ICE reinvents COATS displays

In 2012 we were asked to redesign a display system for COATS. The company provides high end threads with a range of more than 10,000 colors. Samples are placed in garment factories all over the world. We were confronted with their current cabinet that is a tightly packed drawer system. Being very difficult to find the right color from within all the different drawers, the system was quite inefficient at both time efficiency in finding and searching the right color samples as well as presenting the color system as well as the quality of the company in the right way:

We were looking for a concept that makes the display easier to use, easier to view as well as easier to compare and find colors within. We decided to design a column where all tread cones will be visible to the exterior. In order to be able to compare different colors and thread qualities, we designed the column as an interactive system of stacked plates which can rotate agains each other.

The column becomes a visual graphical device as well as an interactive object, far more easier to use than a sealed cabinet.

One of the agenda of the display was to be more space efficient than the storage cabinet. We introduced a Kanban system, which holds two cones in a container, while one acts as a reserve. With the built in storage system no further space is required within the factories and samples can be easily replace once they are used.

Team: Ulrich Kirchhoff, Louise Low, Claudia Wigger, Olgierd Nitka

© 2013, ice - ideas for contemporary environments