Art, imagination, and Anthropologie

Brushstrokes on canvas dominate this window display at the Anthropologie store in Somerset Mall outside Detroit.  The single outfit is balanced by text that emphasizes aesthetics and values. (Photo by Denise Vultee)

As artist/entrepreneurs, we use our imaginations to envision new works and bring them to life.  The resulting creations are our "products," but they're not just widgets; they're a part of who we are. And it can be frustrating when the public doesn't share our visions or recognize the value of our creations.

We sometimes forget that, often, what our potential clients and customers need is not so much a product as an experience. And the more we can do to create experiences that help them satisfy their own need for creative self-expression, the more they will see the value in what we are offering.

Case in point: Anthropologie.

The consumer as artist

Anthropologie has a reputation for inspiring passionately loyal customers--this despite its high prices, and the fact that handmade and one-of-a-kind items vie for display space with mass-produced Chinese imports.

The obsession, it seems, is mutual: Anthropologie managers can tell you all about their ideal customer, right down to the books she reads and the music she listens to.  They refer to this customer as their "friend," but a better description might be "collaborator" or even "co-creator."

When Anthropologie was founded in 1992, its approach to retailing was distinctively nontraditional, even quirky.  A decade later, designer Ron Pompei recalled:

"We wanted to create an experience that would set up the possibility of change and transformation, where the visitor's imagination was just as important as that of the designer.... People would start to connect the dots in their own way and tell themselves a personal story."

The strategy appears to have paid off: The chain now boasts 187 stores in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. that are helping to keep its parent company, Urban Outfitters, afloat.

#AnthroWindows

Most recently, Anthropologie's focus on the customer's imagination can be seen in this month's collection of themed window displays, which the brand's official blog describes as "a celebration of late winter’s painterly palette, reimagined as graduated colour wheels, radiant swatches and artist’s studios."

Props like unfinished canvases and vintage tools subtly invite passing shoppers to enter a fantasy world in which they themselves can become artists--or where they can at least get a privileged glimpse into the magical spaces where art takes shapes.

The "painterly" theme continues in a second window, with multiple canvases and a weathered easel flanking a pair of outfits.  (Photo by Denise Vultee)

Shoppers who linger to admire these gorgeous displays will notice the following message, tucked away in the corner and rendered in fonts that mimic hand printing and cursive handwriting:

WHY COLOR? because it makes THE WORLD BIGGER, unveiling all that IS POSSIBLE.  #ANTHROWINDOWS

The implication: All the pretty window dressing is in the service of a much bigger (if vaguer) cause than mere commerce.  And by using the convenient hashtag, shoppers can become part of that cause by sharing their own unique experience of the (highly photogenic) scene in front of them.  (As of this writing, there are more than 3,500 Instagram posts using the "#AnthroWindows" hashtag.)

The takeaway for arts entrepreneurs?  Don't sell a product; sell an experience.  Let your customers do some of the work--especially the work of imagination.