Soft glow that washes over merchandise in a caress, tactile play of textures on lit surfaces, projections that create dynamic spaces…Well, the list of possibilities with lighting is getting more exciting. And it gains more significance today. After all, brands are increasingly looking to resonate with their customers on a more emotional level. Central to delivering this is lighting, given its ability to control moods. 

Michael Foley, Founder, Foley Designs Pvt Ltd, highlights some of the new ways in which retail clients are looking at lighting, throwing light on new possibilities.  

Mood creation 

“One of the things clients are increasingly looking at today is mood creation, but in such a manner that the lights and light solutions are not obvious. Essentially, the need is for light effect to be much more of an outcome, rather than a visible element,” Michael says, while talking about how his retail clients are now looking at their store lighting.   

As Michael points out, there is now  a greater diversity of lighting requirements in the retail space, a focus on maximising the spatial experience with lights. So while, the functional need for lighting to highlight products still remains, there is now a growing thrust on artistic use of lights to create diversity of expressions. 

According to Michael, one of the factors driving these new ways of looking at lighting is the growing number of experience centres, where there’s a greater expectation of intelligence based use of experience elements like lighting. The idea is not to have everything lit up, but to transform moods and emotive responses. 

Focus on textural effect

The other important aspect of lighting, says Michael,  is its creative usage to bring alive a merchandise display, especially in combination with the right textures. “The combination of materials and textures is an important part of what you do with lights.  Aspects like defining the smoothness and softness of the light quality in sync with the the surface it falls on, are becoming more important. The focus on textures and materials from a tactile perspective is getting a lot of attention today and we see this being used a lot more to enhance the light quality, depending on the kind of look and feel aimed at - whether vintage or ultra modern, etc.” 

Projected environments  

“Today, the use of lighting also expands to projection systems to create dynamic media - animations and forms that are lit up and projected, which lend new dimension to the space. So you can create projections of textures to create different effects, like water flowing, or ripples or layers of sunlight, etc, using lighting. And this gives a new dimension to what you can do with lighting in a space,” shares Michael , though he does agree this is a fairly new concept in India. 

Of course, as Michael and other store designers and architects point out,  much of the use of lighting and its creative play depends on the retail/merchandise category that it’s being used for. And one thing they all agree on is the role that the lighting supplier plays. 

Suppliers & solutions parameters 

According to Michael, the most important criteria for evaluating lighting suppliers would be: Cost, life, scale and consistency, with regard to their products. “Optimising scale and the expected mood creation that is possible are important parameters when it comes to the cost of the product. The life, scale and consistency of the product are also very important and therefore, the robustness and durability of its fixtures, and the capacity to deliver consistent quality of light at all times and in different spaces,” he points out. 

Michael also feels that because of the emerging dynamic uses lighting, there is a need for lighting consultant who can guide you to different lighting manufacturers/brands, based on their respective expertise and capacity. 

Project case study 

While talking about one of his recent projects where lighting played a key role, Michael shares details of the ‘Artize’ showroom of Jaguar Group, which showcases their range of luxury bathroom ware. “We created the store in such a way that each product was a piece of art on a wall. Lighting highlighted the products that are like art installations  - a series of 8 ft high easels that bring alive the product. We used different qualities of surfaces on the products, including high lustre metals and ceramics, and we needed lighting quality that highlighted both exceptionally well, without becoming obtrusive.”  

Well, the end result is a store that is more of an artistic expression of experience, rather than a transactional space, with lighting being an integral part of it 

Pics courtesy: Jaguar