The term retail means to "do business" or "offer for sale," but when taken in the context of the Super Store and the themed shopping complex, retail design in the 90 s involves pulling out all the theatrical and architectural stops. In addition to tricks such as neon and fiber optics, this revolution has become dominated by interactive AN systems and moving light technology. Wanting a clearer picture of what s happening in the wide world of retail, ShowTechnology spoke with a handful of industry professionals involved with lighting retail spaces. They perform vastly different functions, but have common interests in the advancement and greater utilization of this lighting technology.
Wanting a clearer picture of what's happening in the wide world of retial, ShowTechnology spoke with a handful of industry professionals involved with lighting retail spaces. They perform vastly different functions, but have common interests in the advancement and greater utilization of this lighting technology.
Those interviewed included lighting designer Marsha Stern, Ron Harwood of Illuminating Concepts, Production Arts/Bash Systems Specialist Michael Mignone, Paul Gregory of Focus Lighting, Stefan Graf of Illuminart/Fantasee Lighting, consultant Ted Ferreria, lighting designer Natasha Katz, and consultants Ron Fogel and Jason Friedman of Creative Realities.
Describe your responsibilities regarding the specification and utilization of automated lighting in the retail market:
MARSHA STERN: I design, specify and sometimes program automated systems in retail applications. I would hope my function goes beyond this in also trying to educate the end user in some of the particular aspects of making automated lighting work well in a retail environment. I try to explain to the customer that just putting the lights someplace and turning them on is not what makes automated lighting work. And to expect a certain amount of ongoing maintenance not just for the fixtures, but maintenance to the programming as well. What we are really tying to do is create a new market and show the rest of the world what we have known for years, the joy of theater and what a little magic can do.
What are some of the retail projects you have been involved in over the past year?
MARSHA STERN: I was initially brought in by Johnson Schwinghammer to work on the FAO Las Vegas Project, where we had to come up with a way to incorporate a theatrical show, which is of course what las Vegas is all about, into a retail environment. I was also involved in the initial lighting design process of the NBA Store. I was asked to provide television lighting designer Steve Brill and his company Lighting Design Group with a working TV studio. Besides moving lights and television lighting, the other thing that the NBA did in the store was multimedia video; they could use the store as a location to kick off press or NBA events.
There certainly is a learning curve and a need for maintenance with automated lighting?
MARSHA STERN: We all know automated lighting requires a power source, and we know automated lighting requires data. They are carried along in the same cable to the fixture but they come from two separate places. But try explaining that to an electrical engineer who has never had to deal with something like that before. Another thing that has to happen is positive interaction between architects, specifiers, designers and end users. Working with improving ease of installation, programming, and the ease of playback. Not everyone wants a large board, and quite frankly not everyone wants a dedicated computer. Most people want to download it into a black box. If all you leave them with is a black box and tell them to push those buttons, they're tickled. They don't have to do anything else.