MAST

Hailing from New York, pioneering chocolatiers Mast Brothers approached us (and Grace & Thorn Florists) to design and build a range of bespoke visual merchandising display units. Initially for their Christmas pop-up stall at the Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green, London the units were then put to use at their permanent stores.​ ​Central to the brand’s success has been their relentless attention to detail and quest for simplicity. These core values formed the basis of our design strategy for the project.

As well as its mouthwatering chocolate, the artisanal brand is renowned for their slick and conceptual visual identity. We set out to create a family of versatile display units with a minimalist aesthetic that would not only serve their practical display purpose but enhance the beauty of the products’ packaging.

To pay homage to the company’s Los Angeles store, we used the same principal material, cork, for the pop-up shop. We worked in collaboration with Brighton based craftsmen on the structure, and experimented with the different finishes and patina cork offers. Based on a floating cube design, the outcome was an elegant pair of cork veneered plinths, full of textural charm, that proudly introduced Mast Brothers’ delicious chocolate to sweet toothed Londoners. What’s more, this project was completely zero waste. All cork off-cuts were implemented into other parts of the installation by the floral designers Grace & Thorn, tying the various elements into one conceptual whole.