Photos of the space

First few pictures are of the entrance area currently housing a large soft dinosaur which draws attention to this space.

Dividing the space from external entrance doors to internal exhibition doors is a glass "wall" with a dinosaur on which is a nice feature to see as you walk into the building.

Then moving along the room to the reception area currently acting as gift shop and entrance desk.

                                         

View to the front desk from the gift shop doors.

And finally the main section of the space, the gift shop. The gift shop currently runs through the entire of the space and and nicely jam packed with gifts. 

Carrying on through the shop, round a slight corner, the doors to the right of the photo are the exit doors to the exhibition, therefore you walk straight into the shop.

Drawing Floorplans

Drawing up the floorplans on vectorworks for the space I have been asked to design for. A simple 2D version to get an idea of how the space is being used. The left of the plan is the shop and the right will become an entrance area.

Starting to play around with 3D to visualise possible design ideas.

original plans



Original plan of the ground floor of Dinosaur Isle which includes the museum space.

A plan of the entrance and shop space to narrow down the vast original plan.



Observation of the space- pros and cons
Sinage appears important, perhaps the please pay here sign needs to be lower and clearer to customers as they walk in.
Shop and entrance signs need to be clearer, customers walk past without knowing which door to use.
Customers dont spend as much time in the shop by the museum exit doors.
As families walk in, children get distracted by the shop which divert the customers away from the desk and entrance.
Reception desk is both admissions and gifts with only two tills so can get quite busy in the summer with very long queues. Maybe put another area of tills for admissions only- less queuing, more space in the shop?
Some customers come into the building to use the gift shop rather than viewing the museum so a clear indication such as a 'gifts' sign that can be viewed from the outside may be good to entice more people in.
Large space, can hold a lot of people. More space space to change layout.
People walk straight into the shop to enter the museum and are not always sure where to go as there is a lot to take in as they walk in.
After paying for admission many people walk round the wrong side of the glass divider and have to walk back round to the other side to the entrance doors of the museum.
The actual entrance doors are surrounded by gift shop stands, a giant soft dinosaur and the glass divider, perhaps look into putting extra tills in this space.

Mood Board

Original mood board showing a basic idea of colour and concept.

The concept will be a jungle type theme incorporating dinosaurs and the appropriate Dinosaur Isle colours and logo.

The middle image is a quick idea for a new sign or entrance image. 



Meeting with Dinosaur Isle manager

  After meeting with Peter, the manager of the museum, I have more detailed tasks to carry out in this project:

• Base ideas/concepts on sorting out the queues on busy days.
• Need to make more from the outside that there is a gift shop within which passers by are welcome to pop in. Find a supplier af an led sign which says gifts to install.
• According to Dinosaur Isle's bench marking with other museums the shop doesn't do very well on income per meter square of the shop, maybe look into redesigning the shop floor to help this.
• Spinners were placed on the landing this year as an extension of the shop and to create more interest, the effect they had on sales is an interesting concept that could be extended.
• "I went to a seminar were the speaker said if you present some stock to the visitor just before they go into the museum and they see it again when they leave they are more likely to buy it." Keep this in mind when designing.
• Look into storage for quick restock at busy times. 
• Lighting might be something to look at seeing as the shop burns more than 3 kilowatts per hour at a significant cost.
• Freshen up the decoration but try to keep to the Dinosaur Isle colours (orange, yellow, green, black.) and think about the use of the museum logo within the design.

Project Proposal

Live Project

This project is a live project for Dinosaur Isle, a tourist attraction on the Isle of Wight. The attraction is primarily an interactive museum and also has an education room and a large gift shop. The attraction is aimed towards all ages and as well as holiday makers and residents of the island, it also attracts a vast amount of school parties for educational visits.

As the gift shop is multi use for admissions as well as purchases from the shop this sometimes can cause confusion to customers and the queues, the client wants to make the most of the available space for a better queuing system.

Customers don’t always like to walk straight into the gift shop when entering an attraction as they feel pressured into buying and pulls children’s focus. Not only for families but school parties also get distracted having to walk through the shop before entering the museum. The client wants to look at a possible second till area purely for admissions into the museum to minimise confusion when walking into the gift shop.

I have been asked to create a new and fresh design that compliments the museum and also look into the queuing system to try and improve it.

Aims

· To redesign the shop looking at freshening up the decoration and displays

· Focus design around the till front to optimise queuing space

· Look into division of the space admissions and gift shop and new bold signage, less confusion for customers

Primary research

· Observe and record how people currently interact with the space

· Meeting with the client

· Initial photos and sketches

· Measurement of the space

Secondary Research

· Research from websites, books and interior design magazines.

· Research retail design

· Research into special design and awareness