zim zou in depth analysis

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 Lucie Thomas teamed up with Thibault Zimmermann to form Zim&Zou, a french studio based in Nancy that explores different fields including paper sculpture, installation, graphic design, illustration. Rather than composing images on a computer, they prefer creating real objects with paper and taking photos out of them. A number of intricate illustrations actually come from the three-dimensional installations made by Zim&Zou. Their choice of paper is due to the versatility and good quality of the material, especially when it is sculpted and photographed.

I chose to look at Zim Zou for inspiration as I wanted to include some paper origami in my window display and as they create paper sculptures I thought their work would be perfect to look at. Their work looks very delicate & complicated and at first glance looks impossible to be all made out of paper, their processes for these pieces must be very time consuming & must take a lot of thought & planning. 

The colours that have been used are very bright an include primary, secondary and tertiary colours which are incoperated in the repeat patterns in the design. The piece shows the use of paper cutting which is very precise as the layering from the paper allows the colour underneath to be seen through the paper cut, this makes the piece more visually appealing to look at rather than being just plain block colours to make up the pattern of the balloon. Balloons normally are quite bright so they can be seen from a distance but this balloon piece has been made more quirky and fun than usual, it reminds me of a drawing a child would draw of a hot air balloon. I think all the colours work well together and it is obvious that colour paper has been used rather than painting or even spray painting the pieces of paper, I think this works better as it is neat and tidy and the colours are all even. 

The overall size of the piece show how detailed and precise the balloon is and how much work it must have taken for them to do this, the weight of the piece cant be that much as it is been secured by to bits of clear wire, because of this I think paper was definitely the best material to use. The balloon shape its self must have been made in different stages and then secured together but the joins are seem to be impossible to see from a distance. The folds are accurate and even throughout the piece and have been used to make the balloon shape look more realistic and 3D. The shapes that have been used are simple rectangle, square and triangle with different sizes and colours piled on top of one another to create the pattern. The coloured paper that has been used show the thought of layout as there seems to be none that look out of place and these colours seem to be used quite often in there work, making their pieces recognisable. I think how they put these pieces together is quite extraordinary and very effective as it must have taken a lot of experimentation and practice to be able to get it right. 

I think the piece has been secured on either side to equal out the weight of the entire piece making it easier to hang and less likely to damage the piece itself, making sure the weight of the piece is equally distributed between the wire holding the piece up. 

I am going to use the inspiration from the way the pieces are made with paper to create my hanging pieces and i am also going to try and use the way they hang everything to secure any of my objects using clear wire so that the fact it is hanging isnt so obvious to the eye at first glance. If hanging with the clear wire doesnt work I will have to re-think the way im going to fasten my objects maybe using a thicker wire and even the way it is secured into the ceiling as the weight of the piece could determine whether I use nails or blue tack.

libertys in depth analysis

This is a picture of 1 of Liberty's window displays from Christmas 2008. At first glance the window display is predominantly red, I think this is because the theme of the window seems to be the circus. The manikin on display has a wig on that would represent that of a clowns, especially as its quite bushy and curly, the collar on the manikin is also a sign of an influence of a clown. The bunting that is hanging across the top length of the window display has been intertwined with circus lights which seem to be the only light source within the window display. Most of the background seems to have been painted with a rich red colour but 2 sections 1 either side of the window display have a zigzag pattern where there seems to be zigzags in the wall, these zigzags have been made white and red, again I think this is because of the circus theme. Also in the background of the window display there are 2 ladder looking objects which have been made into shelves onto which present ideas from the store have been placed for advertisements. I think the fact that this window display seems to be mostly advertising the sweets shows that it is quite fun and quirky, this has also been shown by the fact that the manikin seems to be trying to balance chairs on top of other objects creating a tilted and therefore more quirky composition.
The manikin itself is dressed in quite modern clothes, I think the window display might also be advertising party clothes that they sell in store as people have quite a few parties around Christmas and shops can make money from this. I think the red theme is very strong in this window display, this works well as it links both the window displays circus theme with a traditional Christmas colour.
The lighting comes from  the string of bulbs along the top of the window display which have been intertwined with red bunting, the lights only light up the top third really bright the rest of the window display is quite dark especially right at the bottom. I think maybe this window display would work well in the day time but during the night i think it would become hard to see some of the objects in the background due to the amount of light. Even if the shop wanted to keep the same effect they could add in a few low light spot lights on the objects that would make it easier in the dark to see, I think the spotlights would be easy to hide as well.
The overall composition of the window display is quite busy on either side with all the different objects on the side but it has been evened out by the sparse use of objects in the middle section so the audiences eyes are not drawn away from the manikin. The layout has been well thought about and even the positioning of the manikin at a slight angle means there are only few amounts of gaps in the background and the audience can see everything they need to see.

