Hundreds of people passed the floor-to-ceiling storefront windows of Eyelife’s Little Collins Street retail optical every day.  While managing the store, I took up the opportunity to communicate their brand image with a custom window installation.  

I had collected a mountain of demo lenses from the eyewear sold at Custom Eyes and I felt inspired to use them to fill the large storefront window with an installation of strings.  My concept would convey the variety of available eyewear shapes and remain in accordance with Eyelife’s classy, fashion-forward brand.

At the owners’ request, I designed and constructed the display so that it would not obstruct the front entry nor reduce visibility into the store.  I created an hourglass shape of lines that inventively showcased the demo lenses.  After several sketches, I determined the precise position of 10 holes that I would drill into 2-240 centimetres-long wooden dowels to create the linear composition I imagined.  I measured and cut 10 pieces of 260-centimetres-long black satin rope, layered some with pieces of black satin ribbon for added dimension, and then strung them through the holes in the first wooden dowel before securing them with a macrame knot.  Next I drilled two holes into 45-50 demo lenses before spray painting them a metallic silver colour - perfect for adding sparkle and shine and also consistent with the trends of Melbourne Fashion week.  Once dry, I threaded the ropes through the demos and slid them upward toward the top wooden dowel.  I then gathered all the strings and looped them through a silver hoop before adding on the second half of demos.  To achieve the sparkle and fade aesthetic I wanted, I arranged the demos into a cluster that fanned out from the installation's midsection.  

The wooden dowels gave the install it’s structure and also allowed for building off-site. To install, I twisted two key rings onto the existing hooks that were mounted into the metal windowpane and then slid the top wooden dowel through.  I finished by threading the strings through the opposite dowel and then tying them taunt.  The entire display cost less than $50, it remained stationary despite its close proximity to the door, and because it was quickly installed, it only minimally interfered with the business.