![]() w This is a picture of me on stage at a trade show talking about Sources and Trends of Color. I'm showing you this because the two color boards I'm holding up are exactly 20 years apart for the forecast trends of those years. Which years, you ask? One is 1980 and the other was the predictions for 2000. Colors cycle and in a specific order. They cycle from dark to light, meaning black and white added, and around the color wheel. We are now in the 2020's so I'm expecting all these colors to show up again... and they are! When a new color is introduced into the market, it always appears in it's darkest form and as an accent color. Gradually you will see more and more of it until it's available in large quantities and coverage like carpets and wall paper in home decor, and all over the fashion, gift and tableware. When I was doing research for the trends for the turn of the century, I found a magazine from Australia that predicted that by the decade we are living in now we would be "cyber slaves" to our electronic devices. And as I look around, the current color trends are showing up on digital watches, cell phone covers, and lap top finishes. So even though we have indeed become "cyber slaves" we are also making personal statements with the colors of our preference for our devices. In my teaching on merchandising and display, when it comes to color, the trends are less important than the placement of the products you have in stock. Color closes sales and color counts in terms of avoiding visual confusion. Showing more products in less space works when you Group 'n Space based on color, pattern, and style, then shape and size, in that order. When colors are scattered and not organised for specific focal points and features that tell a clear story and help the shopper to focus, then there is visual confusion, chaos, and conflict. The shopper is distracted or unable to make the right distinguishing difference to make a choice and a purchase.
Look at the illustrations below and see how they are color blocked. Does it make it easier for your eye to land on just the right group and then move around comfortably in that group to make a selection? Do you notice how the colors enhance the patterns and the styles? Take the table ware for example and notice the color, pattern, and style of the sets. This kind of merchandising and display, regardless of which decade we are in right now works to increase traffic, sales, cash flow and profits. Shoppers love it when they can browse with enjoyment and no stress to find what they are looking for, or fall in love with an item they didn't know they wanted and make an impulse purchase. This is all good for you, but more than that, when your store is organised around color it makes it easy to find the perfect homes for new items coming in, or those 'onesies' left over from a line. SO... don't discount, DISPLAY... and do it with color!
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Linda McKendryVMP Display Consultant for over 3 decades. Coaching, Consulting, Instructing, Public Speaking and Writing. Archives
August 2024
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