Accessorize Window Display Analysis

This window display has been made for accessorise, at first glance you can tell that the store have chosen to use a festive theme for their window, there is baubles placed all around the edge of the window and paper chains hanging on the far back. The colours of the baubles are co-ordinated with the colours on the paper chains, the baubles help make the window look more decorative around the sides as i think if they were not there the sides would look quite empty. The window is clearly being used to show clothes that are on sale inside the shop, but all the clothes that are on display keep to a winter theme, including things like fluffy slippers, scarce, wooly hats & gloves. The clothes have all been placed over the top of what looks like 2 unicorns, I think this is to show the magical side of christmas & winter as they are white, I think the items are chucked over the unicorns as though they are meant to be carrying them as presents. Along the floor of the window display there are 2 stars, 1 either side of the window which stand upright this helps to cover up slightly any space there would be from the floor to the bottom of where the unicorns are. Also along the floor are boxes which look like presents but its clear to people walking past what is in the present, I think this has been done to influence people to buy the products because they can be used as christmas presents. The lighting in the window is very bright but you can't actually see any of the lights, the lighting is very full it covers the whole window none of it is lit any different to the other. Because the background of the window is a shiny silver the lighting creates a reflection on the background so you can see the behind of the window of what you can't see from the front. Overall I like this window i think it is quite simple, but it keeps to the christmas theme and shows the magical side of christmas and winter. I think the have thought well about positioning of everything as there is not a lot of empty space but it is not too crowded. 

Harvey Nichols Analysis

This window display was made for Harvey Nichols, It shows 2 manikins modelling a range of clothes for the store. The window its self looks very bright at first glance, the lighting is quite red and bring out the colouring of the pinks and oranges of the flowers that are inside the window. 

The flowers are made quite big, they remind me of the stage set work designed by Cameron Mackintosh, the set up is very theatrical especially with the props and lighting. The top of the window display is lit much brighter than further down the bottom, I think this is because the flowers are mostly more crowded around the top and without the lights brightening the window it would have been made very dark. I think the bottom half of the window is a bit more empty than the top but I think this is because the outfits modelled by the manikin start where the flowers seem to stop, this may have been done so the flowers didn't take the audiences eyes away from the outfits which is what they are meant to be focusing on. I definitely think that the window would be able to be seen from quite a distance & i can imagine that it would look just as effective in the daytime as it does in the night time as shown in this picture. I don't think that this window has a story behind it I think it just has a theme of bright flowers, this theme reflects the windows target audience which I'm sure is females. The theme is very girly and that is backed up with the items that are being advertised in the window which are dresses, I can also see pairs of high heels on the floor of the window display. 

When I first saw the window display it was just a burst of bright colours, the flower background has all been overlapped so you can't see the back of the window, they have thought about the set up and how it works, I think that the window itself would look different depending in what angle you looked at it from. I think the flowers have been made out of coloured card, but some look as though they have been embellished swell to make the centre of the flower. 

