AmericasMart celebrated the visual presentation achievements of permanent and temporary exhibitors showing in its January 2013 Markets with awards recognizing superior designs across all product collections and categories.  Adjudication during The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market and The Atlanta International Area Rug Market featuring the National Oriental Rug Show Jan. 9-16, 2013 yielded Visual Display Awards (VDAs) for 33 permanent showrooms and 20 temporary exhibits, including a Best of Show in the Temporaries.  Independent design and visual merchandising experts, with decades of experience, selected the winners.  The January 2013 VDA winners, with judges’ comments are:

AmericasMart Building 1

Floor 3

Sphinx/Oriental Weavers 3-A-2

Created a compelling vignette with furniture and props to showcase the product in a colorful, inviting setting.

Floor 4

Four Hands 4-A-1

Effective integration of home furnishings and rugs with stunning use of open space and lighting.

Floor 5

Marcella Fine Rugs 5-C-10

An artistic interpretation of the Verona name to highlight and define the concept and product.

Floor 6

Shaw Industries 6-A-2

Creative staging of props including styled mannequins to convey the design concepts from fashion to home.

Floor 9

Luna Bella 9-A-9

Use of dramatic lighting highlights the detail of opulent, interesting decor product in sultry room settings.

Floor 10

Barreveld International, Inc. 10-E-18

The combination of natural stone, weathered wood and live foliage enhanced by "natural" light creates a welcoming garden entrance.

Floor 11

Surya 11-A-1

Large showroom has one welcoming entrance that is bright, colorful and inviting.

Bold, repetitive logo graphic surrounds entire space.

Floor 12

Paragon 12-A-8

Main (center) walls are trapezoidal shaped in progressive size order to carry your eye through the space.

Hint of soft blue and shades of light taupe wash the walls and create a subtle background for gallery art.

Floor 13

Cyan Designs 13-C-7

Ingenious interpretation of a Magic Carpet Ride graces the front entrance complete with a “live” Aladdin.

Soft shadow silhouettes in hues of night suggests Arabian skyline.

Floor 14

Aidan Gray Home 14-F-5

Neutral tones are accentuated by creative placement of furniture elements, creating an artistic ambiance.

Floor 16

BX Glass 16-A-21

Wrapped in sky blue walls and crisp white fixturing, this glass container showroom floats.

Utilizes natural lighting to its benefit.

Floor 17

Winward International 17-D-2

Oversized dramatic entrances, grouped by themes, i.e. Williamsburg, Woodland, Spring Garden.

Splendid floor-to-ceiling arrangements and beautifully garnished.

Floor 18

Accent Décor 18-A-23

Indescribable in its execution of innovative visual concepts.

Utilizes sticks, twigs and branches in the most clever and awe-inspiring ways.

Floor 19

Seasons Direct Imports 19-C-13

Impactful windows invite you in from every angle.

Tightly grouped collections create a meandering path through a charming winter wonderland.

Floor 20

Eric Cortina Collection 20-E-6

Impressive execution of vintage fortuneteller theme.

Unique application of ‘clip on product’ clipped on books in library – Intriguing ambience.

AmericasMart Building 2

Floor 6

Audrey’s Your Heart's Delight 655B

A whimsical antique sled brings snowmen to life in an idyllic winter scene.

Floor 7

Ragon House Collection 739

A visit to great grandmother’s attic is the ambiance created through low-light, antique furnishings on wood planked floor appointed with aged rugs.

Spotlighted areas break up the quiet and attract attention.

Floor 8

FlashPoint Candle 825B

Petit showroom featuring flat “Bowl” candle products.

Simply wrapped and tied with a wide ribbon in progressive sizes is tasteful and refined.

Floor 9

Michael Aram 900, 930A

Impressive and simplistic use of light against midnight black environment.

Touches of fresh flowering branches add elegance.

Floor 10

Votivo 1017

Dramatic and innovative inspiration from the product name – “unlock your love.”

This tiny room is wrapped in block from ceiling to floor with high intensity pin lights found on product and visual details.

Floor 11

Imax Corp. 1100

Bold graphic ‘under the sea’ design makes a splash from all vantage points.

Repetitive use of mirrored product to create a wave effect on exterior walls.

Floor 12

Napa Home & Garden 1210

Simple and effective grand entrance featuring block, high-gloss doors flanked by oversized block containers with red amaryllis.

Floor 13

Yankee Candle Company 1306

New spring fragrances are brought to life by creating an atmosphere of a backyard barbecue or a sunset tropical paradise.

Oversize photo murals set the stage complete with food accompaniment and key props of umbrellas, awnings, strings, etc.

Floor 14

Select Artificials 1418

A tasteful, elegant execution of floral and winter holiday vignettes.

Each classification is labeled, i.e. winter garden, potters bench and harvest.

Floor 15

Charlie Paige 1521

New showroom (resort wear) with impactful, oversized ‘Blue Cloud Sky’ backdrops, featuring the logo.

White fixturing, mannequins and props serve as the vehicle to show colorful product.

Floor 16

Jewell Pop of The Southern Link 1610

A cohesive collection of contemporary fine jewelry in a small ‘white’ showroom.

Excellent logo identification: over entrance, on fixtures, back wall, etc.

Floor 17

Tozai 1717

An intriguing ‘Book Sculpture’ spilling from the ceiling onto the floor – used as shelving for product.

Lava rock sculpture opposite in direct contrast is embedded with glass jewel product.

Floor 18

Appleman/Schauben & Co. 1830

High energy, bold color blocking of walls and backdrops.

Lively Top 40 Hits play in the background.

AmericasMart Building 2 WestWing

Floor 6

Demdaco 685

Exceptional re-inventing of everyday objects as new props.

Crystals on a chandelier repeated with ornaments; clay pots ‘strung’ together to create a backdrop.

Floor 7

Burton & Burton 774A

Whimsical, larger-than-life animated bunnies in the garden.

Waist-high grass graphic on window and side wall.

Floor 8

Le Creuset of America, Inc. 889B

Color blocking import!

Sunshine yellow tabletop presentation using yellow tulips and product collected, under a canopy of yellow rain umbrellas, is a show stopper.

Floor 9

Magnet Works Limited 9-B-84

Cottage Garden atmosphere reusing discarded, worn tools and chairs into charming containers, i.e. wheelbarrow, metal chair, child’s wagon and suitcase.

Multi-vendor showroom flows with ease from classification to classification.

Floor 10

Treasure Garden 10-A-37

Simple concept yet very effective garden umbrella showroom.

Miniature samples are mounted open-face on the back wall anchored by photo graphics of lifestyles.

Window-Display Winners

Building 1

Sage – Main Floor

Beautifully frosted glass treatment immediately differentiates it.

Shadow-box effect invites focus on the beautiful floral display.

Building 2

Imax – Floor 11

Hand-painted re-creation of the bold and colorful ‘under the sea’ graphic campaign used in the showroom.

Generous use of product creatively placed to represent undersea creatures.

Building 3

Michael Perry – Floor 2

High-impact white walls with crisp orange panels are mounted with an artistic rendition in white corrugated board of deer heads.

Single dress form in a complimentary orange-print outfit is its inspiration.

Temporaries

Best of Show:

Barclay Butera by Eastern Accents

Deny Designs

Frette

Jamie Young Company

Gold Leaf Design Group

Beautiful Briny Sea

Progressive International

Elegant Garden Design

Up Country

Second Nature

Clay Chick Ceramics

Miss Rose Sister Violet

Melange Collection

Finchberry Soapery

Pello

Worker B

Ban.do

Lolo Bags

mb Reflections

Papaya