For the 3rd year in a row, (Year 1, Year 2) Taro’s created the holiday display at the flagship Muji store in Manhattan.  The past 2 installations were very well received, but this year the staff chose to move on from snowflakes and create a brand new concept. There were a number of different proposals and but eventually we landed on a stars and gifts theme.  This post will document how we worked with the client to come up with something new and pivoted to make sure we fit with their vision.

1. Initial Direction

To start with, Muji asked the Taro’s team to play with the idea of puzzles and children’s toys.    They had some brand graphics from their art team to share.  These images were based off tangram puzzles coming together to create various images and they wanted the holiday season to be reflective of this theme – family and friends coming together to create a joyous holiday season.  That was enough to get Senior Artist Frank Ling off and running.

2. First Attempt

Frank came back with a new vision for the installation that involved intricate acrylic shapes.  This vision could create hanging panels that when viewed properly would meld into fully realized models.  You can see below just how something like this would have worked out.  The vision kept the tangram game as a theme and retained that brightness throughout the display.

3. Client Notes

It was right about a month before things really needed to go into production when Muji brought up some valid concerns. First of all, one of the great things about Muji as a company is their commitment to sustainability and they are slowly making a shift away from using plastic in packaging and signage.  So while the acrylic panels fit really well with the initial brand images, they felt a little too plasticky for their store.  And secondly, acrylic panels really only come in bright colors, while Muji’s color palette and feel is more in line with kraft paper, beiges, dark reds, and whites.  So with this all in mind and armed with a lot more specificity, and the new inspiration photo below the staff went back to the design desk.

4. A New Direction

From there Frank and the staff discussed a new vision that incorporated stars and boxes strung from their ceiling.  The goal was to focus on a more earthy look and returning to the roots of a paper-centric design.  Muji loved the new direction and work began almost immediately to install the project in time.

5. Paper Work

For a project with as many delicate parts as this, the entire Brooklyn and Philadelphia based staff worked nonstop.  There were 2 main elements- the stars and gift boxes. For the stars, Ben Friesen in Philadelphia cut and scored all of the individual parts and then mailed them back to the NY office for assembly.  For the boxes, they were assembled and wrapped by the NY staff.  Because of the finished size of the boxes and stars the studio quickly started to feel like Santa’s workshop, with models in every nook and cranny available.

6. Installation

Since this is the 3rd year for the Taro’s staff, they have the installation process down pretty well.  All told it took about 3 days to get everything up and finalized for the flagship store.  Take a look below at see how it went from idea to reality.