HOT or NOT: Eye-Q Intelligent Eyewear

Amid the cacophony of mediocre boutiques in Rochester's subway system lies hope and peace. 

Hope for a bolder, brighter future of retail and design.  Peace from the dissonance of eclectic storefronts.  Hope for business owners who understand that design offers a competitive advantage and increases the vitality of public spaces.  Peace from the maze of banal corridors that confuse and distract.  Hope for Rochester to embrace progressive, contemporary design for the segment of population that respects it and seeks it.  This addition of HOT or NOT has stepped indoors, and in doing so, discovered the optimum way to handle boutique retail design:

The verdict is...HOT

In the interest of full disclosure, the shop owners of Eye-Q Intelligent Eyewear are friends of mine.  However, their shop existed and expanded before I became friends with them and while I offered to give design assistance, they were well on their way toward a clear vision.  That being said, I wish I could take credit for the design that they produced as it bucks the trend of every other subterranean commercial tenant and explodes out of its clear glass doors with vibrancy, color and sharp attention to modern design.



From the consistent use of glass and steel for displays and furniture to the warmth and class of the wood floors, this space demonstrates that looking different--and in this case putting others to shame--can be as affective an advertising methodology as radio or print media.  The Rochester subway system suffers from an utter lack of identifiable landmarks, signage and clarity, due in large part to the various businesses that occupy its frontages.  Without distinct destinations, the system would be impossible to navigate or determine the most straight forward path to travel. 

Eye-Q provides such a landmark.  It possesses the characteristics of design that make it memorable and unique: rich color, clarity of purpose, and iconicism.  The first time you come across the space it may be by accident, but as you revel in your discovery, you become more conscious of your surroundings so as to be sure to remember how to stumble upon it again.

As you enter, exiting the the hypnotic technicolor carpet and stepping foot onto the rich amber colored hardwood, you are in a small space containing only a few display cases and a cast concrete high-top table and chairs where one of two lovely shopkeepers are available to tempt you with optical delights.  This smaller space gives way to a much larger showroom that feels vast yet comfortable allowing ease of wheelchair access and freedom to mill about without bumping into fellow patrons.  The furniture of glass and steel displays numerous frames by designers from around the world, but as you watch numerous passers by who can't help but look (and stare) at the world that exists within this small store, you realize that it is the store itself that draws people in, not the fabulous frames by elite designers.  I found it quite difficult to capture in my camera's lens so I had to resort to panoramic collages to better illustrate the look and feel.  Because for this case, seeing is believing.

These shop owners made a commitment to a vision for the store (not to be confused with a commitment to vision as the store).  That vision wasn't watered down by budgetary or logistic constraints.  While that path is not easy or often travelled, it takes this kind of rigor and discipline to be a pioneer.  And that is exactly what this store does; it breaks new ground on expectations from retail design and at the same time elevates the status quo.  I would not be surprised if others to follow in their path now that they have so bravely blazed a trail. 

You may never visit the basement of the Kahler Hotel, or need to stop by the friendly, whistling shoe shine man around the corner, but if you do, do not miss out on the best example of boutique retail design that Rochester has to offer.  We will never be New York, or Chicago, or San Francisco, but people from each of those places as well as Abu Dhabi, Milan, and Tokyo come here.  And now they have a place to visit that may remind them a bit of home, with a touch of Minnesota "nice."