Display Cabinet

The client was a marketing and design consultancy. Their client was a British car manufacturer with an extensive network of nationwide showrooms. The client was looking for a designer who could liaise on their behalf with their client to design, develop and manufacture a merchandising display for car accessories available from main dealer car showrooms. 

The client had prepared visuals of the overall look of the display as a 'dressed' installation without consideration for a structure underneath that. The project initially started as just designing a display consisting of a tilted shelf unit above a cabinet and with side panel displays and spur shelving capability. 

The concept was quickly expanded to include a Glass Display Cabinet because an innovation we introduced into the design of the side columns could be configured to incorporate secret hinges. The Cabinet concept was also adapted into an In Car Entertainment display and combined audio/visual presentation centre after the side columns were considered in a more structural role and therefore able to support greater loads.

The brief was rewritten to develop the original concept into a Base display configured on site as either, an angled shelf display, a display cabinet or an audio visual centre with each configuration capable of carrying side panels and further shelving. The brief also required the assembly to be flat pack, made to a strict budget and delivered to central warehousing ready for forward shipping. 

The concept was developed using CAD in 3D and presented as colour visuals. Particular attention had to be made to security as many smaller display items were high value and there was higher risk of theft. The displays were all discreetly lockable and virtually all external fixings were eliminated. 

Once the client had approved the concept design visuals the next stage was to source manufacturers of the various components including woodwork, sheet metal, CNC fabrication, curved glazing, and electrical wiring packs for low voltage and power distribution. The next stage was to prototype each component for verification of the assembly. The client signed off the prototype for manufacture and roll-out nationally across the dealerships. Production was scheduled by batch to one location for combining into tested and checked consignments prior to forwarding to a central distribution point on a JIT basis.