In the spirit of July 4th I thought I'd share this concept we designed back in 2008. It's purpose was to create a single in-store destination for the good old American backyard barbecue. You got yer beer, yer briquettes, yer grillin' tools, yer chips, and yer condiments (other side) all in one big screaming rotationally molded endcap of freedom!! Booyah!

This is a cooler concept I created for a beverage company 13 years ago. I thought it might be interesting and fun to bring it into 2018 to illustrate the staggering improvement in realism that is now achievable because of the advances in software and hardware over that time. The older image was rendered in 2005 using Cinema 4D v.8. The new one is rendered in 2018 using Cinema 4D v.18.

Back in 2011 a loyal client of ours approached us with an opportunity to design a series of displays for a new Android-based tablet that was designed just for kids. Fortunately a lot of legwork had already been done to create a playful graphic identity for the product, so our task was to interpret that identity into a three-dimensional form which, we hoped, would do it justice.

My grandfather, C. Hatfield Bills, was in industrial designer whose career inspired my own. Born in 1890 and essentially self-taught, he designed cars for Chrysler and Chevrolet, wooden speedboats for Century, and elevators for Otis during the Great Depression. He designed this scooter (below) in 1945 and rendered it in gouache on Canson Mi-Teintes paper.

How do you design a wine display that can expand or contract to accommodate almost any store environment? That was the question we answered with this design for Toasted Head wine back in 2009. This very simple and inexpensive shelf module comprised of wood panels and sheet metal will easily stack vertically and nest horizontally to grow from a small counter display up to a huge mass display.

Back in 2012, we were thrilled to have a chance to come up with some looks for a new floor display for Don & Sons wines. Being fans of the modern industrial movement in architecture, we viewed the project as a great opportunity to see how its associated forms and finishes might be applied to a simple 3 or 4 case floor stand. The fruits of our labor are below. The version with the cellared bottles was ultimately selected for production.

Back in 2008 we had a chance to generate some ideas for a small footprint floor display for Gnarly Head wines. The colorful, rustic logo evoked a rustic but premium feel, so we did our best to interpret it into a three dimensional form that would meet their budget, bear the significant weight of 3 cases of wine, knock down flat for easy shipping and assemble with minimal tools. We took special care to give the logo some dimension using die cuts, screened transparent panels and distortion-printed vac-forms.

Illy is the kind of brand that designers love to work with. Their brand identity adheres well to the essential principles of good design that we're trained to uphold: Simple, clean, bold, clear, functional, instantly identifiable. That doesn't mean, however, that in designing a floor display for the brand that you shouldn't inject a dose of whimsy just to tone down the austerity a little in a ploy for better visibility in the visual chaos of the average store.

It's long been a standard marketing practice for brands to temporarily align themselves with a team or event to create programs with the goal of increasing awareness. This was the case when Mouton Cadet wines hooked up with the Tour de France back in 2010 and we were consulted to provide creative tie-ins between their wines and the wildly popular bicycle race.

Heineken was looking for a bold presence at the bar, but they didn't want to just stick a sign in a frame or print up thousands of fragile table tents that would just get ignored and destroyed in a few days. They wanted something with longevity that would attract attention and encourage some kind of engagement with the consumer and/or bartender by providing utility.

How do you make a tire display look upscale? This was the challenge when we were asked to design a Pirelli tire display for BMW dealerships. Our answer took the form of silver powder coated steel structure comprised of sleek sections using a visual vocabulary of ellipses. A colorful banner provided a callback to Pirelli's racing heritage, and the BMW icon was glorified with a glossy dimensional treatment on top

Coppola Wines needed a way to showcase their signature "Director's Cut" wine in a floor display that would provide them with maximum merchandising capacity while communicating their brand identity in simple and bold way. We decided to design a simple round metal rack and kick it up a notch by incorporating a helical banner to echo the packaging, then added a film reel base. It was a hit!

We had an opportunity a few years back to design a large counter display for a major security camera manufacturer who desired a strong presence in Costco. Molding wasn't an option, so we tried to stick with forms that could be achieved with sheet metal construction. The graphics were supplied by the customer, so our challenge was to provide space for them in a way that told the story to the consumer in as logical and concise a way as possible

As a structural material, corrugated cardboard can be incredibly versatile and remarkably strong. With the proper graphic treatment, strategically placed folds, and a few interesting die-cuts, a simple graphic idea can be transformed into an attention-grabbing visual exhibition that not only supports heavy packaging and boosts brand awareness, but also moves a heck of a lot more product out the door. Few materials offer similar retail power so economically. It's not surprising it's so popular.

How do you create a versatile structure to securely hold, organize, and display energy shots, plus make it easily sit on a counter, hang on the side of a cooler, or attach to a glass door? Our solution involved a steel ring structure featuring spring clips to grip the product, plus four supports designed to accommodate magnets, suction cups, or rubber feet. It then completed the look with large interchangeable vacuum-formed icons to trumpet the brand to the consumer.

Back in 2002, Onkyo needed a high-end looking display to showcase their latest surround sound system. The challenge was in devising an aesthetically appealing method to suspend the rear speakers behind the consumer so that they could enjoy the full audio experience. I came up with a few options using powder coated metal tubing.

Mobil needed a floor display that would showcase their flagship motor oil. They wanted it to convey an identity that's as tough, durable, and long lasting as the product itself. We chose to integrate components molded in a silver finish to match the packaging, ribbed details, diamondplate, and hexagonal bolt heads. A large interchangeable header graphic area with a sample bottle and a literature pocket on the side completed the look.

Few brands have as well-defined an identity as the brand pictured below. Showcasing this identity while taking into account budget, scale, and structure is not a task for lightweights. It takes years of practice to be able to deliver concepts that hit every mark. Designers like to complain about the difficulty of providing a fresh, eye-catching designs under such daunting constraints, but often it is precisely these kinds of challenges which ultimately produce the most noteworthy results.

Let's usher in the new year with a few examples of the many sparkling wine display concepts we've created over the years. We've created eye-catching permanent and temporary concepts for a slew of brands with a wide range of budgets. Call us if you need some fresh ideas!