Apparel Retail Store Lighting Through Human Visual Perception Sonya Ahmad, Joice Sandrasari Architecture Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Indonesia, Depok, 16424, Indonesia E-mail: sny.ahmad@gmail.com Abstract Retail stores are the shopping destination for people, which can also be a source of inspiration and a place to be updated by the newest trends. There are various kinds of retail store, for example in fashion, there are clothing shops, footwear, eyewear, swimwear, etc. Others can be beauty shops, such as make up, body treatment shops, etc. In order for these shops to be found interesting, eyecatching, and proper for the shop category, they need to set the right ambience and mood for people to notice. Often we found a store uninteresting or unnoticeable, and often we can t figure out why. It is probably because of the lacking in graphical brand design, decoration, or most possibly, the visual perception that s also affected from not using the proper lighting and lacking of sensibility to consumer s need. It is very common that we actually find these issues everywhere we go, but often unnoticed. So in this thesis, we will try to understand the ideal lighting for these different kind of shops, and how they create the attraction to the stores. Because not only the proper lighting can give a more interesting visual to the store and the items on display, it can also affect the perception and emotion of people who are experiencing the space. Keywords: architecture, lighting, interior, visual perception, colors, gestalt theory, fashion, apparel, retail Pencahayaan Toko Ritel Aparel Melalui Persepsi Visual Manusia Abstrak Toko ritel merupakan destinasi belanja bagi orang-orang, yang dapat pula menjadi tempat sumber inspirasi dan tempat orang-orang mendapat informasi tren terbaru. Ada beberapa jenis toko ritel, contohnya, pada bidang mode, terdapat toko-toko seperti toko sepatu, toko kacamata, toko baju renang, dan sebagainya. Lainnya, pada bidang kecantikan, ada toko kosmetik, toko perawatan badan, dan lain-lainnya. Untuk menjadikan suatu toko menarik bagi orang-orang, perlu bagi toko-toko ini untuk menciptakan suasana yang tepat agar banyak orang menyadari keberadaan suatu toko. Tidak jarang kita mendapatkan suatu tampak tidak menarik, bahkan tidak sadar akan keberadaannya, dan kita tidak paham apa yang menyebabkannya. Kemungkinan besar hal ini terjadi karena kurangnya rancangan grafis bagi suatu merk tersebut, atau pada dekorasi toko, atau paling memungkinkan, kurangnya memperhatikan bidang pencahayaan dan sensitivitas pada perspesi visual konsumer yang saling berhubungan. Sesungguhnya permasalahan ini cukup banyak kita temukan pada penerapan rancangan interior suatu toko ritel, namun jarang kita menyadarinya. Maka dalam skripsi ini, kita akan mencoba untuk memahami pencahayaan yang ideal untuk suatu toko ritel pada bidangnya, dan bagaimana dari pencahayaan tersebut mempengaruhi dalam menciptakan suasana yang menarik bagi suatu toko. Karena perncahayaan yang sesuai tidak hanya memberikan kesan visual yang lebih menarik pada toko dan barang pada display, namun juga mempengaruhi emosi dan persepsi orang-orang yang berada dalam toko dan merasakan suasananya.
