Irvine, California
Overview
Vitativ International Corp is the parent company, known for their cosmetic, perfume and beauty supply retail stores in Southern California Asian communities. They created a new brand, Purescape, to expand into the high-end cosmetics and perfume markets. Our job was to build brand awareness with the perception of quality through new retail spaces.
Challenges
This client is a family-run company. The mother had a vision of the seaside and a specific idea for their retail stores. The son translated her vision from Chinese to English. Reading body language is essential with all clients but particularly when English is not their first language. A dream can be elusive but we had to understand it and give it form.
Strategy
Preparing a comprehensive design concept and delivering an understandable presentation to our client was critical to the success of the project. A lot of time was spent on the front end to build a visual language with drawings and materials that did not need much verbal explanation. Traditional show-and-tell, walk-away meetings were replaced with working meetings, which included sketching to illustrate explanations and alternatives and enhance communication. We worked patiently and thoroughly to ensure the 3-dimensional built reality matched the client’s dream.
Results
We used the elements of the seaside: sky, water and sand, and interpreted this into architectural materials that have movement and reflectivity. We created a space plan that leads the customer through the space in a fluid way, like the movement of the tide. Ceiling shapes are suspended and lit like clouds to mirror the floor pattern and unify the 3-dimensional space. A combination warm and cool temperature solution provides direct and indirect lighting to contrast and reinforce product display. Purescape signage floats in front of the point-of-purchase water wall. A shell-like, curved glass wall provides a semi-private zone for marketing and demonstration of spa products and services. Water in motion, sparkling rays of light, patterns in the sand, all blended with colors of driftwood, clouds and sky, bring the dream space to life.
