Color It Hot Pink!
Color-spotting with a single hue is an easy and affordable way to coordinate an entire store.
By Linda Cahan -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 2/1/2004
When it's gray outside — as it has been for a little while now — both you and your customers need relief. You can give your store a visual and emotional lift through color-spotting, an easy and affordable way to coordinate an entire store around one principle color. A single color can tie together the walls, floors, and ceilings, creating an instant visual unity.
Agabhumi, the Best of Bali, a store in Stamford, Connecticut, uses hot pink as its color spot. Owners Regina and Michael Kirshbaum chose pink for the spot color because they wanted visitors to feel their passion for the store and its unique merchandise. And while soft pink is the color of love, hot pink means passion. It's difficult to stay neutral when you're surrounded by such a color.
Pink is created by a combination of red (life force energy), blue (communication), and white (purity). Known to open the heart, make chocolate taste better (as if it needs any help), and make people eat and drink more, pink also induces warm, happy emotions, and makes you want to express them. That's a tall order for any color. The following photos show how the Kirshbaums put pink to work.
| Author Information |
| Linda Cahan is a retail visual design consultant based in Redding, Connecticut. She works with retailers on store design, renovations, and visual programs. She also writes visual standards manuals and lectures on visual merchandising around the world. |