Introduction Retail is one of the ways to sell products to consumer by buying the stuff in large amount or through wholesale from manufacturers. Retailing activity can be done in stores, markets, door-to-door, or delivery. It provides services by selling the goods to large amounts of individuals through shops that can be found on the streets, shopping malls, etc. Nowadays, it can also easily be found online. And this activity of buying products is called shopping. Shopping is not always resulting buying products, other type of shopping called window shopping. Window Shopping is a recreational activity that doesn t resulting an activity of purchasing anything, but only to browse the products, or the store. This activity also becomes a source of knowledge, inspiration, and for some people, to be updated by the newest trends. Usually, the biggest category where people needs update on the trends is in Fashion field. Fashion/apparel becomes one of the most interesting retailers to study because of their attractiveness in visual, also in ambience. Some stores are more interesting in visual and ambience affected by -first of all- the window display, which consumer/passer-by usually see first, sometimes by the music they re playing at the store, and then the interior design, and also the decoration of the store. All of these visual elements are dependent to the store lighting. If it is a good lighting, it will allow people to see the product clearly, make the movement clearer and easier, contributing in aesthetic aspect, and sometimes influence people. Each and every fashion/apparel retail stores has their own concept. This concept of each stores are supported by the interior elements, which are the color schemes, materials characteristics, furniture, display shelves, and of course, supported by all the affects created from the lighting of the store. Lighting for apparel retail stores should focus on the products, they should be able to make them look attractive and clearly showing the design of the goods to increase the sales. Even more interesting, people often find the items look better at the store than when they bought it and brought home. This is affected by the store lighting. Another important element that s usually forgotten in apparel retail stores is the fitting room lighting. Fitting room becomes very important because before buying products from the store, usually people will try them on. This moment when future buyer are trying on the products is crucial for sales matter, the lights in fitting room will fall on the person s body who s trying on the products and if the light is not right, it can make the product look awful or even make the person look bad in the mirror, and make them lose interest on buying the product. Because the lighting can affect the colors, the person s skin, will create depths (when it s not the right choice of lighting, it will make the person look fat/not proportional), and create a mood that effects the emotion of consumer. Lighting in the stores will also affect how people would feel, and the image of the brand, all classes of retail stores are depending on the store concept and design. In Jakarta, there are so many retail stores spreading across the shopping malls, especially in the past 3 years. The are so many new stores from other different countries, each and every store have their own concept of interior and lighting design representing their brand with their country s common style. The material choices for interior are even different, most likely representing their country s temperature/climate. This affects the choices of lamps and armatures for the
lighting design. Case studies including retail stores in shopping centers, department stores, and all the commercial areas can be helpful in learning apparel store lighting design. To help easily notice the difference in each stores is to go to a shopping mall or a shopping center, usually there are different kind of brands from different countries and people can visit each one to see and feel the atmosphere of the stores. Some of the countries that have common style and atmosphere of their store design are from Japan, Europe, and America. Using the wrong lighting design will affect the whole store appearance, ambience, and brand image. The misused of lighting design will make a store often unnoticeable, uninteresting, and give rather negative ambience that consumer can sense, this is an important thing in sales matter. So, how do these apparel stores reach the ideal store design and lighting to bring out the elements of the store design concept and most importantly, the products? Research Methods The source of information about lighting, design, and the theories that related to the topic are coming from literature and case studies. Theories and information that comes from other countries or from past studies are from literature, as for case studies are observed from some apparel retail stores that are located in Jakarta. The retail stores for the case studies come from three different countries. The first is GAP store, which located in Pondok Indah Mall 2 in south Jakarta, is an apparel retail store from the United States. The second case study is TOPSHOP store, located at the same mall, is a British apparel brand. And the last came from a literature, which is Miu Miu store in Milan, an Italian fashion brand. The studies for each store will cover the store arrangements, lighting organization as well as its outcome, interior elements, and what kind of style it aims, with a descriptive writing method. Result and Discussion Fashion retailer is one of many retailers that consider store image, comfort, and mood as their importance. Building brand image could depend on the store design because they represent the brand, and the lighting, because it represents the mood. Before focusing on the store concept and lighting design, there are a few things to know about the essential spaces in apparel stores, they are: 1. The Display areas (including Window Display) 2. The Fitting area 3. The Purchasing Process area/cashier There are also spaces that is not in public range in the stores, which are: 4. Stock Room 5. And Store Office Each of these spaces usually uses different kind of lights; different type, technique, also color. Retail sales and interior design success is really dependent on the store lighting. As mentioned before, the front entrance of a retail store should be inviting people to enter the store. It is depending to the merchandise on window display, store concept design, and the lighting inside the store that effecting people s mood, on
