smile direct club brand & experiential strategy | nomad, new york

Smile Direct Club Flagship Store

242 5th Avenue, New York

Involved from Sept 2016 - Nov 2016 (Completed 2017)

Industry: Retail/Healthcare

For: Slade Architecture

Smile Direct Club (SDC) is a company that 3D prints custom invisible aligners to straighten their customer’s teeth. We were tasked with creating an intuitive and inviting environment that clearly communicates the core values of quality, trustworthiness, accessibility, innovation and playfulness.

Balancing openness and privacy was the main challenge for this project: the space must be open and inviting but at the same time create privacy for people who are being fitted for aligners. A second significant challenge was to create a design system that is flexible and allows for the young organization to experiment with a variety of merchandising and social strategies without looking cluttered or empty.

As part of the AAP NYC programme in 2016, I worked as an intern at Slade Architecture once a week while attending school. I mapped out look & feel presentations and programming diagrams to establish the guiding concept of the design. I then supported the team with floor plan options and designs of other elements of the space. My internship ended when the project was moving into the construction documents phase.

This project was nominated for the Interior Design Best of Year Awards in 2017, Branding & Graphics: Environmental category.

Team: Amy Atzmon (Lead Designer & Architect), Stephanie Cheung (Architectural Assistant), Sisi Yu (Architectural Assistant), Ruby Kaur (Architectural Assistant)