The LASALLE x Hermès Window Display competition was part of LASALLE's interdisciplinary project, where students from different fields worked together, bringing their unique skills to a single project. 

For this interdisciplinary project, we were tasked to create a window display for Hermès under the theme "Windows to the Future". Learning more about Hermès as a brand, it was possible to see that tradition and hand-crafted products were a big part of the brand's identity. However, looking into the idea of future, my group and I felt like things were moving into a more technological path, with a loss of genuine human connection. 

From this understanding, we came up with the idea of "The Future in Tradition", where we would use our window display to show how technology and human connection could still work together. We decided to portray that by creating a futuristic Hermès workshop, where machines worked to help the craftsman hand-make the popular Hermès bags. 

Going into it some challenges we were faced with were showing the importance of humans in a machine-heavy space, while also making sure that at no moment the machines would be making the Hermès bags.

MOOD BOARD​​​​​​​

The mood board for this project took inspiration from steampunk aesthetics and they provide the idea of futurism and technology, while being grounded in something traditional and familiar. To strengthen the idea of tradition we also held on to warm colors that would bring some humanity and comfort to the technology of the futuristic space. 

From my experience as a design communication student, my group members tasked me with creating the machines for the workshop. I worked on the illustrations and concepts for how each machine would look like and what purpose they would serve in the workshop. The process was very collaborative, as I took in input from my group members on different machine ideas and designs. 

During the creation process I also used my experience working with automata to plan how the machine structures would move in the window display. For this, I worked in collaboration with the animation student whose task was to animate the machines created. After creating the movements for the machines I would have to pass the plan onto them and see if the structure was actually feasible, and understand what the movements looked like when animated. 

This section will be focusing on my work for the project, the machine designs and movements. 

Working with a brand like Hermès it was important to stick to the brand's values, thus while depicting a futuristic world it was essential to show the crafting of the Hermès bag was still completely handmade. Because of that, the idea was to create machines around the workshop focused on trivial tasks like putting straw through a needle hole, or a washing machine. Our goal was to show technology in the future as machines helped the craftsman prepare its workspace and materials. 

For the design, the human interaction is shown in the personification of the machines, like the washer made with robotic hands and a mirror where passerby could see themselves doing the task. The other machines were inspired by movies like Edward Scissorhands and Wallace and Gromit, where big and exaggerated machines were responsible for small tasks. The overall goal was to give humor and personality to these futuristic machines. 

Bellow are the sketches and blueprint of what the machines would look like and how the would work. The movements are inspired by automata movements, that we hoped would be activated by people looking into the window display, making the experience not only visually fun, but also interactive.