whether the store is welcoming and make people want to see more, or in contrast, uninviting. A good lighting can put people in a good mood, enable people to view the product clearly, showing the product nicely, and even inspires people. People doesn t like to be blasted by lighting that is too bright, but too dark is not ideal either for retail store, people cannot see the product as it is by their materials and colors, also give uninviting impression. Retail is in the field of commercial spaces, and in that field, there are three types of light use; a. Accent Lighting: The illumination of accent lighting give focus to object. In retail stores, accent lighting should be flexible, because the display frequently moved and changed according to season/new arrivals of merchandise. Accent lighting can be adjusted using track lighting, halogen bridge systems, or recessed adjustable fixtures for example. The choice of fixture should be the ones with shield so the light could stay focus on the object and lessen the glare. b. Task Lighting: In this category, the light range is shorter, the optimum uses is between the user s head and the work surface. Some examples of task lights are the lighting fixtures in vanity room, libraries, and desk lamps. The lighting illuminates the work and work areas that need clearer focus. c. Ambient Lighting: One of the strongest mood creator in lighting design also comes from the category of ambient lighting. Its illumination into a space is inviting and can make people look or even feel good. Usually ambient lighting is use as special lighting, for example in restaurants, spa, some retail stores (usually high-class), etc. There are some ways in placing the lamps where they need to be, these techniques create different output. They are; a. Recessed When the lamp is installed to a hole on the ceiling. Will create a down light that s coming out through the hole. b. Surface Mounted When the lamp is being put on a surface of something c. Free-standing When the lamp is standing on its own on a ground with a supporting element. In retail stores, the most common lighting installation techniques are ceiling recessed and surface mounted. Because the lights are supposed to be directed to the goods to show their quality, but some are also surface mounted usually as accent lighting. A human decision to finally purchased a product or goods are affected by something. This is when a human perception is working, through mind and by their senses. Attraction, things that drawn them to the goods. This is what they call the senses advantages. In Buddhism, there is a sixth sense, which is The Thought that came from the mind. These elements of senses work by their own needs. For example, a retail store needs to be attractive enough for consumer to want to enter the store, how do we make people want to visit the store? Making sure the store looks attractive. Attraction from outside the store obviously will firstly seen by the eyes, what people see is very important, if the store has some attraction, or is unique, or simply interesting enough
for people to want to go, it already gives a possibility for people to purchase at the store, because they are willing to enter the store. After entering the store, it is important to make people feel good, usually at retail stores almost always has music playing to support this emotion, this is where hearing sense is doing its job. The choice of music, tones of voice, volume of the sounds will support the ambience of the retail store. Then it comes to the products of the store, people will use their sight and touching senses, they will see and feel the products, some will try on the products they like, they will need mirrors to see themselves with the products. The products cutting or quality, the lighting around the products and mirror, the ambience of the space will affect how people will feel and see themselves in the mirror and whether they are going to like the product on them or only on display, and this will be the decision if they are going to buy the product or not. And all of these elements are processed by the mind. The studies of correlation between the eyes and mind, and how human reacted to the visual elements are studied from Gestalt theories, and color theories. Gestalt is a German word for form or shape, in Psychological aspect; it is a term that means Unified Whole. This theory of visual perception was recognized around 1912 by Max Wertheimer, which afterwards continued to studied by some psychologists. It is a study of how human perceive visual components as groups, not as separated elements, into organized patterns. Gestalt means when parts are singled out individually have different characteristics as to when it was a whole. For example, describing a flower its parts are the petals, leaf, branch, etc, but when you see it as a whole, you are unconscious of those parts, you are aware of the overall object, and spontaneously organize it as a flower. In order to recognize a whole, it is best when it has less number of structural features. When the organization characterized by perceptual simplicity, neatness, and order, it can be called a Good Gestalt. An illustrated example in Figure 1, you can see triangles formed by different kind of units. One is triangle formed from squares, one from circles, and the other one from bars, the mind is making up structural relation of each parts and created larger whole as triangles. There are some principles that were refined by Wolfgang Mertzger in 1930 s regarding the theory, that is known as Gestalt Laws of Organization; 1. Law of Similarity 2. Law of Proximity 3. Law of Closure 4. Law of Good Continuation 5. Figure / Ground Figure 1 (source: Michel, Lou. 1996. Light: The Shape of Space, Designing with Space and Light. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. page 19)
