Thomas Schielke

• Dr.-Ing.
• Technical University of Darmstadt

The central focus of this study is to investigate what potential exists for brand communication in the lighting of retail outlets. Lighting not only facilitates the visual task, helping to present the merchandise and contributing to the feeling of well-being, but can also augment the communication of a brand’s appearance. For this study, computer v...

This paper analyses the influence of fashion retail store lighting on the brand classification and brand personality. Four different interiors with four specific light scenes were combined to form 16 different scenes. The fashion retail stores include stereotypes for low budget, colour, black box and minimalism, and lighting scenes with general lig...

This study analyzes the effect of architectural lighting on social milieus and brand personalities for marketing strategies. In a retail environment, the decision to buy can have a greater emotional than functional aspect. The question therefore arises whether lighting could contribute to producing a specific brand image. In addition to the social...

Architectural lighting provides optimum visibility for tasks but illuminations convey meanings as well. Though many studies analyze technical dimensions of lighting, research on the meaning is rare. Therefore, this article discusses semiotics as a methodology for lighting design within the design process and critically reflects the appearance of li...

Light renders art visible in museums. At the same time, light also interprets. In this regard curators, architects, conservators, lenders, artists, and visitors often have differing expectations about how art should be appropriately displayed. This article is based on the aesthetics of image and exhibition and presents six categories of display—ran...

Apple stores do not only reveal the evolution ofApplès design, but also how the concept of daylight and lighting has changed over the last two decades. The stores have become highly successful and over the years Apple have expanded their number of retail locations worldwide. Renowned architecture offices such as Bohlin Cywinski Jackson and Foster +...

This study examines if simulations can be used as a valid method for lighting and brand image evaluation. Simulations could reduce cost and time compared to mock-ups in real size. Two different presentation techniques are compared to a real-size mock-up of the same situation: computer monitor and video projector. The results reveal a consistency fo...

Electric lighting has hugely transformed since Thomas Edison invented the first electric light, from the discovery of LEDs right up to the wireless networking used in today’s smart phones and tablets. Architects and designers have appropriated these contemporary systems to transform and curate urban environments around the globe. With the developme...

Software-driven LED media façades provide new capabilities for projecting dynamic visualizations of data onto buildings as an integral part of the architecture and urban appearance. Although this trend with luminous facades including dynamic content is often linked with commercial signage and advertising, it has revived a longstanding critical deba...

This work analyses architectural lighting as an element of brand communication. The lighting is comprehended as the message of a sender, which has an impact on the appearance of architecture. In the context of experiments and case studies, the effects of lighting on the appearance will be examined for a neutral space and for interiors and exteriors...

The luminance of walls or facades is an important factor for accentuating architectural elements. Light supports spatial orientation by making boundaries visible. In interior spaces, vertical illuminance also contributes to visual perception, for example when wallwashers highlight merchandise in shops or illuminate paintings in museums. After...

How can lighting be used fo better orientation in situations involving stairs and pathways? And can light also be ussed to create a calm or contrast-rich atmosphere? The tree principles formulated by the American lighting designer Richard Kelly - "focal glow", "ambient illuminance" and "play of brilliants" - are helpful for project analysis and des...

Building history reveals that companies make use of architectural design and symbols to communicate their brand identity (Messedat, 2005). Consistent design concepts for retail outlets of a brand help a company to form a uniform image to the consumer for a clear brand identity. In contrast to design parameters like colour, material and furniture, w...

Luminous walls belong to the essential repertoire of qualitative lighting design. With light, spaces can be defined and reinterpreted. Illuminated walls allow us to provide orientation and to perceive the form and dimension of space. Further, their glow and play of brilliants can bestow a space with impressing scenography. The timeline reveals diff...

This paper analyzes how lighting influences store atmosphere (pleasure and arousal), price and quality perceptions and the intention to shop in a retail store. In a first ex-periment, we analyze the impact of the number and brightness of light beams on these dependent variables. In a second experiment, we investigate the impact of color type and sa...

What are the intrinsic qualities of light, and how are the techniques and design approaches implemented in architecture? How are abstract lighting concepts conveyed, and how far is our perception of light rooted in the biological and cultural history of human evolution? This book endeavours to identify terms and standards which relate to qualities...

Corporate Light als Gestaltungsmittel der Markenwelt Einheitliche Lichtkonzepte ergänzen das Instrumentarium grosser Unternehmen, um in ihren Filialen Markenbotschaften noch besser fühlbar zu machen. Das standardisierte Licht ergänzt die Lichtreklame als Signet auf (und an) den Geschäften, damit der Kunde nicht nur vor, sondern auch im rechten Lich...