At one of  Las Vegas’s newest casinos, Crystals I stumbled upon Marni’s
window display. The window display of the store was playful as it represented an abstracted clothing line in a unique form displaying women’s clothing. While on Marni’s website, I came across a video for The Denim Project which was pretty fun as well.

I was recently at Dylan’s Candy Bar which is reminiscent of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. It contains three floors of sweet treats and magical goodness. Dylan’s was created and owned by Dylan Lauren the daughter of designer Ralph Lauren. I love how the wall of the check out counter utilizes jumbo size candy such as gumballs, runts and sweedish fish.

I am a part of the AIGA’s Mentor Program and I was recently with my mentee, Jennifer and we discovered Sur la table. This store is both a chefs and bakers dream. It has everything you can think of from cake pans to kitchen linens. I love the details of their branding like the above photo with the door handles being a fork and spoon and their tag line “The Art and Soul of Cooking.”

I was in Bethlehem, PA visiting a friend and we went to this wonderful Christmas market full of crafts, artwork and decorations. I came across Georgie LeHoop who painted with drumsticks. Yes…Drum sticks that you play the drums with.
His work was very unique and on canvases as well as t-shirts.

I was running errands in the city and passed Print Icon one of my favorite paper and stationery stores. What made me stop and look in their window was the bright colored rolled up paper that formed flowers on this corrugated like board. The idea behind the wishboard is to write a a wish on the paper roll it up and place in the wishboard. What is unique is that you can use a variety of colors and form shapes and objects with the colored paper.

On my way to Luzzo’s I saw this store Surprise! Surprise. I wondered what this store was all about. I never heard of this store. It is located in East Village on 91 3rd Avenue. Surprise! Surprise! is a home goods store packed with all kinds of random things from small appliances, furniture, dishes to paperwares. Definitely check it out in the area!

A friend of my recently told me about how ridiculous the lobby design of the Comcast Center in Philadelphia was. The lobby has 84 foot-wide LED screens with art installations consisting of views of Philadelphia historic sites, images of space, dancers, acrobats and actors moving around a background designed to mimic wood paneling of the walls of the lobby. Another part of the installation displays images of cranes and machinery forming into a clock which tells the correct time of day The Comcast Center draws many people to the outside windows of their building each day approximately 400 a day at lunch time. What is even more interesting about this building is it the tallest building in Philadelphia, 15th tallest in the U.S. and the tallest sustainable building in the country. The Comcast Center was designed by architect Robert A.M. Stern and the lobby LCD design was created by David Niles of Niles Creative Group.

Staying on the topic of recommendations I was at Wegmans over the weekend and thought it was great concept to have a recipe of only a few simple ingredients hanging above the olive bar area/cheese department. What is even more unique about this signage is that the recipes are from Wegman’s own magazine Menu. I think its great they provide their customers with simple quick recipes with delicious and fresh ingredients on a budget. In addition they direct their customers to their website in order to get more recipes and tips. The shopper has an experience in the store and then can continue it at home at their convenience. This is just another example of how recommendations are personalized the specific retailer’s demographic and customer base.

I came across these Whateverittakes.org bags at Urban Girl Accessories in San Diego. Whateverittakes.org gathers art works from all leaders in a variety of fields. Each ambassador donates a symbol of hope, a self portrait and a message of hope for the future. From wristbands to clothing, from tableware to cosmetics and footwear, each product is ethically produced and sold to raise funds for charitable causes chosen by each contributing leader.

From the balcony of my hotel room in San Diego I could see this cute little cafe/deli Spicy Pickle but wasn’t sure if it was worth checking out since there were so many great restaurants in the area. One day on the way out I decided to stop there to grab a quick bite to eat. I really liked the interior design and wall art as it had a vintage feel to it. Oh and I ordered the med sub. Definitely tasty.