o Law of Similarity This law explains how similarity of shape or characteristics becoming a set in human perception that it isolated themselves from dissimilar elements. Shown in Figure 2a and Figure 3. In Figure 2, there are two different shapes that we can identify, circle and square, they spontaneously seen vertically rather than horizontally because human organized them by each similar shape. Same with Figure 3.2b, the hollow circles seen as group in rows, as well as the solid circles. Figure 2 Figure 3 (source: http://www.ashpfoundation.org/transformational/transformationalchange11021216.html) o Law of Proximity When elements are placed close to one another, they usually perceived as a group. For example, in Figure 4, we perceive it as 3 groups of columns rather than rows because the dots are put together closely they form columns. Another example is shown in real life design of a company logo, Unilever, in Figure 5. You can identify the letter U by various shapes being put closely together forms a letter, Figure 4 Figure 5 (source: Figure 4: http://www.ashpfoundation.org/transformational/transformationalchange11021216.html Figure 5: http://ikegbus.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/)
o Law of Closure The brains only need enough information to organize the things the eyes see. When the segments already representing the whole, it is enough to identify the familiar shape. Like in Figure 6, you recognize a triangle formed by three circles, although they are not drawn completely, the mind will fill in the incomplete detail by itself. The same with Figure 7, the logo of WWF (a non-governmental nature organization) is identified as a Panda, human perceived the basic shapes of some circles contrasts into a form of the animal, and the signature color of their fur-black and white. Figure 6 Figure 7 (source: Figure 6: http://runningahospital.blogspot.com/2011/06/testing-law-of-closure.html Figure 7: http://blog.erichatheway.com/2009/09/10/the-six-laws-of-visual-perception.aspx) o Law of Good Continuation Continuing an element from one to another spontaneously by seeing it organized in lines or curves that the object is creating a flow. In Figure 8 it is shown some continuations that s organized by same shapes, and the example of this law in design is at Figure 9, as a logo of a Canada s big hotel organization called HAC. The curve leads the eyes to the maple leaf as it is a symbol of Canada s country. Figure 8 Figure 9 (Source: Figure 8: http://taylors2ddjean.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/w4-gestalt-psychology/ Figure 9: http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm)
o Figure / Ground As our brain differentiate things from their similarity and dissimilarity, it picks an object that stands out off the similar things surrounds it, and becomes the focal point. The shape or form of the focal point is called a figure, and the surroundings as the negative space is the Ground. We can notice Figure and Ground through different colors, contrasts, shapes, or forms, like the example of contrasts in Figure 10 The Rubin Vase that best describe Figure and Ground perception, showing different perspectives depending on the focus, is it a vase or faces? Showing two different contrasting colors that can determine something your eyes see and your mind thinks. And the real image example showing Figure around Ground from a photograph is in Figure 11, baby, the focal point, as the figure, and the rest of the surrounding as the Ground. Figure 10 The Rubin Vase Figure 11 (source: Figure 10: http://avitahealth.ca/north-vancouver-chiropractor-illusions-when-your-senses-andbrain-dont-see-eye-to-eye-part-2-of-2) Another powerful thing that can create an image of a brand or a particular aim at the moment (for example for particular season) for the market, which is a study that shows how colors can affect people s mood, and it is correlated to human visual perception, to the emotions of people; Figure 12 Colors and Mood (source: http://homeanddecor.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/how-do-colors-affect-moods.jpg)
1. GAP The store design in Pondok Indah Mall 2 is pretty much the same with the other GAP stores in Jakarta, The store tone is a representative of its logo; white, dark blue, and as supporting element they are using natural wood color for their interior design. As you enter the store, you are going to notice the pattern of the store lighting order (Figure 13), in the middle there are groups of surface-mounted track lightings, and some groups of ceiling recessed gimbal-mounted spotlights in front, back, left, and right sides, and some down light luminaires, the arrangement of store lighting are in the category of Gestalt Law of Proximity and Law of Similarity. As for store flow, is made by mannequins, lighting order, and low displays at sizes of below adult shoulders, except the displays that are closest to the wall. Each section has its own ambience representing each of its part. Store average lux: 1,688 lx Figure 13 GAP Store layout and lighting position With the average lux of the whole store reaching 1,688 lux, GAP store can be considered quite bright for a fashion retail store. But with it s brightness, actually communicates well with the interior elements. The store concept using different colors for separating sections and mainly use natural wooden vinyl for the floors, which creating a brighter ambience. So the organized lighting installation outcome works well to the store concept and the products, as they fit the American interior style.
