UNICOL Engineering, a leader in audio-visual mounting solutions, has designed and manufactured bespoke floor-to-ceiling digital signage totems for The Gel Bottle's high-profile Brighton store, delivered via digital signage partner MediaZest. The project brought striking, gold-finished, dual-sided screens to one of Brighton's most prominent retail locations, supporting the brand's push to increase footfall and visibility in the city centre.
Project Details
The Gel Bottle approached MediaZest to deliver a bespoke digital signage solution for its newly opened Brighton store. The relationship began through trust built over previous experience: The Gel Bottle's Facilities Manager had worked with MediaZest before, during his time at Kuoni, and brought that confidence with him into the new project. With the store occupying a prominent position in Brighton's city centre, eye-catching displays were central to meeting the brand's objectives of increasing footfall and brand awareness.
MediaZest specified dual-sided window signage for the location, built around two ultra-bright 75" premium screens facing outward and two further screens facing inward on the reverse. The outward-facing screens were chosen for their high brightness, ensuring clear visibility in daylight conditions for passing footfall along the street, while the interior-facing screens allowed The Gel Bottle to run separate, tailored content inside the store. Simple USB access was built into the solution, allowing staff to update content easily without specialist support.
Each screen needed a housing that could stand independently, floor to ceiling, and look as professional as the store itself. UNICOL designed and manufactured bespoke Obelisk totems for the installation, a single-sided and a back-to-back configuration, both housing 75" displays, finished in a custom RAL1036 pearl gold to complement The Gel Bottle's brand identity and interior design.
Why UNICOL?
UNICOL has worked with MediaZest across many retail projects over the years, but the Gel Bottle installation stood out for its bespoke nature. Rather than adapting an off-the-shelf enclosure, UNICOL developed a totem finished specifically to match the brand's signature gold, ensuring the hardware fitted with the store's aesthetic. That combination of a floor-to-ceiling structure, dual-sided screen support, and a precise custom finish reflects the kind of tailored engineering integrators bring to UNICOL when a standard mount won't do the brand justice.
Ian Dudley, Technical Sales at MediaZest, says: “When the client gave us the brief, it was obvious that we would approach UNICOL, our go-to company for bespoke stands and brackets. The design team were great, as ever, and created the design based on the information we provided. We were then able to share the design with the client who were happy to sign off. Once they had, manufacturing and delivery was very quick so we could meet the store's opening deadline.”
Conclusion
Under founder Daisy Kalnina, The Gel Bottle has been built into a high-growth, professional nail brand best known for pioneering BIAB, the builder gel formula used by nail professionals worldwide, with Kalnina's net worth reported at £70 million on the public rich list. The Brighton store's digital signage now gives that growth story a physical, street-facing presence, with UNICOL's gold-finished totems helping the location stand out on one of the city's busiest shopping streets.
The project is a further example of how UNICOL partners with integrators like MediaZest to move beyond standard mounting solutions, designing and manufacturing bespoke hardware that meets both the technical and brand requirements of high-profile retail environments.