Aveda Retail Prototype
Project Vision
The challenge of designing a retail prototype for Aveda was capturing the passion of Aveda’s business: that the mind, body, and spirit are inextricably linked, and that what you put on your body impacts how you feel and how you perform. The designers approached the conceptual design of the store as weaving an interactive story about Aveda, its mission, and its products, and creating a customer experience that educates and engages. The focus of the store is on experience, on providing customers with the opportunity to touch and test the Aveda products. As part of the design, Gensler developed a fixture for Aveda that provides a “sensory journey” to customers from learning about the category and brand, to testing the product, and selecting a product that meets their needs.
Project Details
One of the first companies to stress the ecological and spiritual sides of the cosmetic business, the client's agenda called for a strong textual presence to explain unfamiliar aspects of the product line. Here, the solution is layers of text, from general headings to detailed explanations, combined in a hierarchical system that manages to be decorative, readable and unobtrusive. The botanical underpinnings of the store's mission are made manifest in the use of plant forms, repeated as stylized graphic patterns, freestanding sculptural ensembles, and relief. These form an elegant counterpoint to the blonde wood and the rich nature-derived pastels of the color palette.
Design Team
Joseph Brancato (Principal in Charge), Laura Bellion, Tracy Bellomo, John Bricker, Jamie Brizzolara, Stephen Gary, Luis Jimenez, Sheri Koetting, Jasmine Lam, Celeste Layne, Barry McCormick, Andrew McQuilkin, Larry Murphy, Unjoo Noh, Michael Pieretti, Cordula Roser, David Sarney, Glyne Tull, Lisa Van Zandt, Kevin Vuong, Marcus Watkins, Peg Yu
Design Firm
Gensler
Consultants
National Contractors Inc., Ontario Store Fixtures, “Madera”, Matrix Composites, Inc., “Wabi Weve”, Luz Lampcraft, Lightolier, Modern Stone Age, Tessera, Phoenix Biocomposites, Electra, ASI