Week 2 Case Study

To Further enhance our knowledge of retail design and to help inspire and guide us as designers week 2 will be spent doing a multitude of case studies.  The first case study assignment is to look at 5 different retail stores that are interesting to us.  We are to be studying things such as materials, textures, how different parts or rooms of the stores relate to the rest, etc. 

For the first case study assignment I chose to travel to 3 stores.  Although all three stores were unique in their own I wanted to find a store with more pizazz.  I did a lot of research online and in books and found the store Test Tube.  Test Tube is a home wares store in Mt. Lawley, Western Australia.  This store sells contemporary and quirky products.  The store is a great example for retail design that reflects the product they sell.  One of the stores main features is a multicolored timber wall.  This extends from the ceiling and down onto one of the walls.  The wall opposite of the timber walls is made up of built white shelves that house the stores products.  Each shelf/cubby has products of like colors in them.  This cubby system is a unique way to house and display the products.  From the outside of the store you can see the multi colored timber wall and ceiling, which definitely draws the customer’s attention to want to enter the store.  The shelves are a glossy white wood finished with some glass.  This material and texture seem to be a dominant one in the retail design world.