D. Porthault: A French botanical moment

Inspired by the gardens of France, luxury french linen maker D. Porthault's current window on Park Avenue features 18th century style statuary,  swathed in floral motif pillows and sheets in front of an impressionistic, lavender hued landscape.

The interior was also restyled to reflect the botanical theme.

Throwback: Less is More, profiling Skin care products

Elizabeth Arden's corporate headquarters in the 80's were in a building called Park Avenue Plaza. There were three large showcases in their lobby that Geoff designed and installed on a regular basis. Below are a couple examples of a more minimalist approach to showcasing various skin care products. 

 In the first shot, Geoff lined the background with blank newsprint plainly pinned to the wall. Across this plane of 'plainess', were pinned a repeating pattern of a portrait of Gary Cooper (cut out of Interview Magazines) and a hand written slogan in step with Father's Day.

In this variation of a minimalist stripey theme, Geoff created large painted canvases with tone-on-tone wide horizontal stripes and one bold bright pink stripe behind plaster cast lettering (a display standard of the day) to showcase the product.

Throwback: Imperial Fashion

Back when shoulder padded women's blazers were all the rage (i.e. the eighties), Beltrami's fashions were no exception. They had a giant and fancy store on 55th st. and 5th Ave and Geoff did the windows. For that year's 'travel collection' Geoff recreated a slice of China using 2 giant Foo dog statues and his signature hand painted background, in this case a lovely pagoda inspired fantasy in grisaille.

Throwback: Have a seat!

Back in the 80's, Geoff was hired by Life Magazine to create a fantasy set (in this case, a fancy french feeling) to showcase a collection of hand painted chairs. In this "behind-the-scenes" shot, you can see the seamless paper drop incorporated with an actual set piece of a recessed door. There is another seamless paper backdrop behind the door to further a sense of depth. Other than the chairs themselves (and the dog), all the rest is the magic of Geoff's whimsically hand painted designs.

Tekserve: The Curated Office

Fall is here and Tekserve is in 'Back to Work' mode, showcasing their best and latest home office gizmos! To create the ambiance and using the Tekserve signature orange and blue, Geoff incorporated blue painted louvered doors, a hanging work lights with a bouquet of orange (energy-efficient) bulbs, an orange shag carpet and giant bouquet of sunflowers.  The text vinyls applied to the windows give a catalogue or menu style description of the product on display. To add a touch of 'trendy urban realism', a mojito and cast off pair of vintage Chanel shoes was added to the vignette.

Throwback: All Buttoned Up

One fine resort season in the early 90's, Geoff designed a fresh white-on-white window for luxury Italian fashion designer Salvatore Ferragamo. Focusing on a signature design theme, (their monogram buttons) and exquisite tailoring, Geoff designed large scale buttons and button holes to showcase their elegant collection.

Throwback: Drawing Rooms

Back the 80's there was a new thing in publishing called the Advertorial which was a multi page spread art directed like an editorial piece but paid for by the advertisers.  Photographs below were from one of these that was done for the New Yorker Magazine, showcasing both a leading luxury linens company and a fine carpet company.  Geoff was hired to create his signature environments using only set paper and gatorboard, cutting it out and decoratively painting it to create a complete set from a drafty tudor castle to a cozy victorian cottage,