After a winter that’s been particularly brutal for lots of us, spring explodes into bloom with serious vigour this year. Partly in response to this and partly in encouragement of it are the store window displays that fill our view now that we’ve finally ventured beyond our lairs.
As such, it’s pretty much incumbent on retailers to make great and playful work of this, their most visible means of communicating with the external world.
Here are eight ideas for putting together a truly exceptional window.
- Have a plan. Before putting display to window, put pen to paper and sketch out an idea for your design. Be consistent, colourful and cohesive. Tell a story, rather than just highlighting a subject.
- Remember eye level. Before arranging your spectacle, extend a line of tape across the window to mark eye level from the street — typically different from eye level inside the store.
- Get dimensional. There’s lots of opportunity for depth in your window display. Take advantage of it with props, mannequins and media.
- Say it big. Make sure your signage is legible and visible from a distance with smart font, large type and contrasting colours.
- Consider the lighting. The saddest displays are the ones that have had all kinds of energy poured into their creation, but left lighting as an afterthought. Use spotlights and coloured shades for special effect.
- Pick a focal point. It’s OK to have a display with lots of players — so long as it’s clear what the star is. Group items such that the eye is led from the extraneous to the nucleus.
- Take a chance. The best window displays catch eyeballs for their uniqueness. Be a standout.
- Check it out. Leave your store regularly over the exercise to get a view of how it looks from outside. Keep tinkering until you’re pleased with the results.
Your window displays are like three-dimensional billboards for your business. A boring window, then, heralds the apparent presence of a boring store. Go dynamic, vibrant and fun instead.
