Iconic Brand Experience

For those of us who grew up with the iconic blue Nivea tin can the Nivea House in Hamburg is bringing it all back. For the conversion of the traditional Prien House, the architect Klaus-Martin Hoffmann designed a clever store front consisting of blue acrylic panels hung from the ceiling in multiple layers to form a gigantic blue circle, replicating Nivea’s signature product at the core of the brand’s DNA.

Discreetly but present everywhere in the interior are the brand product colours blue and white. Light and dark floor coverings mark the routes and islands and guide the visitor while at the same time differentiating the individual zones.

Realized in 2006 and still powerful, an excellent example of good branded design.

Small BIG store

In London’s Boxpark / Shoreditch , an outdoor mall built uniquely from recycled shipping containers, Puma opened a concept store named “twentyone” after the container number they occupy. Using the number as a defining conceptual element the store rotates its product offering in a 21 day interval. A panel at the entrance lists the current 21 special-edition-item menu and a countdown clock lets you know how many days until the renewal will take place.

To accommodate the store within such a small space the designers decided on two smart moves: All product is stored and displayed in one wall along one side of the space that consists of stacked drawers, of which some are opened to display the featured items. Storage and display are united into one element, thus eliminating a large back of house storage area. The opposite side of the space is clad with a mirror wall thus visually doubling the narrow space and the visual displays. Simple moves with big effect!