Color Power

Stepping outside my house every morning, I can’t help but notice the fantastic colors that come during Fall in Wisconsin. The leaves make me smile. Could that be because Fall is my favorite time of year? Maybe. Color psychologists, however, have other ideas.

Colors and emotions have been tied together for many, many years. Ever been ‘green with envy’ or ‘feeling a little blue’? If color really can influence behavior and feelings, as it is suggested, imagine the power a carefully chosen color palette could have for a retailer. On the flip side, a haphazard color choice could send out the wrong vibe entirely. It might be worth a little research.

Retailers, take note. What are your colors saying about you?

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Side note, I checked into the feelings associated with the colors that are covering my front lawn right now. Here’s what I found:

• Red: Passion, strength, energy, fire, love, excitement, speed, ambition
• Orange: energy, balance, heat, fire, enthusiasm, flamboyance, playfulness
• Yellow: Sunlight, joy, happiness, earth, optimism, intelligence, idealism, wealth, hope
• Brown: Calm, depth, nature, richness, rusticism, stability

Some very smile-provoking emotions indeed!

Demographic Design

When designing new fixtures and decor for a client, brand cohesiveness is usually top priority. But what's number two? I think I stumbled across a strong contender while going through my mail the other day.

In last month's issue of Global License!, I found an article called "Demographic Design" that discusses the idea of playing to specific demographics through a store's design. Could 'target market cohesiveness' be number two? Definately!

Referencing your target market's demographics during the design process has a couple of advantages. First, it helps potential customers pre-qualify themselves. Even if they haven't heard of a store before, people can tell at a quick glance whether they could find what they are looking for inside (and in today's time-starved world, this can be appreciated). Second, it helps enhance the overall shopping experience for target consumers by creating an environment they can be comfortable in.

F.C. Dadson's own Tim Matey sums it up best through a quote featured in the article: "For retailers to find success in today's marketplace, they need to find a way to balance their brand identity with those of the consumers they are looking to serve." I couldn't agree more.

Hello, Blogosphere!

You know that excitement you feel when you get to your final destination after a really, really long car ride? That's how we feel right now. It took a while, but 'The Dadson Diaries' has finally arrived!

We're F.C. Dadson, a designer, manufacturer, and installer (among other things) of custom retail environments and displays. Our scope of work constantly presents us with new ideas and challenges that we want to share with the world outside our office. That's where 'The Dadson Diaries' comes in. Each week, we'll blog about new trends, interesting articles, industry happenings, or anything else that we find worthy of a post. We hope you'll stop back often to see what's new.

Want to get in on the 'Dadson Diaries' fun? Feel free to post comments anytime. Or if you have any interesting topics or questions relating to retail environments or displays that you would like to see discussed, send 'em over to LizS@fcdadson.com.