Collaborative // GAP store photographs

As some primary research, we headed to the nearest Gap store and Johnny took some photographs of the store front and the inner layout, signs and clothes.

We could also possibly use some of these photographs for mock ups of finished designs.

The shopfront is something that could be vastly improved, the windows and paint job are quite attractive. This was something valuable to study as we are primarily designing for the front of Gap stores. Here in Leeds the likes of Topshop and River Island are directly opposite, making Gap seem quite invisible to young people.

The signs dotted around the store don't fit in very well with the rest of the store, and seem to be quite poorly thought out.
'The jeans you've been dreaming of' is something that would be much better fitted in River Island or New Look, as this phrase just doesn't seem to suit Gap's style at all. Their jeans are simple and staple items, nothing wildly statement-making.
They shouldn't pretend to be something they're not, which is still a shop with mostly older consumers.

We found that the shop is very minimal, with white walls and wooden floors. Not much colour has been introduced, except for small occasional signs for sales or indicating the type of clothing. The main colours I sensed in the clothing were blues and creams... nothing that jumps out. Seeing as we can't change the clothes, it is other elements that need spicing up. But subtly... again, throwing off the balance between their clothes and the style of interior could really make things worse.

A quote from Gap on one of their instagram posts is "make an understatement"... they aren't ashamed of it so why change it? Appealing to students isn't necessarily going to change what Gap represent, just open their eyes to it.

Researching other store fronts

River Island's window displays are pretty impressive: Neon lights and large hand rendered type are its key elements. Both these are definitely eye catching and youthful.

Urban Outfitters is an extremely youthful and 'trendy' store, so we took a look around at how it presents itself to students. These lit up signs caught our eye as something that is fun and vibrant... you wouldn't see them in Marks and Spencers.
Everything is very clearly aimed at young people in UO, and gives us good examples of how to attract students. However, we are aware that Gap is a totally different store that isn't primarily targeted to young people.