GMSI · with Paul Tazewell

Paul Tazewell at GMSI

Working with Paul Tazewell at GMSI brought together theatrical storytelling, environmental design, and hands-on fabrication in a deeply collaborative way.

Paul’s sensitivity to character, color, texture, and visual rhythm helped shape a design process focused on turning narrative ideas into physical details guests could see, touch, and move through. The project balanced expressive design with real-world execution, translating story-driven concepts into surfaces, lighting, graphics, materials, and built elements that supported the overall experience. The result was a space shaped by theatrical imagination and grounded by practical making, where every detail helped set the tone and invite guests into the story.

How do we turn a story into something a guest can see, touch, and move through?GMSI × Paul Tazewell · 2026

How it should feel

Capabilities on this build

The mix of skills it took to move from narrative idea to buildable concept.

Retail Environment

Renderings & Concept

Lighting

Custom Fabrication

Signage & Graphics

Three directions

A peek into the design process with Paul

Each direction translates Paul’s theatrical instincts into a different retail world — from a backstage dressing room to a chromatic shop-in-shop to a working atelier. Tap any board to view it full screen.

Costume Shop Concept board — theatrical backstage dressing-room retail bay with red velvet, globe-lit mirrors, and a materials and finishes mood board — Costume Shop Concept — Paul’s working backstage dressing area reimagined as an intimate, theatrical retail bay. Rich red velvet endcaps frame each bay like stage curtains, mirrors outlined with warm globe lights echo a performer’s dressing station, and costume props turn the shop into an active studio of imagination.

Chromatic Movement concept board — jewel-tone gradient shop-in-shop with a globe-lit mirror at center and rich color samples — Chromatic Movement — Paul’s love of rich color and texture transforms the shop-in-shop into a blend of jewel-tone gradient finishes. A large mirror framed in warm globe lights becomes the central experiential moment, part dressing room, part stage.

Atelier Concept board — neutral-toned working studio with industrial pipe racks, oversized archival sketches, architect lamps, and a drafting table — Atelier Concept — an immersive take on Paul’s own working studio. Industrial pipe racks, oversized archival sketches, and architect lamps surround a drafting table laden with sketchbooks and parchment, while quiet neutral tones give the merchandise center stage.

Next project

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