Week #10 - Downtown Disney!

Overall environment:

So of course for my final lighting blog post I returned to Disneyland and visited Downtown Disney (DTD). Every inch of Downtown Disney is thoughtfully designed and imagined, so that each store holds onto part of its own identity, but everything fits into the Disney feeling. I think it is something to note that a phrase like "Disney feeling" is most likely recognizable and understandable by the majority of people, at least in America or southern California anyway. That in itself shows that Disney goes to great lengths to create an emotion that will leave a lasting memory in every part of their business, even an outdoor shopping mall like DTD. A main element of the design that makes an emotion stick with you even after you have left DTD is the lighting. I think the main thing the designers were trying to accomplish at DTD is a positive, happy vibe, but maybe a bit more trendy feeling than they have inside the parks, so that people of all ages, even adults, will want to spend time (and money) in DTD shopping and eating and drinking. The whole place is even more unified at Christmastime with the Christmas lights, which are all done by one Disney decorating/lighting team. All throughout DTD the Christmas lights are bright colors, almost reminiscent of a Disney cartoon.

This is the inside of Sephora, a chain store not owned by Disney. Sephora sells makeup, not clothes, so the display shelves and organization of the products have to be very carefully thought out. Sephora uses small down lights on the ceiling which are positioned to highlight the products below. There are also warm lights down below, right near the make up, near and on the mirrors, so that customers can see to try samples of the makeup. It is very important for the lighting in Sephora to flatter the customer's skin so that when someone tries on some makeup they will have a positive image of themselves and want to buy it. I also have to note Sephora's use of color- so much pink- because their main market is female. The lights hanging from the ceiling remind me of a woman's vanity, so they add to the store's theme in that way. I think Sephora is successful in their lighting design because of the warmth of the light to flatter customer's skin, utilizing the fixtures to add to the theme, and convenience lights for customers trying on makeup. Every Sephora store you walk into will have this lighting, whether it is in DTD or New York or Paris, which shows that the company has a strong design theme and self identity, which is one thing that will create loyal customers.

This is the inside of Disney Vault 28, my favorite store in DTD. Although this is a Disney owned store, it has a very unique identity and feeling, different from the giant World of Disney store and Disney stores in malls. The theme of this store is Disney couture. In this store Disney is trying to channel high fashion, like one might find in a high-end fashion magazine. The store is also themed after an old bank vault, giving it a small, cozy feeling, and also maybe hinting that everything in the store is on the pricey side. From the ceiling metal poles hang with silver metal lights on them, which are positioned to highlight the clothes, similar to the small white lights hanging from Sephora's ceiling. These lighting fixtures add to the industrial feeling associated with a bank vault. The lighting in the whole store is warm, adding to the cozy feeling. If customers are comfortable they will want to stay inside the store longer, and therefore buy more. I usually don't even buy anything here, but every time I am at DTD I go in this store because I enjoy the design of it so much. It makes me feel like I am some place really interesting, unique, and cultured, even though I am really still just at Disneyland. The display cases which are scattered throughout the store are lit like display cases at a museum, highlighting the products inside of them, but also creating an artistic appeal. I think this is the store with the most successful lighting out of all of the DTD stores because even though it is the Disney brand it has such a unique identity and design aesthetic which creates a whole shopping experience that transports you somewhere new.

Week #10: Andrew and the String of Lights

 The University Town Center is across the street from the campus.  Seeing that I lack superior resources (a car), I had to review a place closer to home.  In any case, multiple businesses populate UTC from restaurants to an army office.  However, the entirety of the center is linked by a string of lights at the top of the buildings.

 Between some of the buildings light bulbs hang further perpetuating the string of lights theme.  In these spaces they play gentle jazz music that reminds me of Disneyland's main street.  I feel like the designer was trying to create a Disney-like space: fun, bright, and a reminiscent of the "old days."  I think that they were moderately successful.  I feel like the combination of the music with the cuteness of the round strung light bulbs is effective at making a bright and fun space.  However, I feel like the building styles and the paint color contradict with the lighting.  They give off more of a "puebla" style vibe.  Also, I feel like the different companies need for their own advertising and theme throw off the entire design.

