1.2: Design Blitz!

Today, I found myself taking up the task of finding design in the real world, even bothering to go outside to do so, for an old-fashioned Design Blitz. Unfortunately, I only had enough to take a few pictures at the mall rather than take a proper design tour. Though it’s not much, here’s what I found in front of some popular retail stores!

Express makes excellent use of color in their end of season storefront advertising. Their main brand focuses on black and white—high contrast, neutral colors that feel sharp, clean, and classic. As a result, they can use a saturated, bright color like this gold when they want to grab attention. A warning, however: avoid using yellow and white together in your work at all costs! It’s extremely difficult to use well. Beyond the color, the sign uses a visual hierarchy (proportion, dominance) to direct viewer attention to different parts of the sign, starting with the “70% OFF” declaration between the less prominent “SALE” and “EXPRESS” lines. This ensures that the first thing people notice is a big discount, followed by a sale at Express. Everything else is tertiary; as long as consumers see 70% off Express Sale, the sign has done its job.

The Talbots sign utilizes red instead of yellow, which is common for big sales; look for large red sale signs next time you visit the mall. To stand out, however, the sale sign employs rhythm by repeating the word “sale” as a pattern, then creating a diagonal, white “line” through the poster to draw the eye from top to bottom.

Minimalistic typography has been a mainstay of design philosophy, especially over the last 60 years. Never underestimate the power of placing simple type in an area framed by generous blank space. The mall placeholder sign does not need to engage every passerby, but anyone who does wish to read it learns exactly what’s going on efficiently.

Pandora, an international jewelry brand, aims to “offer women across the world a universe of…  affordable luxury.” This philosophy of luxury and craftsmanship was abstracted and manifested into the symbol of a crown atop the “o” in their logo. Crowns, commonly known as a visual metaphor for royalty, implies their brand wishes their customers to associate their jewelry with the type of accessories a queen or other royal women might wear.

I didn’t grab a lot, but hopefully, it shows off just a few ways design gets used in retail establishments every day. Check out my next blog post for thoughts and tips on using Adobe InDesign for the Typesetting assignment due July 6th!

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Written for PR Publications course at the University of Oklahoma, Lesson 1.2