Above is a photo of the overall environment by the Uva bar. I used to worked for years at Fossil in this area so I am familiar with the layout of the area, but never noticed the lighting. The lighting in the area was intimate with Christmas lights everywhere, from framing the buildings to being wrapped in the trees. In this photo, the lights in the towers particularly struck me as interested. I enjoyed how the lights brought texture to the architecture. This was consistent throughout Downtown Disney. I believe the goal of Downtown's lighting and set up is to create the feel as if you are in the park and make all Guests feel special. Because each is themed, the trees and waterfalls transports the Guest into another world such as a garden. Disney is successful in their lighting tactics. The lighting creates a feel of cheerfulness, even when it is super crowded. The lighting also allows for a uniformity since there are many different stores in the area trying to exude their own brand.
I know Ride Makerz is a popular store, especially with the young boys. To me, their goal is to have an adventurous, wild, and edgy look with the black, white, red, and chrome color scheme throughout the store front. I believe their audience would be obviously young boys, but also something that is appealing for all ages. I was surprised that their store did not have any light to highlight their theme or store name. The only light that caught my eye was the wheel sign in the right of the photo above. The idea of the sign was attractive, but the red in the dark of night did not attract. If the color of the red was at a higher intensity or different shade, I think it would highlight their brand.
I have always been attracted to the Vault. I think this store front is successful when it comes to showing their brand and theme. I like their display in front to be the door of an actual vault and they use different colors to highlight the door creating curiosity in a customer like myself. The theme of the store reminds me of Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland. It has a unique gothic feel mixed with the friendly feel Disney portrays. I posted the photo above with the green light, but also posted the video below showing a time lapse of the store front as the colors change. When the colors change, I believe it invokes imagination, generating an interest to find out more of what is inside. I personally enjoy that everything else in the store seems large and simple with the windows, but the door is centered honing in on it as a focal point.
Great post - I completely agree about Ride Makerz. It is amazing, in such a themed environment, that they do not showcase their sign more, or even, at all.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the video, really helped to visualize.
I am so glad you were able to look at a place you knew well in a different way through the lighting :)