Neiman Marcus Window — Nader Sadoughi

Window Display Sponsored by Neiman Marcus

My class had the privilege of designing and installing a window display at the luxury department store Neiman Marcus.As the class-elected creative director, I led the design process, prepared it for assembly, and directed its installation, all within two weeks.

Role: Creative Director Team Size: 16 Project Length: 2 Weeks Installation Location: Neiman Marcus, Austin, TX Workflow: AutoCAD, Adobe Illustrator, Laser Cutter

Problem: Only one site visit allowed.
Solution: Recreate the site—inch by inch.
In close collaboration with our technical director, Allie Fitzgerald, we used AutoCAD to create true-to-scale models of the space and Illustrator for sketches. We quickly and flexibly iterated on butterfly placement calculations, ensuring precise measurements for module creation and ultimately achieving the design intent.

Achieving Design Intent ModularlyOur main challenge was placing a large number of individual butterflies both accurately and efficiently.The laser cutter solved this challenge. Using measurements from the initial site visit, wood was cut small enough to fit through the ceiling grate but large enough to stand securely under its own weight. By creating individual modules, the work could be preassembled. The prepared measurements were shared with the team, and modules were assigned and completed by installation day, ensuring we hit our design intent precisely.