Japanese-Joinery Inspired Point of Purchase Shelving

This display was designed to be very easy to cut, finish and assemble. The client required a fairly high quantity to be shipped locally and potentially regionally (throughout the Caribbean). It had to be easily assembled with little skill involved because it needed to ship flat-packed like IKEA furniture.

The support pieces below the shelves slided into place and snapped downward without the need for glue. The design was based loosely on Japanese joinery techniques, so that it could be easily assembled but still sturdy enough to hold products on it.

Step 1: Cut Parts

The branding was printed on adhesive vinyl and applied to 12mm PVC sheet. 1 sheet of PVC provided for 1 display unit. The registration marks (black dots) allowed the ESKO multi-cutter to accurately cut the parts out based on the print locations.

For ease of assembly there is no glue necessary and no pockets or edge treatments. I wanted the parts to be easily repeatable on a CNC router without issues of the bed's levelness affecting an edge-treatment or pocket depth.

If you'd like to remake an unbranded version of the shelf just let me know and I can supply the DXF files.

Step 2: Start Dry Fit Assembly

The parts were fitted together once they came off the ESKO multi-cut. The bottom shelf support extended lower to the floor to support the sides of the shelf as the met the floor for strength.

Each shelf was slid down onto the side support from the top, then the support piece was slid in from the slots on the side. The supports were pushed down to lock them into place. The triangular sides only allowed a shelf to go as far as it was suppose to.

Step 3: Secure Sides / Add Shelf Facing

The bottom supports provided strength to the sides where they met the floor. To secure it further the side panels were screwed to the base supports. If I had to revisit this design I would spend more time trying to figure out a away to not use the screws. Because of the dark print, the black drywall screws were not that visible, thankfully. This also did not make the display too much more difficult to assemble.

The shelf facing was attache with VHB tape. These facings consisted of printed adhesive applied to polystyrene.