Creating a sense of drama with brightness contrasts
Establishing hierarchies with light
Bright-dark contrasts for establishing an exciting sense of drama in the shop and attracting the customers’ attention
High contrast
Contrasts in brightness establish drama and place important elements in the foreground. Brightly lit objects achieve most importance in our visual perception. Decisive for the impact is not the absolute brightness level but the contrast ratio. Significant differentiation can be recognised with a brightness contrast of 1:10 between the surroundings and the accenting. Some stores therefore dispense completely with general lighting and work with very narrow distribution accents to create a highly dramatic ambience. Brilliance and a striking modelling with light and shadow are typical of this intensive accent lighting.
Medium contrast
The differentiation can no longer be clearly recognised if the brightness contrast between surroundings and accenting is approximately 1:5. The attention of customers is no longer so decisively attracted. To strengthen the contrast, the general lighting surrounding the display can either be reduced or higher illuminance be used for the accent.
Low contrast
No hierarchy can be recognised anymore with a 1:2 difference in brightness between the surroundings and the object. The room is given a monotonous impression. The rich-contrast modelling via light and shadow is no longer clearly visible with low accent lighting, and the array of merchandise gains a uniform appearance.
