Week 10: Mall Madness

For this weeks blog, I went with my friend, Hannah, window shopping in the South Coast Plaza. It
was both of our first time here. Overall, the Plaza had a very festive atmosphere, shown in the picture directly below with wreaths that were draped throughout the building. They had a giant Christmas tree(seen to the right) in the heart of the mall. Overall, the atmosphere they created and the amount of people that were in the Plaza created a busy, yet relaxing holiday atmosphere. It reminded me of being at home during the holidays, which was very relaxing and comforting. It was lighting that was very easy to walk through and made the trip very enjoyable. We were really surprised at the fact that there were MANY high class stores that were way out of our poor college student pay grade. Luckily, there were a few stores that we could afford. As we walked through the Plaza, I realized that you can identify whether or not you can afford to shop there just by the lighting, which is really interesting!

For example, with a store such as Versace (shown to the left), the lighting was very clear and crisp to highlight the products and the colors of this season. The overall theme was a very high class and elegant fashion store. It is intended for those who have high confidence in themselves and are very successful in whatever filed of work they pursue. They were effective in accomplishing this. I was able to tell from a few stores down that this store was one for the wealthy. Their pieces are made for a specific type of person. They made that clear through          their clean and concise lighting.

Another store that we saw was Miu Miu, shown to the right. I have never heard of this show. But, I took a picture anyway. When I got home, I looked it up. It turns out that it is a well known store. I can tell by the lighting that they were going for a similar feel to that of Versace. However, in my opinion, I do not think that they accomplished it. I feel that the color choice for the outside was unappealing. It also did not accent the product in the same manner as the lighting designer for Versace did. The product almost blends into the wall because the colors are so similar. I think the lighting could benefit more by highlighting the product and pushing it forward towards the audience. Thus, encouraging them to buy the product by making it look more appealing and by giving the products more emphasis. Overall, I think a change in their color palette would be very beneficial for them and may even result in an increase in people coming into their store.