Au Naturale

Brandimage’s recent display for perfumer Mandy Aftel was a whole lot of nothing. No, really.

The company played with several ideas when creating the display for Aftel’s new line, exclusive to Henri Bendel in New York City. A few involved forestscapes cut from X-Board by Xanita. One thought was to print the boards to look just like trees, but Aftel, who strictly uses natural essences in her perfumes, expressed that she wanted to keep the display as natural as possible. So the boards, manufactured from recycled cardboard and paper products and have no VOCs, were left unprinted.

“The theme is based on layers and nature,” says Xanita’s Joshua Farka. The white boards were routed in Georgia by Xanita’s partner Parallax, and then assembled in layers. The display was produced from 150 4 x 8-foot sheets (each 16mm thick); they were stacked to a height of 11 feet, and stacked as deep as eight layers. It was the rigidity of the sheets that allowed them to stand without help. In between each layer, a horizontal slot was cut to secure each layer into another, eliminating the need for additional braces.

The display cases are also largely natural. X-board Plus, which has a lamination that provides more sturdiness, was used for the housing.