With recent renovations to Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre, existing store spaces have been doubled in height, allowing for much greater visual impact with their indoor signage and facades.
Photo courtesy Yorkdale Shopping Centre
Wholesale conversion
Many malls, particularly those in smaller regional centres, are going to close down permanently. Some will be demolished, but most will be converted into corporate, educational and/or health-care facilities.
Such conversions will represent a trend of ‘creative destruction,’ as existing business will be lost, yet replaced with new business. These spaces will provide opportunities for new signs and branding, as tenant organizations look to create an identity across the same vast expanse as the shopping malls that went before them.
In San Antonio, Texas, for example, the failed Windsor Park Mall was taken over by Rackspace, a technology firm, which turned it into offices for 3,000 employees. The renovation entailed a complete changeover, designed by Workshop No.5, with new signs and branded spaces. One of the only architectural elements they kept was the food court.
Spectacular experiences
This is not to suggest, of course, that all shopping malls and/or their current tenants are doing poorly. On the contrary, many are still doing extremely well, responding to economic pressures to keep on the cutting edge by focusing their efforts on luxury, entertainment and the customer experience.
“Successful shopping malls are those that go beyond a simple retail destination to create a unique and exciting experience,” says Maarten Dollevoet, senior vice-president (SVP) of global sales for Broadsign, a Montreal-based software developer that recently signed an agreement to support a network of 500 screens at 18 Westfield-owned shopping centres across the U.S.
In San Antonio, Texas, the failed Windsor Park Mall was taken over by a technology firm, which turned it into offices. The renovation entailed a complete changeover, with new signs and branded spaces.
Photo courtesy Craig M. Berger
One approach for creating a unique experience and standing out from the crowd is the ‘spectacular.’ This type of undertaking goes beyond standard illuminated, dimensional and digital signage to produce exciting and distinctive effects. It calls for a new spirit of collaboration between designers, manufacturers and fabricators, as the barriers to entry are high when combining traditional signmaking with digital technology.
For Ivanhoé Cambridge’s massive Tsawwassen Mills mall, which opened in Delta, B.C., in late 2016, illuminated, dynamic sculptures were combined with unique façades and displays, taking full advantage of the opportunities afforded by today’s trends and capabilities in sign design and fabrication. Knight Signs and Pattison Sign Group were among the companies that contributed to this standout project.
A transformational trend
Malls are simply the next traditional type of building to undergo massive change as the public’s lifestyles are transformed by technology and social trends. This process is just starting, as mall developers promote success both through greater expansion and by closing failing enterprises.
These changes have, in turn, forced some sign companies to go big, become more adept in implementing new technologies, take on greater responsibility for entire branded environments and focus on creating highly customized, multi-sensory experiences.
Craig M. Berger is chair of the visual presentation and exhibition design department of the Fashion Institute of Technology’s (FIT’s) School of Art and Design and runs his own firm, Craig Berger Management Consulting, which assists fabricators, manufacturers and institutions with design-based marketing and education strategies. For information, contact him via e-mail at craig_berger@fitnyc.edu.
