Retail Music Store Design

One of the current retail projects we are working on is Music Express at Westfield Garden City. The design of a music store is one of the few areas of retail design we haven’t done before. Below is part of our journey throughout the design process to ensure that we can create something that will best fit their needs.

The existing Music Express is only a few doors down from the proposed new site. It wasn’t a purpose built site but instead was inherited from a previous tenant and after 14 years of making do it looks old and ram shackled. The new store is an opportunity to design the music store to their particular needs.

The Retail Design Process

After meeting the Client and his staff a couple of times in their existing store and surveying the existing equipment we were able to get a firm understanding of what their business was about. What we found out was that 70% of sales were keyboard related, and even though they had a broad clientele, an older demographic made the key purchases.

Existing Brand

The existing Music Express branding failed to reflect the market that they were targeting. The existing logo may have been current 20 years ago but no longer reflected the aspirations of the customers that they serviced. Below is the logo from their existing store.

The Brand Solution

In order to capture the wide demographic who are the customers of Music Express, what is required is a universal look and feel that appeals to the wide ranging audience.

This is where we have studied Apple which appeals to both a younger and older demographic for cues in the design of Music Express. We envisage a simple black and white neutral colour scheme throughout with an easy wall hanging system to a large percentage of walls with category headers that can be easily moved around for flexibility.

The goal of the front is to set the scene providing a simple, modern and clean backdrop to the interior which displays a lot of stock.

Music Is About Expressing Oneself

Limited area has been given to displaying stock in the shopfront to keep it neat and tidy and instead capturing customers by the quote by Victor Hugo which expresses the essence of the attraction of music to all people.

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.

Victor Hugo

Whereas, when one first thinks of the name ‘music express’ one thinks of music ‘in a hurry’, however, we wanted to play on the idea of music as a deep way of expressing oneself which is a big reason why people are attracted to playing music (it also contains the words ‘music express’).

The black and white colour scheme throughout provides a neutral backdrop to the array of merchandise and also picks up from the fact that electronic keyboards and pianos are their key sales.

Shopfront Design

Below is a photograph of the existing Music Express shopfront.

Below are three dimensional iamges of  the proposed new shopfront design for Music Express. There have been a few ideas we have been looking at but this one captures the essence of music – simple and uncluttered.

The windows are framed to create a gallery like feel. They are three dimensional in the sense that the ‘frame’ points inwards towards the glazing and the framed merchandise in the windows and are reminiscent of speakers. The black and white theme provides the neutral backdrop to focus on the musical instruments on show. Music express is taken from an activity that is to be pursued in a hurry just like many of our modern day activities as we experience overload, but instead, as a way to ‘express’ oneself, a high art. Something that brings to us a sense of high culture.

This project is a work in progress, and as we continue with the project I will update you on the design thoughts and processes so that you can gain a greater appreciation of what is involved in designing and re-branding a business.

Investing In Design

Designing a brand identity around your business is crucial in today’s competitive retail market. Savvy business owners understand the power of good design and see the investment in getting it right from the beginning as something that cannot be compromised. Whether you are looking to start a new retail business or need to refurbish and update your brand, let us help you.