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INSIGHTS: A DISCUSSION ABOUT “PUBLIC SPACE” DESIGN
Gaddis Architect specializes in all phases of commercial and commercial retail design, design management and construction. If maximizing the success of your business by optimizing the performance of your store, or commercial space design is a goal, then attending the following “Insights” could provide some very real benefits. Many common, and some not so common, design challenges are analyzed. Solutions aimed at increasing retail traffic, creating visual presence in various environments, and expressing not only a particular shopping experience but also the business’s brand, are presented. We think that all design is, on some level at least, retail design. Please scroll on, start a dialogue, contact us anytime.
The Landlord Got it Right
What does it say about a retailer when the most visible storefront window in the shopping center where they reside is a vacancy for rent by the landlord. I have blocked out the signs for these retailers and put them up in a gallery so as to show how the storefronts compare. The only one that stands up to scrutiny from the parking lot consists of a completely opaque low gloss advertisement installed to attract a new tenant. So does this mean that the retailers should start blocking out their storefronts with similar messages? Of course not. It does though show how an opaque, colorful and matte finish storefront graphic is highly visible from a distance and therefore should be added to the retailers bag of storefront display tricks. Check out how Pier One used it in the photos below. And just for fun, see if you can guess who the retailers are without the sign? Managing such a challenge is and indication of a successful storefront.
Visual Holiday Cheers!
It is probably obvious to anyone following this website that I am after a formula for the perfect daytime storefront. The challenge is how to make the window display standout against all the visual noise in the environment. Whenever, in my travels, I see a candidate for analysis I snap a photo. There is a thing or two to learn from this drugstore in Vienna. First, as noted on previous occasions, bold white graphics applied on the glass work in daylight because they are, by contrast, lighter than everything else in the visual field. Here they both frame the window and define the main sign. Second, in order for an object in the window to compete with the dynamic visual motion created by the varying light levels, shadows and reflections on the storefront it must be the one thing that these are not; i.e., a really bright color as in the bright Christmas tree decorations shown. Third, there must be enough of this color and at a large enough scale for it to be visible from at least 10 ft and probably 20 ft away.
Advanced Visual Cognition
I guess I am too much of a cynic to think that this storefront design was anything other than a happy accident, nevertheless it demonstrates my principle of visual cognition, mistake or not. The texture and pattern of the leafy backdrop causes the merchandise to blend to the extent that the window shopper must struggle to see what product is presented. Then, immediately, the counterpoint of the austere and sparsely merchandised shop provides visual relief. I can almost hear the shopper sigh with an, “oh I see. They have bright hand bags.”