Clearlab Contact Lenses – The Centrepoint

Greater Group answered the project brief with a physical manifestation of the brand’s clear, light and transparent product ranges. The reimagined store concept is designed upon three zones: Inspire, Retail and Educate. The ‘Inspire’ zone aims to speak to customers’ imagination and create positive associations with the space through impactful brand signage, digital visual merchandise displays and an engaging Instagram photo area. The ‘Retail’ zone facilitates the first action points through multiple product galleries and an area for consultation as well as self selection. Lastly, the ‘Educate’ zone consists of the eye exam room along with an iPad station and coffee corner that invites customers to interact with their surroundings and feel at home while they wait for their exam appointment.

A centrally located consultant counter provides an area for a first point of interaction with visitors to learn customers’ needs and to gain product knowledge from the staff. Digital touch screens invite customers to self select and virtually try out different colour contact lenses. Facing customers as they enter the shop is a designated social wall that features a colour changing circle fixture mimicking the shape of lenses and pupils along with a call-to-action that encourages visitors to extend their experience beyond the store by sharing content on social media. This circular motif is repeated throughout the design in both the layout and features.

The store interior evokes transparency and light via the effective use of materials and lighting effects. The design experiments with the movement from blurred to clear visuals and colour migration to provide a connection to the result that customers experience when they wear the brand’s contact lenses. Distorted transparent materials such as ribbed glass are specified in the design, as well as illumination that provides a gradient in translucent materials, fading from light through to shadows and transitioning between white to soft blues and greens.

The wall in front of the existing doors provides a feature circular entry with LED lighting along with digital LED screen panels fixed to the angled wall. The concrete floor is also illuminated with coloured terrazzo highlights that coordinate with the range of colourful contact lenses on offer. Colour blocking is implemented in the curated product displays to organise categories while the brand’s colour highlights are integrated in the upholstery and the consultation counter. Finally, the coffee zone is furnished with low level ottomans and tables with the coffee machine tucked away in the alcove to elevate the multi-sensory customer experience through warmth, comfort and hospitality.