Photography
Ethan Benavidez

Awards
Creative Best
Best of Category, Student Print

Opal Stackhouse is tucked away in Columbus, Ohio’s historic neighbourhood of Victorian Village. 
It is a hidden gem among Columbus’ dim and claustrophobic antique and vintage furniture shops.

There you will find thoughtfully curated and seamlessly styled pieces. Owner Ashley would love to share their stories with you. Most pieces are picked directly from their original locations. 

Ashley enjoys that Opal Stackhouse is a hidden gem. Her audience might be small, but she understands something many businesses struggle to grasp: having a small but strong and incredibly loyal client base can often be better than overstretching yourself and forgetting what your mission is.

Ashley wanted to communicate Opal Stackhouse’s commitment to bringing the best finds to her specific audience. As the designer, my goal was to find a way to advertise to her specific audience in the same focused but strong voice she has used to build her brand.

Competition

Opal Stackhouse’s competitors include businesses like Grandview Mercantile, Mary Catherine’s Antiques, and Flower Child Vintage.

Unlike these businesses, Opal Stackhouse almost exclusively sources their pieces directly from sites. They know exactly where their products come from and what their stories are. Another difference is that Opal Stackhouse is highly selective in the amount of pieces they choose to showcase in their small store.

Demographic

•  Financially stable adults of all ages
  
• Artists with creative tendencies, looking for one-of-a-kind furniture
  
• Customers wanting specific vintage pieces from a certain era to match their historic home
  
• Residents of older homes in areas like German Village, Victorian Village, Bexley, and Clintonville

How Does Opal Stackhouse Currently Advertise Themselves?

Opal Stackhouse keeps a low profile. They would rather advertise themselves in ways that bring in a small amount of customers who really understand them than a large group who might not be able to fully appreciate them as a business. Currently they only advertise through social media or word-of-mouth.

Brand Storytelling

To communicate the story of Opal Stackhouse and their unique pieces. The story from the time it is found, when it comes to be a part of Opal Stackhouse, when the customer finds it, and when it becomes a unqiue part of their story.

Brand Visual Voice

To further the visual voice of Opal Stackhouse: eclectic, vintage, cozy, intentional. The beauty of antique items as a fixture of everyday life.

Customer Experience

To solidify the customer’s connection: connection to their unique piece/s from Opal Stackhouse and the connection to that piece’s unique and individual story.

This series of posters was created as a surprising way to tap into the demographic of Opal Stackhouse. They would be placed around local Columbus neighborhoods where people such as millennials looking for unique, vintage furniture or the affluent middle-aged looking for curated antiques are likely to live. Inspired by art gallery posters, each poster has a historically significant chairs that Opal Stackhouse has had in their collection as well as a pattern from a textile they have sold. 

To really tie-in Opal Stackhouse’s visual voice the chair and patterns do not go together, but instead show the harmony of two different centuries and styles of design. For example the Eames’ chair in the center poster has a pattern behind it that is taken from a folk art, Americana throw blanket.

The method of printing, risograph, is a vintage printing method that immediately signals “retro”. Red and teal both feel like inky colors and appear over and over again in Opal Stackhouse’s visual language. This printing was done through the business I started, Clatter Press.

These tags were created to inform customers quickly and concisely about the history of a piece. The amount of information is enough to pique the interest, but not too much where it will overwhelm someone casually browsing. 

Occasionally customers might come into the shop who are not very familiar with the brand — these tags immediately create customer connection.

An interested person can easily ask owner Ashley for more even more information on the piece.

These tags were also printed with risograph technology to stay connected with the style of printed pieces.

Because Ashley advertises Opal Stackhouse and her products over instagram and other social media platforms, those customers never have the same experience of being in the brick and mortar shop. This pocket guide was created to be tucked into packages to share a little bit of the Opal Stackhouse experience and story with those who shop online.
 
The fold out gives a brief history of Opal Stackhouse, its goals and vision, and includes photos of Ashley herself and the shop. The reverse side is a poster of the shop’s front window.

To wrap up the style of these printed pieces these pocket guides were also printed using risograph technology.