The new Jigsaw Menswear collection has just been launched in 20 shops around the UK including standalone shops in Richmond, Westbourne Grove and Spitalfields in London.

AMD designed the new interior spaces for Jigsaw Menswear with a brief ranging from individual shops to menswear areas within existing Jigsaw shops.

The spaces are all designed to have a comfortable, pared-back feel: welcoming to men. There is room to sit and relax as well as ample product space. Whole outfits are simply displayed on hooks around the shop, making the process of choosing easier and more straightforward.

At Spitalfields, as shown above, we have been able to reuse the existing hanging system by removing the shelves and brackets. We have added a new shelving display unit adapted from an old French library trolley and an old industrial desk has been found, restored and reused to display garments.

I heard that the night went very well, with a record number of attendees to a Bluebird function and they will be using the room in its mirrored form for another pop-up event soon.

I managed to finish the install by lunch time, which left me time to have a wander about and be a tourist and do a photo study of the Eiffel Tower before heading back to London. I also popped in to the Conran shop to see our Odd Leg Table on display!

This years theme revolved around an illustration of a city full of artisans by Central St. Martins student, Natalija Mencej. We produced a very large book for the middle window which displayed the drawing surrounded by a story about the shop, which was set in the imaginary world shown in the illustration. The other windows featured large trees and a castle, taken from Natalija’s drawing, all beautifully laser cut from thick paper and suspended in the window. We wanted the windows to appear as a portal to a magical world within. We were very pleased with the result, as was the client.

We also created a ‘Christmas Bazaar’ within the shop, by resurrecting the Hardware store shopfront we made for the Few and Far spring display. It was repaired and repainted and once installed, we had Poppy Heading paint the gold detail.

We highly recommend anyone to go and take a look at the shop, even if you have been before. The display and stock change seasonally, so it is always a fresh, interesting shop to visit.

Things are a little different when you are on the ‘creative’ side of the table and for me this means screen real-estate. Of course mobility and large monitors don’t go together that well so my toolkit consists of a few different kits:

Site

When onsite it is impractical to use a computer so the iPad is the tool for the job.

• iPad
• ‘ManBag’
• Laser Measuring device
• Tape measure
• Jailbroken iPhone

I tend to put all my project’s files on GoodReader which has the remarkable ability to connect to client’s SFTP servers and mark up PDF drawings with a stylus. The key, for me, is to keep everything digital and on ‘the cloud’ so I never have a piece of paper to lose. If someone does give me a piece of paper, I take a photo of it. The iPhone is jailbroken so I can use MyWi to create a personal hotspot for my laptop and iPad in any country using a Pre-Pay SIM card.

Travel

• MacBook Pro 17″
• iPad/Jailbroken iPhone
• Etymotic HF2 headphones
• Victorinox Hard Cabin Case
• Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000
• Avatron’s Air Display for iPad
• Incase Magazine Jacket for iPad and Sleeve for MacBook
• Geox brogues

This combination has been honed from a plethora of combinations of using keymote style apps for the iPhone and various input peripherals. Some might baulk at the idea of using a Microsoft mouse on a Mac, but there are two main reasons: a] It’s Bluetooth – one less USB port used up with silly dongles. b] It has a physical scroll wheel with a button; essential for CAD applications (in my opinion). The earphones also keep me sane when easyJet-ing around europe because they block out 90% of the screaming children noise that comes with being an easyJet Plus card holder. You may find it amusing that I listed a pair of shoes, but when you have to walk from a godforsaken gate in the heat of summer comfortable shoes that breathe are just the job. Steve Jobs can get away with tennis shoes, I prefer something a bit less casual.

Home

• Apple 24″ Cinema Display
• Razer Mouse
• 3D Connexion ‘mouse’
• Eames Soft Pad Aluminium Group Chair
• Timbuk2 courier bag
• 2TB Hard Disk

Wherever I lay my monitor, that’s my home.

It seems a luxury, but as I have said and always will; there aint nothing better than more pixels; and the chair is the same for my butt! I have to admit though, mine was an incredible bargain on eBay.

The mouse takes a little more explaining. Why use a consumer grade product, when you can get something four times more accurate? A gaming mouse provides amazing accuracy for all those lines I draw.

Backup is important, so, as well as SFTP file syncing via Transmit, I also use Apple’s amazing Time Machine on a couple of 2TB drives that quietly save everything. These get taken as far away from the computer as possible; regularly. This way, if you have to create your machine from scratch it only takes a few hours, rather than days, to get it back to how you’re comfortable with it.

My working philosophy is all about the Sync.

Transmit is an app that anyone who needs to share files or sync with a server needs to buy. If you save your local files to match the server it will mirror and sync for you to make working offline so much easier.

Skype. Evil, but totally necessary. I even pay them.

GotoMeeting Now with HD video conferencing! Not only can you do whole design meetings via screen sharing, but you can also gauge how your amazing ideas come across via the looks on the participants faces!*

DropBox – If you aren’t using this then you don’t deserve to be connected to the internet. Start using it and you’ll see the genius for collaboration on ad-hoc projects. It also has huge traction in the iOS app world, so is useful for syncing.

Reeder is a simple and beautifully designed app for all major platforms. A lot of people ask how I can absorb so much of the internet and this is the secret. Plough through RSS on almost any site, even if it doesn’t have a specific RSS feed.

1Password Keeps your logins and payment details for almost anything. It also suits the Nomad because you can set up various identities for those loathsome massive forms you need to fill in when ordering your teeth whitening strips or nose trimmers.**

* – Thanks, Dad!

** – Or whatever you people order online.

Us! The shop we designed won Best New Store of the Year for White Stuff, George Street, Edinburgh at the 2011 Drapers Awards.

We were very pleased to be recognised for our part in this large and complex project, alongside the talented visual merchandising team at White Stuff. It is wonderful to have a client who is willing to embrace fairly radical ideas, such as cutting a hole through two floors to create a dramatic atrium, rather than chasing the square meterage dragon.

Many thanks to White Stuff and Drapers Record.

Traditionally styled to complement the existing façade, the new shopfront is painted in the signature red of Jigsaw. Internally, all the walls are painted pale pink including sections of existing brickwork referencing the heritage of the building.

The bespoke polished steel hanging system with glass shelves sit lightly within the structure and enhance the clean lines of the overall design. Lighting is provided by simple custom-made pendant lights fitted with Plumen lamps and additional Italian globe feature lights. A very long antique chandelier hangs down through the new staircase encouraging the customer to explore the first floor where more retail space and fitting rooms can be found.

Comfortable seating areas have been created outside the fitting rooms using re-upholstered antique furniture allowing the customer valuable resting space.

A cash desk features a zinc top and bespoke painted canvas sides by artist Poppy Heading.

Simpler and cleaner in feel, the walls have been painted pale pink with simple grey framed mirrors and grey pinstripe fabrics. The new bespoke fixtures, designed for the Market Town Series are in cast aluminium with reclaimed timber shelving and timber uprights.

Lighting is provided by our bespoke single pendant lamps and vintage chandeliers. The cash desk has been clad in Poppy Heading’s hand painted canvases commissioned by us for the Market Town series.