Production Notes: Retail Narrative

This particular narrative would have been too difficult to achieve as a final but I am very much attached to the idea of creating this sort of projection interaction in a retail setting. I think that it coule be a very powerful marketing tool for designers and for myself as a photographer (or filmmaker I guess given the nature of this type of production), interaction designer. Though I don't have an advertising background, I would be interested to explore the sort of branding opportunities that are available when you attempt to expand the space of advertising in such an intimate way as I am proposing with my projection idea.



This photo by Erwin Blumenfeld sort of exemplifies the motion that I want to initiate with my projection, and the sort of high fashion editorial nature of the idea that I am proposing. It is the striking editorial image that inspires a desire to seek and find the coveted item. If we could incorporate this sort of engagement with motion and sound at the point of sale, there is a chance that sales may increase, and the work of the producers of editorial spreads could be put to further use beyond the printed page.



I am attempting to illustrate how my installation would work in the crude drawing above. Juxtaposed with the rack of cloaks, is a mannequin wearing said cloak. The clothed mannequin would be placed in relief from a suitable screen. The projection would begin with the model, posing in the exact pose as the mannequin, in the same outfit, under the identical or similar lighting situations, being projected onto the mannequin. The shopper would watch as the mannequin came to life as it were, and the rest of the screening area was filled with her dramatic display of the cloak. At the end of which, the model would return to her initial position, that of the mannequin.

This idea springs directly from Michale Naimark's installation Displacements. And I think that the ramifications of such an engaging display could be utilized feasibly for marketing purposes especially in an environment like fashion, design, furniture architecture etc...whose consumers appreciate and often demand complex and beautiful aesthetic interactions.