Justin Langshaw, Head of 3D at the Barber Design Consultancy

Barber Design’s very own Head of 3D – Justin Langshaw, was recently invited by Retail Week to share his thoughts in their weekly ‘Good Shop, Bad Shop’ article.

The article, in which an industry expert highlights his/her best and worst stores on the UK High St, can be seen below in its original format – and to think, this was Justin’s edited version! poor (old) Clinton Cards, bless them!

Good Shop, Bad Shop
Taken from Retail Week – 28 Aug 2009

Good Shop: Muji

I think all designers like Muji. A promised land of well ordered and well considered solutions to everyday life, devoid of cynicism, driven by necessity and the fundamental balance between quality and cost. Every store is an oasis of calm that you can happily potter about in, discovering rewarding objects that you never knew you needed until now, or if you did; you probably already bought one for twice as much somewhere else.

Bad shop: Clinton Cards

A stock level that borders on the incomprehensible, a product range that swings violently between suburban kitsch and outdated vulgarity and a shop design that looks like a cross between a Formica kitchen and a civil service office.

It is entirely possible to enter a Clinton Cards looking for something as ubiquitous as a 30^th birthday card and spend 15 minutes digging through the piles of dead trees and come up with nothing you would willingly give to anyone you call a friend.

If card giving is meant to be a reflection of self, Clinton is holding up a mirror to the diminishing sections of our society, and with Paperchase’s expansion, their omnipresence must be due a challenge.”