2. TOPSHOP Just like the logo, the store design is modern, and sleek. Because the products are mostly aim to teenagers and young adults, there are always some playful elements in the interior, for example, the choice of colors, prints on walls/displays, or playful Ad campaign all around the store, all to make the atmosphere feels more cheerful. What you will notice the first time of TOPSHOP store in Pondok Indah Mall 2 is that it has dark ceiling painted black with variation of drop ceiling in front of the entrance painted white and mint color creating a playful and contrasting ambience to the store, color mint itself is actually in between the color green and blue, which creating a fresh and cool mood to people. The other advantage of having contrasting ceiling is making the products on display be the focus because they seem stand out among the darker ceiling color. There are several sections in TOPSHOP store according to the products, making a natural flow for the visitors by its display, from playful interior elements to products variation. The lighting positions are organized in lines and flexible following its space shapes. (Figure 14). Store average lux: 678 lx Figure 14 TOPSHOP layout and lighting position Different with GAP that has quite bright store lighting, TOPSHOP is darker in average lux of 678 lx which actually not far from standard lux of retail stores (500 lx), because they use more playful and contrast concept for the store, so they play around with bright colors for the interior elements and giving more specific lights to the goods and using dark ceilings, make the space feels more playful and creating totally different concept with GAP. British style is known to be more playful and daring in colors, and quite shown in TOPSHOP.
3. MIU MIU Miu Miu store in Milan is a one of their retail stores in Italy. Miu Miu is an Italian fashion brand by Prada that launches Women clothing collection and accessories. Each season, they launch different collection just like many other apparel retailers, and present it in Fashion Week where the collections are being premiered and presented by the models to be witnessed by all the people and media around fashion industries and followed by stocks to the stores. The store in Milano from the first sight is very sleek, simple, dynamic in its playful way with the color bomb, the color tone is in white, red, and grey. Most of the walls are painted in beige, and then on where the walls are hanged by clothing collections, they are mostly painted in blood red, creating contrast to the goods. v The Stores and human visual perception Recognizing each store that have been studied leading back to its design when it is seen based on the theory on chapter 3, which is Gestalt theory of human visual perception. To study if these retailers design have any correlation to any of the theory, is to trace back a little bit to what have been discussed one by one. o GAP and Human Visual Perception Remembering some of the stand out elements in GAP store design and lighting is best to point them out. The most memorable things are: a) Organized and natural flow between Men, Women, and Denim sections b) Organized lighting order dynamically in line c) A focal point of blue neon 1969 font lamps as accent Is there anything from any of those four elements has any correlation to human visual perception theory? So why the store considered to have an organized and natural flow is because the store totally separated the sections between Men, Women, and Denim. From the first time entering the store people will instantly tell where each sections are located, firstly from the mannequin display. The mannequin display are organized in two parts women and men which create a triangle shape that will lead customer to each sections they need to see, this already connected to the Law of Closure where some organization can be enough to be seen as something our mind recognize and it directs us to our purpose, in this case, the customers with the store section and flow. Secondly from the products and backdrop display that represents each collection s characteristics, so they would know where to go first based on their intentions. In Gestalt theory, there s a theory about Continuation that can be correlated into this point. Say, a person has never been to the GAP store in Pondok Indah Mall 2, and then He/She went there just to look around, they would start from the entrance, and then they would know which way to go first from what they see in front of them, Men will go right, Women left (Law of Closure), and then they will know which way they will go next after they finish with the current section they are at, the store arrangements, interior elements, and lightings already decide for them, so it can be correlated
