The Media Innovation: Major Project - Environmental Media (Concept Store Design)

For my major project, I have chosen to do a concept store design and not exhibition booth design because I would like to experience something new and something that is more geared towards real world realism. By choosing a concept store, there would be dimensioning constraints because a concept store should not be too big, and cannot be four or five story. I also chose to do a concept store because I like modern architecture and would like to try to incorporate that into my design.

First of all, during the brainstorming phase, the lecturer asked us to rethink back on our main concept, our tagline for the product, and what it really represents.

After some careful deliberation, I came out with the point that CSL Blueberry is a phone that should not compete with other high-end phones in the market, or be priced higher or in the same standard as famous brands. So I would like to think that CSL Blueberry should target another type of consumer group, which are the budget conscious, while not sacrificing the feel good factor one should have when buying a phone.

some brainstorming sketches for the tagline

I came up with the tagline 'SIMPLY WITHIN REACH'. I chose this tagline because I thought it represents two main things that would encompass the nature of a CSL Blueberry phone best.

First of all, 'Simply Within Reach' is a double meaning phrase. The more obvious one is within reach as in being much more less expensive than others, or affordable.

The other is as a communication device, no matter how cheap or budget priced the phone is, it should not sacrifice its usability and its list of features. I think CSL Blueberry is the perfect example of it, by utilizing a platform from China, the phones are quite well equipped to satisfy the demands of today's communication trends. CSL Blueberry phones are just simply crammed with connectivity features, hence the tagline 'SIMPLY WITHIN REACH'.

So with that, I confirmed my choice for the product tagline.

The lecturer said that for the whole semester, our project should be revolving around this tagline, and we should base our design around it. So I also chose a metaphor that best describes and embody the tagline, which is the human hand.

I think the human hand is a good design metaphor, as it is shaped uniquely and can be improvised and refined into other interesting shapes.

Design Process

The hand metaphor. I will include this in majority of the design choices for the concept store, and it will be my focal point.

But shape alone cannot make the whole thing look presentable and carry the message, so I searched around for inspirations.

I like colours in my designs, and I was attracted to

a brand which utilizes colours as their very own corporate identity. The brand is United Colors of Benetton.

I like the way they use colours as their main design theme, and thought of a way to incorporate that into my design. I think vibrant colours suits the target audience well, since they are young and hip, who like fashion and funky stuffs.

So I chose 6 colours to best represent my campaign and tagline. Then I combine them with the metaphor I chose earlier.

The result would be something like this which is also my main concept:

Then with the main concept already chosen, I set out to design the overall look and layout of the concept store.

Concept Store Design

As I consulted with the lecturer, the main input that he gave me was that usually concept stores are not big, and phone shops are smaller in size. He said that 20'x40' was the usual size of a single shop lot.

I thought that a normal shop lot would not allow me to design fully the facade and the exterior, because of the lack of side profile from outside, so I chose a corner shop lot for my design.

This is the early iteration of the side profile of the design:

After a few consultations, and also I sought consultation help from my uncle who is an architect, he gave out a few pointers that the side of a shop should be inviting and can be seen from outside. Preferably with a big glass panel.

So i redesigned it afterwards and what I came out with pretty much is the final design of the concept store side profile.