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Modernist principles in modernist architecture
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Target's Functional Form: The New Imperative
As their motto states: "Design for All", Target stores have thrived on the rise of consumers' desire for aesthetically enjoyable goods, weakening the Modernist principle Form follows Function. A product's value has predominately been determined by its success of utility. However, upon the inception of widespread mass production and accessible retail, there has been a natural gravitation toward the need for more personalized, specialized, and unique products. Retailers and manufacturers have acknowledged modern consumer thought shifting from basic need to "the personal and emotional I like that'" (Virginia Postrel 5). Aesthetically appealing products are designed to give pleasure through beauty and make a sale through personal connection. In the mid-to-late 1990s,Target used this knowledge to hire executives and big-name designers in a partnership and environment that shared the belief "people instinctively appreciate good design, and that it should be affordable and accessible to all" (Target.com). Not only is distinguishing good design instinctive, it has repeatedly proven to be a valid selling point. This philosophy's success is evident in profit and Target's revenue has steadily increased since the pivotal acquisitions of Vice-President Robyn Waters and Design-Architect Michael Graves in the mid-1990s.
The dictum Form follows Function was coined by the Chicago architect Louis Sullivan in his article "The Tall Office Building Artistically Considered" published in 1896 (Klausner core77.com). For over a century it has been regarded as a statute of design philosophy. It cannot be argued that function precedes form; the designer has to make function his starting point. However, while Modernist design ideology promises "efficiency, rationality, and truth, today's diverse aesthetics offers a different trifecta: freedom, beauty, and pleasure" (Postrel, 9). Aesthetics, or styling, has become an accepted selling point on a global basis. Functionality still matters but competition has pushed quality so high and prices so low that manufacturers need aesthetics to make a product stand out. GE Plastics Headquarters in Pittsfield, Massachusetts has dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars into an era in which the look and feel of products will determine their success. They believe "Sensory effects
will be essential competitive tools" (Postrel, 2). In the late 1990s, Apple computers revitalized a distressed company through the personality and uniqueness of their iMac line while the reinvention of the Beetle reintroduced Volkswagen's retro sensibility to a new generation of consumers.
According to Kantar Retail, most of Target’s shoppers are younger on average than its rivals, and more educated. That means it has to consistently offer something different and appealing; it emphasizes more on the latest-trend apparel, eye-catching home décor and exclusive designer merchandise than its competitors. This results in a willingness to pay a bit more for items by customers who are willing to pay a bit more. Moreover, this successful
Louis Henry Sullivan's architectural adornment has yet to be known by individuals simply because of the adept evolution from forms from nature, and the penetrating geometric structures and connections found through every one of his works, yet more importantly the humanistic condition of consciousness that has been proposed. Sullivan recommends that in construction design, works of art should not stand on their own as an accessory, but instead be produced by the standards of building proposals, design, objective, and form. Sullivan's various structures were principally borrowed from natural forms, and their application gained from geometric understanding; they were then transformed and modified to the steel sections and curves, and enlivened
The branding Ms. Klein wrote about only appears to work because the idea of “choice” as defined by the brick-and-mortar retailers is an illusion. Anyone entering a department store or mall understands this quiet truth. There are many styles to choose from, it seems, b...
Kohl’s also boasts a loyal customer base and strong brand equity. These strengths are critical to offset their weaknesses. Flaws include an imbalance on sales for men’s products and a lacking online presence. (Kohl's Corporation, n.d.) Another way that Kohl’s is actively counterbalancing their negatives is by capitalizing on opportunities. Kohl’s has found that their beauty sections are an immense source of opportunity. As a result, the company is expanding those departments in an effort to capture those sales that would otherwise go elsewhere. (Wahba, 2014) Finally, Kohl’s keeps the knowledge of their threats at the forefront of their decision-making. They understand that their coupon system can be abused and cause profit losses. They also recognize that price wars in their industry can also be very damaging. As a result, they are working towards more secure methods of offering savings and strategically making efforts to remain the leader for price setting. (Wahba,
1. The Discount Department Store. Target prefers to be called as the latter instead of just department store. Expect more, pay less. With this tagline, the customers expect to purchase more items and pay the least amount possible. Not like other retail industries like its competitor Kmart and Wal-Mart, Target maintains retail value in terms of product offerings. They are known in their designer’s items in clothes, exclusive beauty products, categorized and functional goods, and seasonal offerings. It also sells the greatest number of gift cards among its rival business.
