I assume most of you deal daily mostly with digital design. Websites, Software, Mobile Apps… – that’s our reality. In my experience though, the design inspiration should be broad. The best projects I’ve ever worked on had some connection to physical reality.
eCommerce websites inspired by shop-windows, Financial websites with bank-style influences, etc. – this kind of design inspiration always brings some kind of freshness into our skill-set and much-desired familiarity to the minds of our users. It’s not about modeling the whole design to resemble its physical predecessor. It’s rather about taking the inspiration and creating something completely new with reference to the original.
That’s exactly why it’s worth spending a while watching things that are not digital. Let’s start with a series of the most beautiful retail stores in the world. Contemplating the work of retail-space design masters can teach us a lot about the relation of aesthetic and business efficiency, as well as space management.
Hope the following list will be as inspiring for you as it was for me
Thom Browne, Tokyo
Comme Des Garcons, Tokyo
HAN KJØBENHAVN FASHION, New York
Otsuka Gofukuten Cloth, Kyoto
Selexyz Bookstore, Maastricht
Plural Bookshop, Bratislava
Aesop, Hong Kong
Menscience, New York
The Story Unfolds Bookstore
Apple Store, New York
