Store Window Dressing: The Materials

Kiosko Creativo takes us through the materials you’ll need to bring a concept for a store window to life

Window dressing is a fusion of lots of different disciplines: art direction, crafts, architecture, sculpture, installation, and, of course, design. It involves experimenting with colors, materials, perspectives, and depth to create optical effects that attract the attention of passers-by.

Thread, wool, tape and felt

These materials will help you to play with depth, height, and shape. They are very affordable and easy to shape, bend, or manipulate.

A disadvantage to working with these materials is that you will need to take extra special care when it comes to their edges, otherwise they could end up looking very untidy and unprofessional.

Paper, card, and cardboard

These materials are great for creating geometric, voluminous, repeated, or organic shapes. They are very affordable and easy to work with and manipulate. You can also source them from specialists and get made-to-order sizes and cuts.

A disadvantage to working with these materials is that they can be easily creased and, if they are exposed to sunlight, the colors can fade.

Acrylic

You can create almost anything with acrylic, which comes in a range of colors and thicknesses. Professional equipment is required to work with and shape this material, so you will need to go to a supplier.

It’s a durable material that is easy to find in lots of stores. You can play with its transparency and create interesting visual effects. The downside is that it’s expensive.

MDF

Like acrylic, this material is available in a range of thicknesses and you can experiment with the cut-offs–either to try out paints in different colors or to practice more complicated laser cuts.

If you take care, you can achieve a very professional-looking result. It’s durable and easy to replicate in lots of stores. The disadvantages are that it is not very easy to shape and it’s expensive.

Wood, iron, mirrors

You can use all of these materials to create interesting optical effects. You will need specialist equipment to shape these materials, each of which has its own level of difficulty.

You can also play with depth, and you can easily replicate the materials for different stores. They are durable materials. However, they are expensive and it’s almost impossible to work with them by yourself, without a specialist.

Try anything!

Open your mind and discover other materials. You can make installations with books, PVC, glasses, plates, leather, food…

There are no limits when it comes to window dressing and the materials you want to use.

If you want to learn all about window dressing, sign up to the course, Introduction to visual merchandising.

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