HARLEY DAVIDSON

July 2012 - July 2013

Senior Designer at Jordan Parnass Digital Architecture

Numerous rebranding case studies of the storied motorcycle company as well as a flagship NYC location that spans three floors of prime Tribeca real estate.

Shortly after my start date at JPDA my first lofty assignment was to help redevelop the retail brand image for Harley Davidson. Our case study design was loosely based off of an existing off-highway location in Lynchburg, VA. With a conscious effort to minimize cost and maximize effect we started from the concept of the open road in connection with the sky. As we applied this notion to our case study we stripped the interior of tacky general store finishes down to a garage atmosphere while cutting in strategically placed skylights to reaffirm the connection to the sky and openness/freedom of owning a Harley. 

As a preferred design consultant of Harley JPDA went on to re-imagine many other case studies with vastly different scales and levels of involvement. One location in particular was a massive new build and flagship location in Texas complete with a full service maintenance facility and restaurant. Taking a cue from the infamous Ferrari factory in Italy, and perhaps from the ambitions of James Vines, we transformed the big box dealership typology into an upward spiraling Harley Davidson beacon. Our design stresses the use of the buildings architecture to encourage motorcycle rallies and community events on the roof.  An active and usable roof was a vital asset to the client in this specific location which is highly visible and welcoming to travelers on the nearby expressway. 

While designing the numerous case studies for Harley is a fantastic experience and rewarding in and of itself, the real satisfaction came to me with our first built rendition of our Harley Davidson concept. Located in Tribeca of Manhattan Harley Davidson of NYC used our services to set up a three floor retail and Harley experience flagship store. The project could not have been a better fit to deploy our re-branding strategies. Being located in a metropolitan and tourist attracting area, the clientèle for this particular dealership differs from the Harley Davidson standard dealership in that customization and retail products are the main attractions. This allowed us to develop some digitally immersion techniques to be used within the retail experience that allows the customer escape to the open road despite being located within a bustling mega city. 

To connect the three floors of the flagship we centrally featured a motorcycle lift in close proximity to the entrance. Being an active lift promotes the welcomeness of a test drive and provides a spectacle viewing of the bikes as the ascend through the store. Located above the lift is a custom fabricated lighting fixture meant to evoke warp speed. Prototyped and wired in our office the fixture suspends two strands of flexible LED tape within a frosted acrylic tube. The end caps and suspension wire are intricately detailed to provide tension on the light strips to enable an even distribution of light. The fixtures were hung at the same upward sloping angle and at varying lengths. The result is a chandelier-esque fixture which is inviting when seen from the street.