After walking through the center, I found what I considered the "fountain of inspiration" for the string of lights motif.

 The movie theater had a hidden string of lights underneath its roof.  I believe that the theater was designed first and the rest of UTC's design followed.  

 Fed Ex Office's design was the least effective. Though it is functional to its purpose of office work outside of the office, the purely florescent lighting is imposing, drab, boring, unflattering, and jarring.  Just walking by, I wanted to avoid it and felt shocked at how dull something so bright could be.  I think that by reducing the amount of lights as well as placing incandescent lighting over the merchandise (cards, ads, etc.) to give a more inviting and warm look to the places where customers spend money, Fed Ex Office can be both functional and inviting.

Brita's Cafe has the most effective lighting.  The picture is dark because Brita's utilizes "mood" lighting.  There are few incandescent lights inside that light just enough.  The warmth of the lights give Brits'a a homey feel, further supported by lighting the kitchen  The customers see their food being made by chefs in white hats as well as colorful pottery.  Brita's is extremely successful at separating itself from UTC.  When you walk in, the space seems larger and you feel like you're in a romantic film as opposed to just across from a college campus let alone 100 feet from a Trader Joe's.  The Christmas decorations fit right in at Brita's.  They add to the personal and family feel as if you were invited to a dinner at your favorite aunt's house.

All in all, I find the lighting in UTC as a whole contradictory and weakly united by the string of lights.  I do give the designer credit however as they had to work with vastly different business that had to have their own lighting designs.  Fed Ex Office's lighting is overdone, though functional while Brita's adds to the overall experience of their customers by creating a warm and inviting atmosphere that separates itself from UTC.

Week #10 Spectrum of Sugar: A Comparative Critique

I went to The Irvine Spectrum on Saturday evening thinking it was just another Saturday. When I arrived there I got an immediate reminder that it is close to Christmas. I  stood outside and observed that  the entire mall was adorned with lively Christmas lighting. I was captivated by the avenue of palm trees that had small Christmas lights wrapped around them. Walking on this path with the omnipresent lights on either side made me feel like I was in gliding in dream-land. It was a familiar feeling that I always associate with the holiday season. I was also drawn by how subtle they lit the architecture. They have lights on the wall that are covered with lamp-like covers, the covers refract the light and create a pattern on the wall. The pattern looks well-conceptualized over all. I noticed that each store had its own design element and there was an open ice rink with flashing lights that changed color. it went from blue, to orange, and pink. The water-fountains were lit with down-light sources that brought them a sense of grandeur and a 3-D quality. All of these pieces worked individually, but as I looked at the overall picture I did not see any correlation. The lighting was too busy and disconcerting. The over-all color combination was overly optimistic and it made the whole place like it was made of candy.

Individual Store Displays:

H&M

The lighting in this H&M clothing store display is not successful in my opinion. The primary function of lighting is to illuminate. Another important function of lighting is to focus or highlight certain areas of space or objects. The lighting on display fulfills neither of these two functions. The main reason for having displays is to show the products that are on sale in a way that catches the eye of the potential customer. I feel that the lighting on this display is dark, dull, and not eye-catching. In fact, the only light is angled towards the wall on the right hand side instead of the clothes that are supposed to be on sale. As a result the clothes appear boring, one dimensional, lacking texture, lifeless, and unattractive. There is more emphasis on the boxes than the clothes. Furthermore, the angle of the light makes the light hit the glass window, giving it a harsh appearance. I think that this store needs to re-conceptualize it's lighting for this display as it is making the product look lifeless. I am the store's target market and I feel that this display did not hit the target.

Hollister Clothing

I was drawn by the simplicity of this display at Hollister Clothing. I liked how the entire store appeared dark and they had small mood lights on the clothes. This is a significant display because it is outside and not inside a  glass window. It is dark behind the display and the customers can only see the clothes. The clothes in the picture are lit by two down lights at an angle. The light is appropriate for the fabric textures and colors that they have chosen. These pictures do not capture the objective depiction of what I witnessed. Hollister aims to attract a young trendy clientele and I think they achieved that with this display. I also find the contrast between deep darkness and subtle warm light very clever, it makes them stand out, since almost every store in this mall has colorful christmas lighting. I feel like this lighting was simple, well-conceptualized, and it gave the store a sophisticated image.