Have you ever thought how much research and effort a company has done to make their product appeal to you? A company will conduct surveys, record human responses to specific images, and adhere to government regulations not to mention all the different designs produced, just so that you will want to buy their product over their competitors. In Thomas Hine’s essay, What’s in a Package, Hine discusses the great length the response that a consumer should have when looking at a product’s packaging, the importance of manufactures’ marketing campaign, the importance of packages depending on the culture, then finally to why designs will change over time.
Nordstrom retail stores have large hallways, and everything is presented in a very classy manner. The color scheme includes pale yellows, whites, and gold, to provide a more elegant appearance in the store in order to make the shopped feel special. The design is also seen through product organization. Compared to stores like Macy’s, which organize their products based on brand, Nordstrom organizes their products based on lifestyle. Because of this, it is easier for shoppers to find clothes similar to their style as opposed to by brand. In effect, shoppers will purchase more products. This also is a type of experiential retailing, where Nordstrom customers are able to experience the elements of their lifestyle within one section. More so, the product presentation will draw people’s eyes to products, even if they are not looking for it. This gives Nordstrom a competitive advantage in relation to other similar retail stores because it makes their store look more glamorous and high-end. While other stores may focus on value, Nordstrom utilizes the retail positioning strategy to make a customer feel more high-end and
As compared to its rivals, Target has presented its brand as a middle-class brand which assists in attracting customers that find other stores like Walmart unpleasant
Ron Johnson spent a great deal of time and money to promote his ideas of “stores-within-stores” by turning floor space into an area to house several branded boutiques. He did this in order to attract a target market of a wider demographic which includes age, gender, and generation. One of the m...
He has worked with numerous of the Fortune Global 500 companies as a brand building expert. He has truly mastered consumers’ deepest desires by exploit hot spots in the human brains to compel them to purchase blindly and willingly. As a result, Martin has successfully help launched new products and brands. Martin created this book during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Martin’s main purpose of this book was not getting us to stop purchasing, as that is nearly impossible. “The purpose is to educate and empower you to make smarter, sounder, more informed decisions about what we’re buying and why” (Lindstorm 8). By exposing marketing companies tricks and tactics, consumers would be equipped to battle the war on impulse purchasing in a time of
... me that the eventual outcome of American architecture will be the emanation of what is going on inside of us at present, the character and quality of our thoughts and our observations and above all, our reflections.” Many architects practicing modernism in the development of American architecture however, fell victim to what Sullivan was calling for, in that architects should look within themselves as a source of truth. Many failed to understand that Sullivan insisted that this should not be a means of subjective and emotional human being state but rather a reserved and intuitive approach to design. In his discussion Sullivan comes close to acknowledging that style, as he has defined the term, has a highly subjective origin in which he describes as “the universal language of the soul.”
Le Corbusier’s Vers Une Architecture (Towards a New Architecture) is focused on the architectural qualities of “the machine”. He states that “the house is a machine for living in,” where the principles of architects should be to make the house suited for its purpose, as if it was a machine. This restates the argument that functionalism is more important than appearance, and that progress comes from architects abandoning the concept of traditional styles and decorative effects. Le Corbusier understood that architecture has nothing to do with various styles because functionality will always come before the subjectivity of appearance; he saw the aesthetic, not as just another style but the substance of architecture. In which he drew parallels
Abstract: Contemporary architects have a wide variety of sources to gain inspiration from, but this has not always been the case. How did modernism effect sources of inspiration? What did post-modernism do to liberate the choice of influences? Now that Contemporary architects have the freedom of choice, how are they using “traditional” styles and materials to inspire them? Even after modernism why are traditional styles still around?
... concept is inadequate. The concept according to majority of retailers is just dressing a window, or just an unnecessary expenditure. The competitors’ today have an astonishing retail design stock and will have to compete purely on master merchandising and the technological edge.
Value can mean different things to different people; it is measured by a product’s performance and by the elements it is made up of which customers are prepared to pay for. (Hanson et al, 2008)