The Seashell

The Seashell – The Glade Boutique – Relax Room 

The air-freshener company, Glade, was embarking on a new product launch – introducing a line of scented candles – that would also serve as a re-positioning of the brand.

An array of New York artisans were assembled to create individual environments that visually interpreted each new scented candle.

Charged with creating the Hawaiian Breeze scent, the Originators designed and built a larger-than-life seashell interior – something only the imagination can bear.

With an eye on the clock, it soon became clear that working with 3-d computer modeling would not yield the sculptural qualities this organic form demanded. Says chief creative, Debra Roth, “It was all analog…straight from my brain to my hand to scissors, a needle and thread. We had no choice, we had to make this on-site.”

Drawing from over 30 years experience learning and working with the characteristics of a broad range of sculptural materials, Debra quickly went from a paper and wire maquette to hand-drawings to preliminarily-sewn and piped spiral forms in 2 days.

As soon as the room was framed and painted, the Originators mobilized their crew and on-site sewing machine and raced the clock. 

Delicately hoisting the initial spiral shape into place around a center column, the seashell ultimately took shape with the help of air-brushing, hundreds of pounds of sand and an organic cut-out that revealed a sunset graphic in the background.

The richly natural forms enveloped guests, immediately capturing their imagination as all the senses, but taste, were engaged.

originally published 2015

Defying exhaustion, the Originators transformed raw space, on-time and on-budget, into a magical pop-up environment – a memorable “WOW!” if ever there was one!