Week #9 - Concert Lighting

I attended a concert at the giant Gibson Ampitheater at Universal Studios this past week. I admired the lighting throughout the whole concert, something I had never taken too much notice of at concerts before. This photo is of the first opening band, which I unfortunately don't remember the name of. The band included a female lead singer and the rest of the band was male. The lead singer was dressed in a shiny white cloak, which picked up the lighting very well. Throughout their entire set the lighting was definitely used to bring the band into the world of whatever song they were playing, and to take the audience on the emotional journey as the band played. My seats were located to the far right of the stage, giving me the ability to see the ray of light coming from the lighting instrument that you can see in this picture. Haze was utilized to highlight these rays of light, as well as to give it a rock-n-roll concert vibe. What I noticed when I took this picture is how the lead singer is highlighted and the rest of the band is in darkness. I don't know anything about this band, but as a first-time viewer, to me this says that their main selling point is the female lead singer, and the musicians are her back up. This makes me think of No Doubt's history as a band (No Doubt was the headliner for this concert) and the drama bands go through when one member of the band, usually the singer, gets more attention. This band used a lot of color changes throughout, and a lot of lights in general, because the venue is so huge, and the lights had to read to so many people in a vibrant, energetic way. I was wondering how lighting for big concerts like this works... if the venue has a lighting designer, or if each band has their own lighting designer, and how it works when bands move from venue to venue during a tour and lighting grids/equipment change from venue to venue. Interesting stuff. 

Week #9 Lighting and Commercial Appeal.

My friends and I went to the Nas and Lauryn Hill concert on Saturday night. We were very punctual but there was a long line that went around the block for people to get in. We decided to stop at a nearby bar to quench our thirst with shots of Patron. I was intrigued by the lighting in this bar. The general mood was dim and smoky. They had a lot of multimedia going on and it was in the form of TV screens playing different channels. I think it was a clever move for them to dim down the mood lights and use the television sets and candles as the main lighting sources. Fluorescent lighting would have destroyed the 'sexy'-island feel that they succeeded in creating. The bottles in the middle shelf are lit with a cool almost no-color feel. This lighting has a lot of sex-appeal to me and I looked at them and felt like I was on a beach holiday in Miami. I think it is also strategic to highlight these bottles for commercial appeal. This image (perhaps the no-color lighting) made our throats dry and we found ourselves ordering cocktails.

Week #8. In-vuitt-ed.

I took this image at the Louis Vuitton store - South Coast Plaza. From a distance it looked as if the bags and shoes were floating. The lighting for this display came from down-lights as well as side angled-lights. This light is reflected by the gold flowers that attract the eye from a distance. I think they made a good choice of lighting the gold flowers in a way that makes them sparkle, it definitely makes draws the eye and one ends up looking at the retail products. I like the fact that the display is surrounded by complete black, the black makes is pop. This is a great way of focusing the light and controlling the gaze of the audience. I think I would further support this lighting with a soft cool blue to give it a less harsh appearance. In addition, I would rethink the positioning of the side angled-lights as they make the background a bit too bright, taking away from the main focus, which is the Louis Vuitton products on display.

Week #8 - Andrew and the Crimson Bridge

Please tilt your head....

This is the bridge that links the medical sciences and the science library at UCI.  I find this picture interesting because the lights isn't really that functional.  It is isolated in alternating pools of warm light.  They mimic streetlamps on an avenue more than they actually illuminate a pathway.  Also, the light turned up on my camera as much more of a saturate red than the simply warm-yellow I was seeing with my eyes.  

The light makes me feel lost.  As if I was wandering block to block in a tireless city, depressed, broke, and hopeless.  The colors of the sky in the back however give me a sense of the past.  The light in this picture reminds me that life goes on no matter what we do.  What we experience are comparable to pools of light.  Our paths are not fully illuminates; we must take steps into darkness to get to the next pool.  

Summary of my feelings from this light: Drudgery, wandering, dwindling.