Eric Feigenbaum

Editorial Advisor/NY Editor at VMSD Magazine

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Articles

Dinner at the Drawing Board

1 month ago | vmsd.com | Eric Feigenbaum

Great design is inspirational: It inspires, comforts and excites. It’s provocative and, most of all, it moves emotions. Great design dares to be different but not different for the sake of being different. It must work, make sense and communicate a compelling message. Whether it’s a retail store or a restaurant, when visitors cross the threshold, they should be transported to another place, time and state of mind.
Lessons From Singapore: If You Can't Think Because You Can't Chew, Try A Bannana

1 month ago | 3quarksdaily.com | Eric Feigenbaum

When I tell someone I lived in Singapore, the most common response is some variation of, "Singapore - isn't that where it's illegal to chew gum?"I know a Greek couple who refuses to visit Singapore because they feel the rules are too strict and inhumane. I don't think they know what all the rules are - but in a country that still has strong opposition to helmet laws, I suppose restrictions on chewing gum and urinating in public seem fascist. So, no - it's not illegal to chew gum in Singapore.
Keep On Moving

2 months ago | vmsd.com | Eric Feigenbaum

Movement is a dynamic element that has been in the toolbox of visual merchandisers since the profession began. Nothing attracts attention more than movement. And if you wanted motion in your window displays, interior presentations – or in a celebratory holiday extravaganza – Lou Nasti was your guy. Raymond Mastrobuoni was a dear friend and colleague of Mr. Nasti. Ray created magic on Fifth Avenue for 40 years as the window designer for Cartier.
Lessons From Singapore: Domesticating Street Food

2 months ago | 3quarksdaily.com | Eric Feigenbaum

The smell of Thai Boat Noodles always reaches to the parking lot. As you walk further into the Weekend Food Market at the Wat Thai of Los Angeles, whiffs of fish sauce, shrimp paste, garlic, frying rice noodles and more start to chime in. But always the Boat Noodles. "This smells like Thailand!" my eleven-year-old son said the first time I took him last year. Of any country I've ever visited, Thailand by far has the best developed and varied street food scene.
On the Road Again

2 months ago | vmsd.com | Eric Feigenbaum

MY RECENT JOURNEY to Australia began several decades ago when I answered an advertisement for a display trimmer; a temporary position for the holiday season. After graduating from college with a degree in fine art, I set up a painting studio in Brooklyn, that magical borough of New York City. All was fine with the world, but to support my painting, I wanted to find a job related to art.
Lessons From Singapore: English-Speaking Polyglots

Mar 25, 2025 | 3quarksdaily.com | Eric Feigenbaum

In 1965, Singapore's Founding Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew corrected an Australian news reporter:"I am not in fact Chinese. I am Malaysian. I am by race Chinese. I am no more Chinese than you are an Englishman." He refined the example on other occasions, eventually saying he was "no more Chinese than President Kennedy was an Irishman". Like his examples, Lee grew up speaking English - it was a first language for him along with Malay.
Lessons From Singapore: Stamping Out Corruption

Feb 27, 2025 | 3quarksdaily.com | Eric Feigenbaum

When I first traveled to Thailand at age 23, friends warned me that should I ever encounter the police - for any reason, whether I was right or wrong - to quickly offer them 100 baht. One friend I made during my backpacking period got in trouble for smoking a joint on the beach - marijuana being VERY illegal in Thailand at that time. "They arrested me and I knew I had no longer than the time it would take to get to the police station to bribe my way out," my friend told a group later.
A Healthy Design Solution

Feb 26, 2025 | vmsd.com | Eric Feigenbaum

In a rapidly changing and demanding post-pandemic world, consumers are searching for new ways to reinvent themselves. One health clinic called Awake, located in the Jardins section of São Paulo, an upscale neighborhood in the sprawling Brazilian city, offers a pathway to a healthier lifestyle in a positive environment. More than a clinic, Awake represents a movement to transform health and well-being through knowledge, science and technology.
The Markopoulos Circle Connects Retail Design and Museum Exhibition

Feb 12, 2025 | vmsd.com | Eric Feigenbaum

In an annual mid-January celebration, an esteemed group of design professionals met at the Ralph Pucci Showroom in New York City to mark the 27th presentation of the coveted Markopoulos Award. One of the most prestigious recognitions in the retail design industry, the award is named in honor of the late Andrew Markopoulos and has been presented each year since 1997 to exceptional individuals in the retail design industry.
Lessons From Singapore: Crime And Punishment

Feb 2, 2025 | 3quarksdaily.com | Eric Feigenbaum

Like the Montagues and Capulets, the owners of Zam Zam and Victory restaurants - adjacent to one another on Singapore's North Bridge Road - have been at war for roughly a century. A one-time partnership turned bad led to two families operating restaurants with almost identical menus to operate in parallel.