Imagine you are a graphic designer and have the chance to realize a somewhat eccentric and unreal store concept, knowing that you are actually doing some major good ... Los Angeles-based Stefan Bucher and Sam Potts, who lives and works in New York City, had exactly that kind of an opportunity. Both were commissioned to design the 826 stores of their respective cities, complete with interior design, signage, appliances and product packaging.
826 National is a non-profit organization based in seven cities throughout the U.S. whose goal it is to provide innovative tutoring, writing workshops, publishing services, class field trips and in-school programs to encourage strong writing skills to students of ages 6-18 – free of charge. Meanwhile, the unusual 826 retail stores that accompany most of the learning centers help to raise money, “inspire creativity, and advertise our programs to the local community.” So it happens that there is a “Superhero Supply Company” in Brooklyn N.Y.C., and Echo Park Los Angeles can call a “Time Travel Mart” its own.
LEFT: the Time Travel Mart in Echo Park, Los Angeles © 826LA.org © Photo Stefan Bucher
RIGHT: the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co., New York City © 826NYC.org © Photo Sam Potts
INMYX: In a nutshell how would you explain the concept of the 826 NYC store?
Sam Potts: Basically, we are a full-service superhero outfitter and equipment supplier. We offer a wide range of crime fighting apparel, from capes to cowls to masks to boots. We carry all the essential tools of the modern superhero, for example: utility belts, invisibility detection goggles, motion detectors, alien language translators, rear-vision glasses, interplanetary communication sets, and so forth. We serve all manner of heroes: those who fly, those who swim, those who travel across dimensions. We have special sleep chambers for superheroes prone to bursting into flames. Our Secret Identity Kit service provides fully vetted and guaranteed-anonymous new secret identities to superheroes who've had too much public exposure and whose fame may impinge on their ability to battle foes and villains. We also stock a large number of concepts-by-the-bottle: chaos, super-strength, intuition, mind control, antimatter, antigravity, antidotes. Essentially, we are a hardware store for the crime-fighting community.
Expect to find a full-service superhero outfitter and equipment supplier at 826 New York City © 826NYC.org © Photo visual-research.com
Label design by Sam Potts © 826NYC.org © Photo Sam Potts
