Week 10: Inviting.. and then not so...

Ah, Downtown Disney. A sprawl of lights and stores and restaurants. Filled with lots of people and children. It's fun when you are in the mood for it. 

Anywho, while walking around, I saw lots of catching store fronts, and a few that were a little off putting. The first one, pictured above, is the House of Blues. My iPhone didn't take the bet picture of the outside lighting, but overall, the bright lights and blue colors are inviting. From the outside, you get the idea that the restaurant is pretty festive and yet has a laid back appeal to it. The lighting designers wanted something exciting and spontaneous, yet inviting.

Here's what you see when you walk in- lights overhead that fade into different colors, festive holiday lighting, and framed artwork on the walls. The lighting designer did a good job of creating an exciting and inviting atmosphere. Most of the lighting was warm, but the constant change in the overhead lights helped in keeping the eye from getting irritated. The designer also made sure that the fad time on that was not to abrupt. I almost didn't notice it at first. The designer also lit the artwork on the walls, which gave a certain homey feeling to the place. While that seems contradictory to the exciting atmosphere, it actually complimented and balanced it nicely. 


The lighting by the bar also kept with the festive holiday lighting, while highlighting the goods. The shelving for the alcohol was lit from underneath with very cool light, which contrasted the warm light throughout the bar. This really made it stand out, and drew eyes to the liquor, which serves the restaurant. 

Overall, I think the lighting designers accomplished their goal. Their lighting created an exciting environment that wasn't too overwhelming and kept with the vibe of downtown disney. 

The next place is a clothing store called Vault. This store also had changing lights in the front. BUT this store also chose to have a really weird front entrance. You can enter on either side of the vault looking door. Very strange, and not inviting. I think the lighting designer tried to make the most of this opening by put cool changing light that shifted from pinks to purples to blues-it was a nice touch, but from this picture, you can already tell it doesn't really go with the lighting inside...

Once inside the lighting seemed very generic. It did light the products well, but the vibe from the outside of the store did not carry into it. There was an attempt to tie the two together, and while I can appreciate the attempt, it was not successful. 


As you can see, the lighting designer tried to carry the same colors that are outside into the store, and they chose to light the clothes by the entrance with this light. Sure the colors are pretty, but where this fails lies more in how the colors affect the clothing. From our color theory class, we know well that colors can change the color of material on stage, which is exactly what these lights are doing here. The lights are literally turning this brown jacket (up right) into an ugly pink jacket and, as a result, losing the store owner money.  Nice try on attempting to tie in the colors from the outside (in literally one section of the store may I add) but it did not work. I'm sorry lighting designer. :(

I WILL MISS THIS CLASS DEARLY. Thanks for listening to my ramblings. :)

-Erika Quintana