Week 10 - From Classy to Trashy

I went to the Irvine Spectrum to do this lighting evaluation and just before going to write this post I looked at the blog to see what other had been done so far. The first one I looked at was Christian's and guess what. . . I DID THE EXACT SAME STORES AS HIM!!!!!! What are the chances?!?! I saw the pictures he posted and decided not to read what he wrote so that I can give my uninfluenced response to what I saw while at the Spectrum. Here goes. . .

Casey's Cupcakes

This store is the epitome of elegance and charm. And the lighting definitely compliments and completes it! There is a lot of pink in the decor of the store and the lighting designer was smart to use warm white light to soften the pink and brighten the atmosphere. The lighting fixtures add to the elegance of the store. The chandelier and marquee style lights around the menu are bright and inviting so that potential customers walking by will be drawn to the store and want to peek inside. The hanging lanterns create a more subdued effect over the countertops so that the customer's experience with the employee has more of an intimate and personal feeling.

One of the most important things I have learned from this class is that cool colors are needed to balance out warm colors in lighting and I think the lighting designer of this store did this brilliantly! The display case housing the beautifully crafted cupcakes stands out with it's icy blue lighting that contrasts the warm pink tones in the rest of the store. Your eye is drawn to the product they are selling, which is exactly what is needed in order for this store to thrive and succeed in business!

I give the lighting designer for Casey's Cupcakes an A+!!!

Charlotte Russe

Oh, Charlotte Russe. . . Based on the lighting and decor of your store, you should be out of business. Alas, you lure customers in with your cheap prices and deceive those with an untrained artistic eye into thinking you are stylish with your ill advised attempts to create appealing store front window displays. I shake my fist at you! 

What seems to be happening in this display is a representation of the flashiness of the holiday season. Gold and glitter is the look I think they are trying to pull off. Unfortunately, it did not work. The gold advertisements representing tree ornaments are lit with yellow tinted light to try and enhance the gold effect. In fact, these lights are used all across the front display - on the ads, on the bald mannequins, on the wall, it's everywhere. And there is nothing contrasting it! It's just flat down lighting across the board! Behind one of the mannequins are a few strands of lights hanging down, which I imagine is trying to aid the flashy holiday season look. But why would you just hang that one set? Why not add more  strands across the back to create a separation of the front display from the rest of the store behind it? 

What is not evident in these photos is something that struck me as very odd. In the pictures the light seems yellowish, however, in person there also seemed to be a green tint going on. I thought that perhaps they were trying to slightly match the green Charlotte Russe logo and if that's the case it was a mistake. The mannequins looked slightly sickly and it just felt off as a whole. These pictures look a lot better than what it was like in person. 

Overall, I give the lighting designer of Charlotte Russe a D. 

This was a really interesting assignment and it really helped me to think about lighting in terms of what it can relate to potential customers. As choreographers, audience members are our customers, and given that knowledge, we need to be able to work with lighting designers to create lighting that matches our choreographic intentions and relates our intentions to our audience. Gotta leave them wanting more! :-)