The objective was to establish a “street-level,” retail-based arm of our design firm, Grant Design Collaborative, located in Canton, Georgia (about 40 miles north of Atlanta), to introduce the general public to Grant Design Collaborative and to showcase our design thinking, services and capabilities. Additionally, we wanted to make design a more accessible, tangible concept to those not fully immersed in the design industry; to create an open forum for the team, a design laboratory where we can test out new ideas and new product and get an immediate reaction; and to take the concepts of recycling and sustainable design one step further with an ongoing series of custom handmade paper goods that incorporate repurposed paper and other raw materials from past projects or junk mail that would otherwise be thrown away. This imaginative collection showcases how design thinking and ingenuity can transform trash to treasure.

When a storefront space became available in the same building as our studio, we saw it as a perfect opportunity to interface with the public in a more direct way—an opportunity to introduce ourselves, our services, our products (and design in general) in a more tangible way. It was also an opportunity to showcase and distribute our product designs, such as Grant area rugs and wall coverings.

Read the full case study here: [http://www.aiga.org/case-study-the-store-at-grant-design-collab/]