GMSI · with Paul Tazewell

Paul Tazewell at GMSI

Working with Paul Tazewell at GMSI brought together theatrical storytelling, environmental design, and hands-on fabrication in a deeply collaborative way.

Paul’s sensitivity to character, color, texture, and visual rhythm helped shape a design process focused on turning narrative ideas into physical details guests could see, touch, and move through. The project balanced expressive design with real-world execution, translating story-driven concepts into surfaces, lighting, graphics, materials, and built elements that supported the overall experience. The result was a space shaped by theatrical imagination and grounded by practical making, where every detail helped set the tone and invite guests into the story.

How it should feel

Capabilities on this build

The mix of skills it took to move from narrative idea to buildable concept.

Retail Environment

Renderings & Concept

Lighting

Custom Fabrication

Signage & Graphics

Three directions

A peek into the design process with Paul

Each direction translates Paul’s theatrical instincts into a different retail world — from a backstage dressing room to a chromatic shop-in-shop to a working atelier. Tap any board to view it full screen.

Costume Shop Concept board — theatrical backstage dressing-room retail bay with red velvet, globe-lit mirrors, and a materials and finishes mood board — Costume Shop Concept — Paul’s working backstage dressing area reimagined as an intimate, theatrical retail bay. Rich red velvet endcaps frame each bay like stage curtains, mirrors outlined with warm globe lights echo a performer’s dressing station, and costume props turn the shop into an active studio of imagination.

Chromatic Movement concept board — jewel-tone gradient shop-in-shop with a globe-lit mirror at center and rich color samples — Chromatic Movement — Paul’s love of rich color and texture transforms the shop-in-shop into a blend of jewel-tone gradient finishes. A large mirror framed in warm globe lights becomes the central experiential moment, part dressing room, part stage.

Atelier Concept board — neutral-toned working studio with industrial pipe racks, oversized archival sketches, architect lamps, and a drafting table — Atelier Concept — an immersive take on Paul’s own working studio. Industrial pipe racks, oversized archival sketches, and architect lamps surround a drafting table laden with sketchbooks and parchment, while quiet neutral tones give the merchandise center stage.

Next project

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