A Lioness Den

Ever worked for a woman with a type A personality? (Or been married to one?) Now imagine 170 of these perfectionists gathered in one place. You have an area that totals less than 100 square feet to set up a store where they can market their entrepreneurial wares. You’re in Providence, Rhode Island, the crafty, creative capital of America, so the space has to feel DIY in addition to being polished and perfect. You have one day to install your look. Oh, and Olympic figure skater and keynote speaker Michelle Kwan will probably be stopping by, so no pressure.

Ever worked for a woman with a type A personality? (Or been married to one?) Now imagine 170 of these perfectionists gathered in one place. You have an area that totals less than 100 square feet to set up a store where they can market their entrepreneurial wares. You’re in Providence, Rhode Island, the crafty, creative capital of America, so the space has to feel DIY in addition to being polished and perfect. You have one day to install your look. Oh, and Olympic figure skater and keynote speaker Michelle Kwan will probably be stopping by, so no pressure.

But Lady Project co-founder Sierra Barter knew her college friend and, incidentally, creative director at Visual Magnetics (www.visualmagnetics.com), Tori Deetz, would be up for the challenge. She phoned Deetz and asked for a small favor: a one-day pop-up store for the second annual Lady Project Summit.

The Lady Project – the self-proclaimed “‘Old Boy’s Club’ for fabulous women” – is a non-profit organization where inspiring women can connect with one another and showcase their hard work. The pop-up store would be a chance for local Providence members to do just that, sharing their products with the summit attendees.

So Deetz set to work, collaborating with Sarah Dillonaire, creative director for the Lady Project, to come up with a design that would both complement the ladies’ products – from vintage clothing to handmade cross-stitch work – and reflect Providence’s creative side. They didn’t want to create just a pretty space, either, but a purposeful, branded feel that would echo the celebration of womanhood that is the Lady Project. It’s the same type of request print providers seem to be hearing a lot of these days.

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“Point-of-purchase is moving and becoming more agile,” says Visual Magnetics’ public relations manager Naomi Mukai. “More and more, you see retailers and even corporate, non-retail brands really thinking about the entire branded environment.”

The design also had to show up well when printed on two 9 x 8-foot walls and one 10 x 8-foot wall that would make up the frame for the pop-up store. The space was built of three VM-Walls, Visual Magnetics’ lightweight, magnetic-receptive walls that allowed for quick set-up and adjustment of the entire look. Deetz and Dillonaire came up with a pastel, zig-zag pattern that was printed on VM-Luna 14 wallcovering material, and a matching watercolor look for the fixtures throughout the store, printed on VM-PolyEight. The back wall was covered with an unprinted, maple veneer.

Visual Magnetics usually coordinates with other print providers, says Mukai, “but we do have a full print shop at our Menden headquarters, and for special jobs we will do our own printing.” The graphics were printed over the course of a few days on a Mimaki UJV-160 and an HP Latex L26500, and installed the day before the event.

See other great P-O-P projects from our April/May issue:

Two Images Are Better than One
Deck the Walls, and Floors, and Elevators
Planning Paramount in Multifaceted Campaign
Have Printers, Will Travel