Week 6: "The Block at Orange" - Kent Shinomae

The Outlets at Orange - Friday, November 8 (taken by Kent Shinomae)

This Friday, I visited the Outlets at Orange for the first time. I have been to many different outlet malls in the past, but none in the evening with this style of lighting design installed. When you are at a mall, you can easily forget to look up sometimes. What I mean by that is people tend to just go from store to store, usually on a mission to purchase something. These light fixtures were effective in that they hung above the walkway in between the buildings, so that the eyes could be drawn upwards to appreciate the beauty they were creating. It was a great way to also add light to the palms trees in the evening without it be too direct and excessive. Walking around, I felt a little stressed while looking for the stores to complete this site specific blog assignment. However, when I came to the central area of the mall I found myself noticing these lights and was able to take a moment to breathe and appreciate the beauty in them, without so much analyzation having to be involved. I found myself looking at the lights for a good five minutes; appreciating the calm and starry atmosphere it was generating. I think the goal was to create lighting that customers would appreciate and give them a reason to stay at the mall longer, thus giving them the opportunity to shop even more during their visit. I think the designers did a good job in accomplishing their goals.

This store definitely caught my eye as I was passing by it. The main chandelier in the center of the store was lit in a way where it was shining and shimmering, so that customers walking by would notice it and draw them into the store, like how it did for me. For a store being known to have clothing sold at a cheaper price, it gave a feeling of luxury as I was walking inside. Aside from the decorative lighting piece, accent lighting was involved in this store. These lights help highlight certain areas of the store where clothing was being displayed on a table, shelf, or hanging on the walls. The deep and saturated colors of the clothing stood out in a store primarily of white ceilings and tan flooring. This store had a very clean, bright, and luxurious atmosphere in which I felt the designers accomplished what they were hoping to achieve in creating this.

Compared to the previous store I visited, the atmosphere in this one was a definite contrast. It had a monotonous style of lighting with just rows of these light fixtures. Also, the lights weren't strategically placed in a way that all the tables and racks of clothing were being lit effectively. The lighting was also not as bright and it almost gave a gloomy feel in my opinion. The lighting did not do a good job in highlighting the lush colors of clothing and lacked the excitement I would hope for when purchasing luxury brand items at a extremely discounted price. I would say that designers did not a good job in lighting this store. This represented a discounted store using a "discounted" lighting design.