Do you know who you are?

I was walking down a street the other day, and came across this sandwich board. It was simple and clean looking, with an equally simple message. I walked inside the store, and in the first 15 seconds, knew that this business knew who it was. Even the color used on the sign reflected the feeling inside. It was simple and sleek, with a bit of a retro vibe, also reflected in the choice of the shade of blue used on the sandwich board. I remember reading that consumers walking through a mall look at a window display for an average of 15 seconds before deciding whether or not they will walk into a store. I am sure that today...15 seconds is a real stretch. Today's consumer is busier than ever, and with all of the research material available on the Internet, I believe that real store visits are becoming rarer, and shorter than ever before.

This particular store was skillfully 'edited'. By that, I mean that it had been stripped down to the essential items. These items were what the store believed in to be the best representation of their business. I understood...and decided to poke around, in order to see if our design sensibilities matched. They did. I took a little notebook out of my purse, and wrote down their web address. I do not think I was in the store for more than 5 or 6 minutes, but it was all the time I needed to establish a connection, and decide to visit them again.