Owen Gildersleeve creates garden of moving hand-cut paper flowers for Lush shop windows

Illustrator Owen Gildersleeve has created a garden of moving hand-cut paper flowers for retailer Lush’s Self Preserving campaign. The flowers are based on illustrations by Charlotte Day, which Lush originally commissioned for its product packaging. Owen and 3D designer Thomas Forsyth then brought the flowers to life for the window display in London.

The intricate flowers are hand-made in paper, with curls and texture added to give the designs an authentic feel, Owen explains in a behind-the-scenes film.

The flowers are operated by an Arduino micro-controller, using a custom-designed program. “Many hours were spent experimenting with different algorithms and code structures so that we could give the flowers more believable and animated movements, with less of a predictable and robotic feel,” explains Thomas. “We’ve actually ended up creating a program in which the flowers randomly generate their own movements, so when it feels like one of the flowers has turned to look at you, it kind of has.”

Aside from the flagship installation, the team has also made paper floral installations for 15 further stores across Europe.

Set design was by Owen with production by YCN, electronics and 3D design by Thomas, and photography by Jon Aaron Green.