Swatch has been shaking up the watch industry since 1983. The Swiss brand built its reputation on bold retail design, designs that reflect the moment and pull people in off the street. When Swatch launches a new collection, the in-store experience needs to match what customers are already seeing on social media, the website and in ads. That consistency is what turns a browser into a buyer. This spring, Swatch launched the SCUBAQUA collection, and 40 VISUALS produced the retail store signage for their Times Square location at 1535 Broadway.
The SCUBAQUA window display at Swatch Times Square included adhesive vinyl, neon LED, projection mapping and more.
What Is the Swatch SCUBAQUA Collection?
SCUBAQUA is a five-watch collection built around the “jelly effect,” an underwater world of color, texture and movement inspired by jellyfish. Each watch pairs Bioceramic with a biosourced transparent material made from castor oil, giving them a see-through, deep-sea look. The second product drop of the collection (first was in 2025) launched in April and was available in stores and online worldwide. The campaign visual direction leaned hard into ocean imagery, so the store signage needed to put shoppers inside that underwater world the moment they walked through the door.
How We Produced the SCUBAQUA Displays
Production started with a clear picture of what the display needed to do: recreate an underwater environment using retail store design that felt immersive. We fabricated the coral structure from multiple layers of styrene, cutting and stacking them to create a 3D form. We then wrapped the structure in blue adhesive vinyl with spot varnish effects to give it that textured, coral-like finish. Spot varnish adds a tactile quality that flat printing can’t replicate, and it catches the light in a way that reads well in a busy retail environment. Every surface was finished with precision so the visual merchandising was consistent from every angle in the store.
What the Finished Display Looked Like
The finished display worked on multiple levels. On the floor, we installed a full blue floor wrap to create a water effect underfoot. Above the floor wrap, we ran projection mapping that created a moving water texture across the floor surface, so the light shifted and rippled the way real water does. Hanging displays shaped as bubbles floated overhead, reinforcing the underwater feeling. The coral structure sat at the center of the display, wrapped in adhesive vinyl and built up with those layered styrene panels. Store signage and display pieces throughout the space were also wrapped in adhesive vinyl to keep the blue ocean palette consistent. A large neon LED sign with the SCUBAQUA logo tied the scene together to create an underwater feel. It was visible from across the store and gave the display a clean, branded anchor.
Attention to detail throughout the display created an immersive underwater experience.
How to Manage a Retail Signage Rollout
A display like this doesn’t come together by accident. A successful retail signage rollout takes coordination between production, shipping, installation and the store team. You need to plan for lead times, account for store-specific dimensions and build in time for revisions. Interchangeable signage components, panels and wraps that can be swapped out or updated without rebuilding the whole display, make future campaigns easier to manage. If you’re rolling out across multiple locations, the process gets more complex. We’ve written a full guide on how to manage a multi-site signage rollout that walks you through what to plan for, from window signage to in-store retail signage to timeline management.
Bringing a Campaign to Life in Store
The SCUBAQUA display at Swatch Times Square was a full retail design build from the floor up. Blue floor wraps, projection mapping, layered styrene coral, hanging bubble displays, adhesive vinyl wraps and a neon LED sign all worked together to put customers inside the campaign. That’s what good store signage does. It doesn’t just decorate a space. It connects the in-store experience to everything the customer has already seen from the brand. If you’re planning a campaign rollout and need retail store design that matches the vision, reach out to 40 VISUALS and let’s talk about what we can build for you.
