Bryan Gailey

Bryan Gailey could talk about (Product) RED until he’s blue in the face. The global campaign has achieved celebrity status, appearing everywhere from Apple ads to Christy Turlington’s closet.

Gailey’s company, Fitch New York (formerly the WalkerGroup), was chosen to create a pop-up shop for Motorola’s part in the initiative. “We had only 12 days to completely transform an empty, 1000-square-foot space into a showcase for both the Motorola and (RED) brands,” Gailey says.

But in that short time frame, a creative team of planners and designers fashioned a temporary space that not only honored the (RED) manifesto, but also won Best of Show in VM+SD’s annual International Visual Merchandising Competition. He’ll be partnering again with Motorola to discuss the project at this month’s International Retail Design Conference in Atlanta.

Attendees won’t be disappointed by the retail veteran. He’s been in the industry for 30 years, with FRCH Design Worldwide, Callison Architecture, Bennett Lowry Corp. and Calvin Klein. Now at Fitch, he’s responsible for overseeing and managing the New York and Los Angeles design teams as well as evolving the business and marketing efforts.

Gailey still recalls his early days in design as a Georgia Tech architecture student. It was then that he completed his first design project for Neiman Marcus and learned (courtesy of Stanley Marcus) to always consult a dictionary.

There’s also his movie career, but – well, keep reading.

Remember your first design project?

A series of in-store promotional graphics for Neiman Marcus in Atlanta, where I was working part-time in the “display” department. Stanley Marcus walked through the store and complimented my graphic technique. He also pointed out that I had misspelled “stationery.”

What lesson did you learn from that project that you still carry with you today?

How to spell “stationery.”

What was the hardest part about designing the Motorola (RED) pop-up store?

The short time frame.

How does the design represent the (RED) manifesto?

The (RED) manifesto gave us two visual hooks: the parentheses of the (EMBRACE) and the abundant use of the color red. These two elements were used graphically as well as three-dimensionally to tie the space together in a strong and compelling way.

How do you assure customers that they’re really contributing to this campaign?

One of the main tenets of the (RED) manifesto, as outlined by Bono, is that consumers, if given the choice, would choose products that support global causes. So we included the “Wall of Fame” – a special focal element in the store where customers could, by purchasing a (RED) RAZR phone, visually make their mark in aiding in the global fight against AIDS.

How have pop-up stores changed retail design?

They’ve heightened the awareness of the transitory nature of retail and, specifically, the ephemeral nature of merchandise.

First time at IRDC. What are you looking forward to most about the conference?

IRDC has assembled a world-class group of retail authorities and paired them up with topics and forums that have meaning and relevance to every sector of the industry. This concentration of industry expertise will be truly exciting to tap into.

What can attendees expect from your presentation?

We’re going to be talking about the challenges we encountered, how we transformed that space into a branded statement in record time and how we were able to remove the branding after the promotion to leave a viable retail space.

What one fact would most people be surprised to know about you?

My movie credit. I was a zombie in the original “Dawn of the Dead.” As any zombie horror film buff knows, it was shot in a shopping mall. I was the dead one who got a pie thrown in his face.

Were you analyzing the design of the shopping mall between takes?

Well, considering that it was a typical suburban enclosed mall circa 1977, I think that I was just thanking my lucky stars I lived in New York!