Overall I think that the window display would definitely work well for the target audience and it would catch peoples eyes if you were walking down the street, although I think that it would work slightly better in the dark due to the extra lighting make the window much brighter in the places it needs to be which would be much harder to do in the daytime due to the light already there. 

personal study first draft

When I decided I wanted to create a window display for my personal project, I didn’t want to focus just on the artists or song. I chose to design and make a window display because this is what I am hoping to do a course in next year. I wanted to make the display look more like a story, I thought looking at 1 song and interpreting it in my own way would be the best way to approach it. I decided to use the song ‘Read all about it’ by Emeli Sande who was the recording artist I based my first coursework project on. The song is on Emeli Sande’s album ‘Our version of events’. When I first thought to use read all about it as the advertisement for my window display I immediately thought of fairy tales and fantasy, I thought this would be the perfect theme. I also think it would be something that would catch the eyes of a female audience especially the younger generation, as it would be something they can relate to maybe from their childhood. I started researching into window displays that I thought had a story or obvious theme to them. I did both primary and secondary research collecting images from big retail companies such as Harvey Nichols, Harrods and John Lewis that are all known for their window displays especially around Christmas.  

 

 

After looking at the window displays themselves I decided the next thing for me to do would be to look at window design companies, I came across Millington Associates.  

 

Millington Associates have been design window displays since 1988, they've worked with some of the world’s leading brands to transform imaginative design ideas into inspiring 3D installations. The 2 window displays above were created for Selfridges at Christmas time. The traditional Christmas theme I think is the main focus of these window displays as well as for advertising the shoes. The windows are surrounded by bushes covered in fairy lights this looks very elegant and sophisticated which is what would be expected of Selfridges.  

The actual set up of the window makes it look like a kind of story and stage set up. The snow and little Christmas trees show the Christmas theme along with the fairy lights around the windows. I think the idea of the windows is quite abstract with the big shows in the set-up but I think it makes it quite fun but still sophisticated. I think the windows themselves are quite dark especially some of the colours but i think the fact they are lit with fairy lights and also with lights inside makes the window seem more realistic in the dark. I also like the fact that the background is all stars and is in the night because I think this works in both the night and the day as you can just have dull lighting during the day.  

The top quarter of the window seems to be kept empty in both windows I think this is because of the layout of the window and the fact I think if there was any more props inside the window it would look to busy. I think the windows as they are simple but they don’t need anything added to them, I'm quite surprised that there is no text in the windows not even to tell customers where to find certain items so maybe there might have been some text somewhere else.  

I like the left window better because I think it looks more fun and exciting and like there could be more story behind it, there’s also quite a bit more colour in the left window than in the right one, so I think this would be the one that would catch my eye if I was walking down the road. 

I think the window displays focus entirely on one main thing whereas a stage set-up would have to focus on a series of things as they both have different audiences, a stage set-up would have to cater for more than one purpose. I also think that the 2 windows could be aimed at different target audiences so therefore have a different approach to them because even different genders would be drawn to window displays with different items on show.  

Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. He is the producer of shows such as Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, Oliver!, Miss Saigon and Cats.  

 

The 2 pieces of work up above are from his production of Mary Poppins. The sets are both quite colourful especially the bottom one, the flowers also don't look like they have been painted on they look 3D. The sets look as though they have been hand made, more than likely being painted as it would be the easiest way to decorate such a big area. I like the way that the different layers are different sizes it shows the space on the stage and doesn't make it look boring, there is lots too look at. I think the fact there's loads of bright colours makes the set feel more fun and energetic which seems to be portrayed in the actual musical.  

The way the set has been lighted in the top set helps make quite a lot of shadows appear, it makes the set quite dark but there's enough light to see the detail on the set. The background is only slightly lit but the spotlights used on the actors help light the front of the set. The way the set is lit can determine the mood you want to portray to the audience. I think the way that the stage has been set-up is an important part of how the audience understand what's going on, the whole stage needs to work well together in order for the set to be effective.  

The different tones in the colours show the sets to look more realistic but the abnormal sizes of the flowers make it look more like a fantasy. 

Overall I like the work that Cameron Mackintosh has done on the Mary Poppins set its really eye catching and would have been great to be seen on the real stage. I find how the stage has been lit really effective, without the right lights in the right places the set wouldn't have the right shadows or be able to set the right mood. 

bibliography 

http://www.cameronmackintosh.com/