that until now uses different denominations like window dresser, visual merchandiser, stylist, etc....[read +]


	Imagine you’re drowning and suddenly you find a big bubble of oxygen right next to you. That is the sensation you undergo when you walk through Barcelona and suddenly come upon The Outpost. Its brilliant exterior contrasts with the dull general sight the shops of our city offer. It’s simply impossible to overlook this shop and not entering it. And once inside the positive sensation only intensifies when you are met with a display of good taste and professionalism in all aspects of visual merchandising and, on top of that, a client-friendly treatment. To avoid any doubt I add that this shop isn’t one of my clients and their owners aren’t family or friends. I just can’t seem to help shouting out loud when I see things.... [read +]

		We’re all familiar with the National Geographic magazine or its documentaries, but few of us are aware of the fact that National Geographic is opening its own stores. The idea originated in Spain where two of the stores are situated, in Madrid and Palma de Mallorca. The other stores you can find in Andorra, London, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. The Madrid branch counts as the company’s flagship store in Spain and offers its clients a completely new experience in a space that hosts exhibitions and conferences and shows documentaries. The cafeteria is one of the nicest eateries of Madrid and the shop has an extensive assortment of products, all related with travel, adventure and nature. From the beginning of this year, Vitrina is responsibley design... [read +]


If it’s an exception to find well done shop windows, even as we’re approaching Christmas, it’s even more exceptional to have a client as the Ironmongers Gaudí, a type of shop that doesn’t normally approaches us to design their shop windows. However, this shop, situated near Barcelona’s famous Sagrada Familia church, hence the name, asked the students of Vitrina Formación, our display design school, to create its windows and those of its branch in the Rosellón street. In the case of the first shop it concerned the reopening of the shop, the birth of something new, and so the team formed of our pupils created nests that carried some of the shop’s articles. High up in the windows they showed the birds responsible for the nests; storks made out of iron boards and ladders.... [read +]


		Almost 60 shops participated in the last edition of the Barcelona Shopping Night that took place last November 30th. The event proved to be a huge success. Those who participated in last year’s event wouldn’t have believed it, but this year there were even more people strolling up and down the Passeig de Gràcia, Barcelona’s main shopping artery. Over 60 shops, restaurants and hotels participated. The Manderín hotel offered a plate of soup, a creation of 3 star chef Carme Ruscalleda together with Raúl Balam, and a desert created by Jean-Luc Figueras... [read +]

As long as I can remember, like so many of my fellow citizens, I have visited the yearly Santa Llúcia Christmas fair at the square in front of the Cathedral of Barcelona. These last editions some smart guy from the town-hall has decided that we should have a better look at the square’s cobblestones and has erected a superstructure, carrying a huge amount of spotlights, that covers the complete fair. I remember the overwhelming darkness of the sky that sheltered the fair and created a mysterious and intimate atmosphere that only the bulbs glowing... [read +]


	I don’t specially value display-design contests but I admit that they give a certain spark to a city’s shopping streets. It’s a funny thing but certain small Spanish cities, Vitoria for example, are more active in this respect than a big city like Barcelona. Such contests serve at the very least in making people aware of the effort that’s being put into designing shop windows. And there’s always the possibility that, among the various displays, you come across some really good ones. The bad thing about these contests is that it are always the same shops that win. You can name them beforehand. I don’t mean to criticize the winning shops, after all they are the ones that put in an effort. My complaint is directed to the rest of the shops, participants and non-participants alike, for not caring enough about their... [read +]

In the winter edition of Casa Decor 2011, an interior design event in Barcelona, we could see a surprising space of the Spanish paint manufacturer Valentine, created by the designers of Cul de Sac. “Reason loves emotion” says the Cul the Sac home page, accompanied by an illustration of Paco Roca, a prize-winning cartoonist. We learned a little more about Cul de Sac during a round table conference on social and emotional relationships in architecture.... [read +]

The Outpost
Naitonal Geographic
Ironmonges Gaudí
Cul de sac
Vitrina
Vitrina Formación
Simon
Francesc Polop disseny
Visual meeting FORUM!
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