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London Design Festival 2024 _

Our Studio’s Perspective

October 1st, 2024

Design 4Retail

“London and Design go hand in hand. It is part of our story. London Design Festival is a platform for hundreds of design stories to be told. It all confirms London’s status as the global centre of design." - Ben Evans CBE.

In the studio here at D4R, we live and breathe design, so in September we jumped at the opportunity to immerse ourselves in London’s annual Design Festival; looking to broaden our thinking and capture valuable learnings for our practice.

From cult-brand retrospectives through to cutting edge retail executions, our multi-disciplinary team are excited to share their favourite, most inspiring takeaways from the event.

Our Brand Designer’s choice: Rapha Past-Forward

Cult cycling brand, Rapha, blend culture, sport and design to revolutionise how cycling is perceived. At this year’s London Design Festival, the brand executed an ambitious, ephemeral pop-up retrospective that celebrated not only Rapha’s 20th Birthday, but the wider cycling community and its home within London and beyond.

Here’s why Rosie, one of our Brand team, wanted to share Rapha:

  1. A true journey into the brand and its impactful 20 years as cycling & sporting leaders
  2. A sculptural centrepiece was the standout in the space, dominating a cyclical floorplan that evoked motion and the brand’s signature fabric patterns
  3. Immersive video content was engaging and mindful, communicating the good the brand does within the cycling community
  4. Hanging fabric illuminated and rippled, half-obscuring the history of the brand in an alluring way that encouraged further exploration
  5. Upon exit, exhibition participants were encouraged to visit the Rapha pop-up store, just around the corner, completing the brand journey

Our Experiential Designer’s selection: Asus X Dezeen: Design you can feel

Design you can feel, an exhibition to take the viewer on a journey through materiality, craftmanship and artificial intelligence. The experience was based around The Taiwanese technology company ASUS’s innovative new material “Ceraluminum” that was created for their Zenbook laptop range.  The material was created by ceramicising aluminium, creating a property that is both light, yet durable with extensive tactile appeal.

Here’s what Kirsty, one of our experiential-experts, took away from the exhibition:

  1. The material itself is truly an innovation and a joy to interact with.
  2. Being allowed behind the curtain to see some of the design journey of the ZenBook and the Ceraluminum material was a fascinating privilege.
  3. Tactility and material experimentation is an important pursuit of most designers today. The objects on display (other than the ZenBook’s creation story) celebrated how material science and sensory provocation can evoke unique storytelling, personal to each viewer. These objects were created by international designers pursuing their own expressive design language through material manipulation; inspired by the Ceraluminum journey.
  4. The general creative staging of the space; natural elements like the rock forms and sand, effectively juxtaposed the cutting steel counters. The whole scene was overlayed by a meditative white noise type soundtrack that created a sense of calm and awe within the space.

Our Spatial Designer’s one to watch: Astrid & Miyu

The new Astrid and Miyu store on Carnaby street combines storytelling, creativity, and inspiration to create a unique shopping experience, centred around self–expression and empowerment.

One of our Spatial Designer’s, Georgia, had this to share on the ‘House of Astrid & Miyu’:

  1. The brand has crafted a great sense of community by hosting events, having customisable products and even a café. This store is a fantastic example of merging a shoppable retail space with creativity and experience
  2. When you first enter the store, the layout is airy and bright, featuring soft hues of pinks and peaches. By using clean lines and refined accents like marble and gold, they have created a luxurious yet welcoming atmosphere. This is in line with the brand’s ethos ‘accessible luxury’
  3. The contrasting colour in the staircase enlivens customers to the upstairs space, leading to the cafe and click and collect kiosk. Adding these elements on the first floor encourages customers to dwell longer and engage with displays / product / omnichannel touchpoints.
  4. Leaving the store I was inspired and energised: physical retail is not a dying medium. The brand shows that having a strong concept and an inviting space still encourages people to enjoy the experience of shopping IRL and builds deeper connections and affinity with consumers.

Our Studio’s journey through the London Design Festival revealed a wealth of insights and inspiration. From the innovative materials explored in ASUS x Dezeen, to the high-polish, high-experience ‘House of Astrid & Miyu’, we’ve gained valuable perspectives that will undoubtedly shape our future work. As always, the festival served as a catalyst for new ideas and collaborations. It has reinforced our dedication to stay connected to the design community and our commitment to staying up-to-date with emerging trends.

Our talented team are always excited to start new projects and apply their expertise to new briefs and markets, get in touch to see how their passion can propel your brand.

Let’s talk.