No Noise Windows

2013

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Window Design

Selfridges

Key Responsibilities:
Concept development, window design

Software:
Sketched visuals

Notes:
Traditionally the windows for January at Selfridges would be intended as a soothing palette cleanser after Christmas excess. The storewide scheme No Noise took this idea and extrapolated it to its fullest extent.

Centred around mindfulness, which was a fairly new concept at the time outside of the meditation community, the store commissioned events and spaces that would encourage customers to consider stillness, quiet, and calm.

The windows were designed to complement these ideas, but with humorous twists. Taking inspiration from Fluxus artists such as Yoko Ono,and composer John Cage, the pared down, thoughtful, but also playful windows for this scheme were a joy to compose.

The window designs quickly took off in two directions. First, plays on words or on ‘quiet’ situations, such as ‘some breathing space’ or the act of just sitting and reading a book. These were brought to life with existing Selfridges products, or with elaborate sculptural builds with no product included within them at all. A heavily restricted colour and material palette was crucial to the minimal feel of the installations.

The second strand of windows were designed around specially commissioned ‘de-branded’ product for the scheme from traditionally branding-heavy fashion, technology, and homeware heavy-hitters such as Beats by Dre, Heinz, and Selfridges themselves, with their de-branded shopping bag.

For Beats, I remember sitting at my desk late one night and thinking, OK, what meditative experience has no sound. Channelling Yoko Ono, I had my answer - a sunrise. Our production team got to work filming assorted sunrises to be shown on monitors in a window, with de-branded Beats By Dre headphones plugged into them.

The fallen Selfridges bag logo letters on the floor was the idea of James Barnett, and is the buttoner on this entire window scheme.

All photography ©Andrew Meredith