This December, two of our very own graphic designers traveled to our Lincoln Road store to create a mural, and YOU helped to paint it and bring it to life! Hear from Aerie designers, Brittany and Nicolette, on the process behind creating the mural, and see all the fun from the event.
What was the inspiration behind the mural?
We took a lot of inspiration from our seasonal concept, which pulls from the galaxies, stars and night skies. We chose colors based on the work of Justin Baltz, an astrophotographer, who Aerie teamed up with this season to capture stunning shots that helped bring our concept to life. We then simplified the colors so that we were able to create a paint-by-numbers design so that customers were able to participate in the painting as well!
What was the painting experience like?
It was so fun to see how excited everyone was to get involved. We had a couple at the very beginning who helped to paint for a whole half an hour, and they did a great job and are also probably a big reason that we were able to complete the mural in the 2-hour timeframe. We had groups of friends that would come in and have a really good time painting with one another. We also had quite a few children help with their parents and it was so cute! They all did such a good job.
Did the mural turn out different than you expected?
The only thing that turned out differently were the stars, which were the only objects not mapped out on the canvas. But in our opinion, they turned out better than expected because they were all unique. It seemed like people who were a little more hesitant to be involved with painting the large areas really got involved with the stars. So we find it the coolest part of the mural because so many people were involved with that part of it.
What was your favorite part of the event?
We had a little boy and his father come in because he was so excited to paint. His father was SO nervous to have him help because he was afraid he wouldn’t stay in the lines. Of course, we ensured him that was fine. He instructed his son on what to do, where to paint, but he was having none of it. He picked up a brush with a big glob of paint and splattered it onto the canvas right over the letters! We found it pretty funny and worked with what he contributed. He’s actually the reason the letters ended up being silver, they were originally planned to be white. Our silver paint was pretty opaque, so we created the letters with the silver instead. We are glad he did that because it turned out better than planned with the silver letters.
