Chapter #3 - Making the Right Design Choice

Picking up from last month, here's the next chapter in our kiosk story...

Chapter #3 - Making the Right Design Choice

Creating a kiosk is like making a salad. Some people prefer the freedom and creativity of making their own and that is why restaurants have salad bars. Others prefer to leave the salad making up to the chef and will order the house salad. It's usually less expensive than a trip to the salad bar, and provides a satisfying -if unspectacular- prelude to the meal.

With kiosk designs, custom applications can really turn heads -especially if you're incorporating unusual shapes and metal components. Depending on what the mall will let you get away with, you have the potential to use innovative materials and design elements to create a real show stopper. However, show stoppers can and often do come with a show stopping price tag.

But if you're budget doesn't afford you the luxury of a custom design, most pre-designed "house" kiosks do come with some flexibility. Just like getting to choose what kind of dressing you want on that house salad, customizing your graphics can add a flavorful punch to your kiosk. In fact, some experts say that the use of signage can do as much to customize a look as incorporating custom design elements.

The decision on which way to go is a difficult one. Often it's driven by budget, but it also comes down to what best fits your needs and the scope of the project. Let's just say that if Disney came to F.C. Dadson and asked us to create a kiosk that resembles Cinderella's Castle, that wouldn't be too surprising. The again, if a start-up business came to us requesting an over-the-top design, we might try to steer them in a more realistic direction.

Once you've decided whether you're heading to the salad bar or ordering the house salad, the designing can begin. And once you have a design, then you need to figure out where the kiosk(s) will go -a topic covered in my next chapter. Stay tuned...

--Marie VanDrisse (Connect with me on LinkedIn.)