Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The design concept
of a luxury brand's website is also an important visual
dimension that supports a brand's luxemosphere. As has been emphasized
throughout this section, the identity of a brand should be reflected in its
website design concept and this, of course, should emphasize elements that
produce a pleasing effect on both the eyes and the mind. Design concepts
of several luxury websites tend to be ill-defined and inconsistent across the
multiple sections and pages and, in most cases, they also lack a direct link
with the brand's visual style. My observation is that, often, the web agency or
interactive media company that developed the website produces a design con-
cept that is in line with the agency's style and not the brand's spirit. In other
cases where different companies or teams have been involved in the design
concept, each of these groups leave their “stamp” on the website's sections
that they have developed, creating a “mish-mash” effect and low impact.
The display
of the visual elements is crucial to enhancing the visual impact
and elevating a luxury website's luxemosphere. Having beautiful images
in high resolution isn't enough; these images have to be placed in the right
context to ensure that their value is optimized. This is similar to creating well-
crafted products and displaying them in an environment that is nothing but
exceptional. Can you imagine the Hermès Birkin bag or the Fabergé egg dis-
played in a steel cage at a street market? You may find this analogy ridiculous
but a look at how some luxury brands display their products online could be
likened to placing a precious object in a bird's cage. Online display of products
and demonstration of services are linked not only to how products are placed
or integrated within web pages, but also to how they may be viewed. Are there
sufficient tools to manipulate product views? Can the screen display be placed
in a full-screen mode? Can the products be “played with” in terms of spinning
and flipping? These are the questions luxury brands should be asking.
Sound
Shakespeare was famously known to have said, “Look with your ears” (King
Lear, IV). Can sound help us see? Feel? Understand? Experience? Change?
When we open our consciousness to sound it is possible to gain a whole new
meaning to particular sensations in our being. It is also possible to attain
results that could never have been imagined. If you've heard of the mobile
phone ringtone, invented by Japanese scientist Dr Tomobechi, which has
been confirmed to increase breast size, you will understand what I mean.
Within an environment, the appropriate sound contributes to the creation of
a specific ambience and influences the mood. Sounds form part of an expe-
rience and are often inseparable from memories, knowledge and emotions.
In the virtual world, sound is the anecdote that stimulates the other human
senses of sight, smell and touch, and ensures that the online experience is not
dominated by vision. Sound could also go a long way in creating a specific
