What shape/form will it be? The shop front will be designed in a unique way and therefore will require specific materials to fit the shape designed. If I needed a bend in the shop or a certain shape cardboard of plastic would be appropriate for my prototype.
Does it have to fit into a particular place? The prototype of the shop front won't be drawn to scale and therefore the measurements would be decided once the design is final. The size of the actual shop front will be dependant on the costs as the materials expense change depending on size.
What is the max. weight it can be? Weight has to be considered depending on what materials are chosen. The materials need to be strong enough to hold up other materials and balance out the shop front.
What materials could be suitable for my product? The materials suitable for my project are dependant on the final design. I know a main need for the shop would be glass as it would be full of the cars so therefore the glass would need to project to cars inside. For the prototype I could use plastic instead of glass.
From researching materials I have gained relevant ideas to help me with designing.
In my design brief I stated I would be adding a theme to the shop to make it more interesting. When researching into themes I looked for specific themes that linked well with the classic cars. The theme that stood out to me the most was the idea of an American diner. I felt this idea is already associated with classic cars so therefore would work well and create a fun concept and eye-catching design. I also created a mood board of different themes to see what ideas worked well visually. I want to shop front to be simple and sleek but at the same time striking and attractive.
My mood boards assisted me to see the different moods created. By using pictures and looking at it visually I could see what type mood created the look I was going for. Out of both the mood boards I decided to go for the modern but classic look. I think by combining both together I will attract a large range of different customers. As I would like to increase the customers I would also like to increase the target market.
From analysing current shops I allowed myself to identify certain parts of shops that I could see would be a disadvantage and put off the customer. I also could classify the way colours and fonts were used to the shops advantage. As well as analysing shop fronts myself I also designed a mini questionnaire to allow myself to see what other people thought of a shop as it is also customers’ opinions that counts.
I researched into different fonts and colours to allow myself to see what stood out to me and looked efficient. My researching into fonts and colours it also gave me significant ideas towards my design. A specific colour can give of a certain mood so when choosing colours for my design I will have to think about what it will reflect to customers.
I undertook an appropriate survey to identify and evaluate the customers needs so I could fulfill there requirements. The survey allowed me to find out what people like or dislike. I also obtained features that the customers would like to see in the new design. For example:
From my questionnaire I can see that 168% of the people that I interviewed had a preference for a bright looking shop. The survey was a main asset in helping me generate appropriate ideas for the shop front as I was able to obtain customers views which is extremely important.
I wrote to companies about existing shop front details although I did not receive and information no shop fronts. The company that replied could only send me information on the chocolate ‘Poppets’. By looking at the change in design I was able to see how updated versions can improve the amount of customers vastly.
The Internet was very useful in helping me find information on ………………………… etc.
Having completed all of this research I now am in a better position to decide what features my product will have.