Hasta La Ideas

A new video installation for the window of Parisian department store Printemps Du Louvre from creative consultancy Big Active, creates a moving kaleidoscope of archival imagery in the shop window.

Printemps Du Louvre is the new flagship branch of the luxury French department store situated in the Carrousel Du Louvre, an underground shopping mall close to the Louvre museum in Paris. It is Printemps’ first new space for 30 years, and exhibits from contemporary artists occupy much of the inside, with emphasis placed on the in-store experience, in turn drawing consumers away from online shopping.

The project brief – in simple terms, to attract visitors towards the window and into the shop – meant competing with prestigious neighbours, whilst developing something that would work with the existing, modestly sized windows of the store.

“The environment itself was a challenge, the windows are opposite the Apple Store and the iconic La Pyramide Inversée,” says Greg Burne, of Big Active. “We knew we had to produce something visually highly impactful, brand neutral, which would hold it’s own and lure people away from the endless Louvre museum queue.”

In keeping with the type of high-end, experiential shopping experience that the store prides itself on, the windows needed to welcome in visitors with something a little bit different.

Tasked with directing and designing the film, was Mat Maitland with a team from creative consultancy Big Active, who specialise in art direction, graphic design, illustration and moving image, with animation from Paul Plowman and music by Buffalo Tide.

The video installation features archival iconography and other images from Printemps the Louvre, which plays in a three-minute loop. The screen sits inside a mirrored frame, designed to reflect the film and create a kaleidoscopic effect, with the products physically placed in the centre.

matmaitland.com

bigactive.com