to Law of Continuation from Gestalt theory. So GAP in this case, succeeded in leading customer s path in the store with this theory by store arrangements. The second thing is about the lighting order, the placement and installation of the store lighting order creating a pattern. In the middle, there are 10 rows of tracks filled with 9 track lighting on each one, on the Men s side there are 10 rows of gimba-mounted luminaires in line from front to the back of the store, and then the other ten 1 meter from the previous ten, and so on. How we can consider them as a pattern is because we see a repetition, and why we can consider them organized is because we can call them as rows and columns. Some lighting installation method is closer to some other and some are similar to the other is how it is correlated to Gestalt Law of Similarity and Proximity. Regarding point c about the focal point of the space, it is clear that these 1969 accent neon font lamps stood out because of its attraction to the eyes; its brightness, contrast, and in vivid color among other colors in the store, blue representing the characteristics of cool and calm which also gives more comfort to people s mood. And the year 1969 also has a meaning to the store, of which the denim wear of GAP brand was first started and successful until today, although it means nothing to the customers, only an attraction that creates focal accent to the space. o TOPSHOP and Human Visual Perception The most essential things that mostly remembered from TOPSHOP store are; a) Playful elements b) Contrasting elements c) In line lighting installation The playful elements they put around the store make a characteristic to the brand, also to the store atmosphere. Playful elements such as Ad Campaign neon boxes, colorful walls, different themed walls, represent the collection by its display. Although they are not boldly written on each section, people will notice that the collections are different from how TOPSHOP display them. That s the purpose of putting these playful elements around the store, besides as the attraction, also to adjust to the visual perception, how the eyes see and how the mind absorb it, if the whole store designed plain in one color, people wouldn t know that easily to differentiate the collections. The other thing is regarding the colors, in TOPSHOP the first thing you will notice it is a rather darker store than GAP, because it uses a dark ceiling, to be precise it is painted black. But there is also a drop ceiling in the middle painted in white and mint color. This alone already is the first contrast to the store. And the other things are the brighter backdrops versus the darker products. All of the walls are in bright colors, while the ceiling is dark, makes the product stood out and become the focus for people. In Gestalt theory, this can be considered in Figure/Ground theory, of how the contrasting elements stood out as a figure among the ground.
The lighting in TOPSHOP store is even more in line than GAP, they only use ceiling recessed gimbal-mounted luminaires to spotlight their products, the rest are accent lighting. The position of the lamps are all in line except for the ones in curve space, and the part near Topman area, it is seen as rows and following the room shape, rectangular. How we see it is the Law of Proximity in Gestalt theory. o MIU MIU and Human Visual Perception What can be seen in MIU MIU store in the literature that it has; a) Three color palete; Grey, Red, and White b) Big space, high ceiling, simple display Different with TOSHOP that has many colors in their store, Miu Miu has that three color palette that complete one another, using white and grey as their basic colors, the designer then put red color to create a character to the space. It becomes really dynamic how the colors are supporting each other, and how the lighting is filling the space. The red color stood out and the products being put on the red panels are colors that make contrast to the panel, so that people can view them comfortably, clearly, and creating a powerful and exciting mood for people as well as the space. The items from the bright red panels are as the Figure to the Ground of Gestalt theory. You will also notice from the picture there are more than one panel, the other panel in same shape and color is being put next to the other, it is creating a natural flow of where people would know to go next, it is in one of the Gestalt principles, which is Law of Continuation, where there is a repetition of something similar, that make people understand and start creating pattern, and become a lead to where they will go next. As for the lighting, they use warm white color most of them from the high ceiling and completed with the wallwashing accent lighting on the top of the panels, creating an ambience to the space and avoiding the empty sense by the high ceiling. Simple display meaning here is that compare to GAP and TOPSHOP, even though the store itself has bigger space, Miu Miu store doesn t put so many things filling all the empty spaces, since the products is higher in price, the store wants people to put more focus on the products, because the garments and detail is at top quality and very neatly made. As mentioned before, all the display are in human reaching range where human can reach and view all the items in detail independently even without assistant.
