True Monochrome

White by Kikki.K, Strand Arcade.  This is an eye-popping, bold concept store from the owner of Kikki.K.  Essentially all the product (Kikki.K branded) is white, her favourite colour (according to the staff).  I would imagine that white has traditionally been their fastest selling colour.  The eyecatching effect is softened somewhat by the occasional splash of colour, (flowers, graphic), the Scandinavian wood tone to the floor, and the astute choice of lighting (not too bright).  The special heritage context of the Strand (dark woods) also softens the impression.  The store certainly attracted it's fair share of passing traffic.  I was pleasantly surprised by the feeling inside the store - light and airy.  I have previously bought some of their white product and could easily have done so again.  Worth a look - as a concept store there may not be many others. A pleasant alternative to the colourful schmalz that is Christmas retail trade.

Christmas Meringue for tea ?

Wheel and Barrow, Bondi Junction.  Effective use of a graphic and colour to create an attractive product-based seasonal window.

Splash the Colours of Summer

Bondi.  A simple colourful example of using an on-street window to store stock in a way that also makes a brand statement.  Summer is here !

What Colour is your Tea ?

T2, Pitt St mall.  Impressive display - is there too much choice in this loose leaf tea shop  ?

Beige is boring - yawn!

Michael Hill Jeweller, Warringah.  Many jewellers in the mainstream market have very tacky storefronts.  Some have an over-preponderance of black - not a colour you associate with joy or celebration.  So, it is sometimes a tricky task to balance all the cues.  This MH Jeweller store seems to have gone too far the other way - the colours are so bland they say nothing about the brand - except maybe it's 'beige'.  I have no doubt the store is operationally efficient - they are savvy operators.  Maybe they are selling finance ....Hopefully the customers aren't beige as well.  

SMIGGLE ENERGISES AND ORGANISES

Smiggle, East Gardens. Interesting concept - energise (through colour and simple design) and organise your life. More mass market than KikkiK, but effective through use of limited colours and colour blocking in merchandising.

LOSING FOCUS

1001 optics, East Gardens. A beautiful store design compromised by use of poor sale signage and posters. The colour yellow is all wrong for this business.

TREE OF LIFE

store in Chatswood, Westfield.  Great use of colour, very inviting, while remaining true to the brand promise.

STRIKE THREE STRIPES

Adidas store in Queen St mall,  Brisbane - very striking.  However, the cost of delivering this impact is a store which is very dark due to the black, and lacks presentation flexibility.  More recent iterations of the Adidas stores do, however, show a return to the blue Adidas moniker, with much more even and flexible lighting.

CASING THE BANK

I have previously commented on the innovative, customer-friendly Bankwest branch in East Gardens - see http://shoppologist.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-bank-concept.html

Here is some footage for a closer inspection - Tues, lunch time:

The colour orange is warm, friendly and inviting, as well as being funky.

The wide approach to the tellers is very inviting.

The white colour is a neat offset to the orange.

The subtle signage eg 'savings' is just right.

The work areas are private enough without being too corporate, and have some softened lines.

The hard-wearing floor is certainly very 'retail' and trendy - but could be hard on staff's feet as well.  As the footage shows, they clearly are not busy at weekday lunch times.  However, they deserve to do well with the effort they have put into this.  PS - hope I don't get busted for this, officer !

MELLOW YELLOW SELLS

Have you ever noticed how prevalent the colour yellow is in the visually cluttered supermarket environment ? Experts say that yellow is more visible than other colours in the spectrum. Certainly if you look at the accompanying video clip yellow stands out most prominently and blue is a very recessive colour in the relatively dimly lit supermarket. Whatever possessed Coles to issue blue uniform shirts to their staff is beyond me – maybe it was so they would blend in ? It is also very corporate, 'unfriendly', and unwelcoming.

Coming back to yellow, you can see how packaging designers would look to this colour. Not only does it stand out, it is warm, friendly and engaging, and suggests health and vitality. It also carries value connotations, especially when black type is used in bold on yellow backgrounds - which does, however, limit it's application for premium products. The PAK ' N SAVE brand in New Zealand is an outstanding example of the power of yellow when executed well.

Red/orange is a mixed bag in the store – often the red is too dark, the orange/ tomato red stands out a lot more.

Food for thought for those designing in-store,signage POS and packaging.

RED HOT

Adairs new season look stands out. Moore Park.

SPLASH

Of iPod colour stands out in dull category. Harvey Norman Moore Park

ORANGE KIOSK

Internet kiosk, Broadway mall, use of orange is tricky in low-light mall conditions. Warm colour, strong, friendly signage, perhaps a lesser ergonomic design than seen previously - see this post.
http://shoppologist.blogspot.com/2009/03/escape-mall.html