You may be humming to yourself the "Just Glue Some Gears On It And Call It Steampunk" song, but you have to admit that thier sign stating 215 animals have found loving homes, is pretty rad. Since the Holidays are all about "gluing some something to something" and calling it festive, I'm going to have to give this design an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Every year, millions of people of all ages walk by and ogle these awesome homeless pet displays. The goal is to raise funds and awareness about the orphaned pets residing in the posh San Francisco Macy’s department store for the month of December. Donations can be given at the windows, online, and by text.
This year, Sara Kuwabara volunteered her precious Sunday holiday shopping time to stand out in the cold and tell natives and tourists alike about the SPCA. To find out more about donating to the San Francisco SPCA, go to: www.sfspca.org
Now on to the winners of this years Emz picks.
1st pick: Anthropolgie
This retailer has quickly become my favorite Holiday display creator. Not only do they try to reuse and recycle items in their display, they have an innovative way of doing it. This year, I want to concentrate on the inner elements that I am going to call giant snowballs.
Suspended from the ceiling and hung on the wall are giant artsy clumps of packing plastic. The effect looks as if you are in the lair of the Abominable Snowman! Their front window display contained string balls commonly made from balloons and glue. Only these guys can take our garbage and make it look cool.
2nd pick: Swarovski
This crystal art display was so awesome to look at in person. The picture shows what looks like a purple aurora borealis behind a white crystal swan, which is the companies logo. Beautiful.
Some of our old friends:
Tiffany's windows were pretty, but nothing out of the ordinary. Unlike the last couple of years, where I have been awed by their paper cutting creativity, this year, the theme was carousel. Cute, but not very inventive. Saks Fifth Avenue, who used to have the most awesome windows on Union Square, have totally fallen off the radar. It's almost not worth making the trip across the square to see them.
Although rather tame, I liked one element of the Nordstrom windows. Using the birdcage theme, they placed a mannequin inside wearing a garment looking much like a bird's feathers. Birdcages are one of my favorite motifs right now, so it struck a chord with me.
Not so hot: H&M
The display in itself isn't bad, it's cute even, but the ghastly SALESALESALE banner turned the display into a disaster. The mannequins had strange pink circles on their cheeks, perhaps to make them look like dolls? Could have been a cute idea, but it didn't come off right. Not only was it weird, some of the dots were crooked on the mannequin faces. Please, next year guys, try to be worth my time.
Japantown Christmas Explosion
The owners of this restaurant have the holiday decor cornered. If they were going for the "Christmas Just Exploded On Us" theme, they excelled fabulously. I mean no disrespect. I appreciate their enthusiasm!
Finally, my favorite non-retail decor this year goes to the Flood Building. Owned at one time by the San Francisco millionaire James Flood, and one of the only buildings downtown to survive the 1906 earthquake and fire, the Flood Building is awe-inspiring to walk through. Their decor is simple and traditional, but paired with the grandeur of the building, this is a must see.
I hope you all take little pieces of this article and incorporate the artistic spirit into your own works. And don't forget to show us here at dashPunk your pics when you're finished!
Happy Holidays!