CONCLUSION GAP TOPSHOP MIU MIU Lighting Organization & Flexibility Mood by Colors Contrasting Elements Law of Similarity Law of Proximity Law of Closure Law of Good Continuation Figure/Ground Table 1 Conclusion of theories and methods use on each store = Best in the particular category, = Great in the category, = Nicely using the subject category, = Not maximizing the subject category, = Not really using the subject category Going through the study of retail store design, its lighting, and the correlation to human perception, we can see that the three stores we study have a connection even though they are all in different design concept and market targets. They all create contrast between the products and the backdrop spotlighted by the luminaires above them to make the products speak for themselves. And all of them use accent lighting for their store, the lighting are flexible for the store display, they are all movable or rotatable so wherever the display at, the light can still directed to the goods. All three stores use at least one of Gestalt principles in designing their store to understand how human would perceived things. From that it is clear enough that human eyes love to be spoiled with attractions and unique element in a space but still is looking for a clear view while viewing the goods at a store. In GAP, the store uses a stereotype color in differentiating sections between men, women, and color, and it works so well and communicates well to customer as well as the store natural flow by display arrangements. In TOPSHOP, the store playful elements that make a characteristic to the store. The sections are made different by each collection s playful backdrops, different materials, and how they style their mannequins. With the dark ceiling, it works really well how the lighting are put flexible in rows and lighting all the display through the backdrops and how the backdrops glossy materials reflect the light make the space seems brighter. MIU MIU with its wide space and high ceiling, also uses track lighting on the ceiling placed in line, and how they display the products also in places where the products contrasted with the backdrop. They use color bomb among the basic colors, in this case, red among white and grey, to create the characteristic for the whole store. GAP and TOPSHOP already use the continuous lighting order on their store, the positioning of the gimbalmounted luminaires, and track lightings are creating a pattern to the ceiling of the store, they are put in line, and the light outcome is nicely illuminated to the products display, doesn t create dark spaces, and make it easy
for customer to view the goods as the lighting are put to maximum use in their flexibility. As for MIU MIU, the brand is in different class of retailer brand, makes the store lighting and interior more conceptual, you can see from the previous chapter that the store in general create minimalistic ambience, from the display arrangements, interior elements, and lighting, but they still use the flexible main lighting which is track lighting, and direct them to the specific directions to the goods, so they stood out among the other elements in the store and make the space around it seems darker, and the mood is created by the accent lighting at some points. So human visual perception becomes really important when designing an apparel retail store, because a brand not only depending to their product, they also depend on how they present the product, which fully supported by the interior elements and lighting all together. A store design can bring up or down store sales graphic, in this case, all store in case studies have thought about how human perceived things through the eyes and mind, and apply it to store design, display, and lighting arrangements, which make the stores become friendly on the eyes, attractive, and the concept can communicates well to the customer. Standard brightness on lighting guide lines that have already been set up is actually applied appropriately when designing the store, both of the store, GAP and TOPSHOP, have average lux more than 500 lx. The brightness level actually supporting the store concept on how the brand wants their image to be set up on the market, but for the products itself, it is actually important to have them highlighted nicely as consumer need to view them comfortably. With all that saying, paying attention to how people perceive things through their eyes and their mood in designing apparel retail store is very important, it becomes really helpful to use Gestalt principles and successful in leading people to follow how the store wants to lead them.
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