Dunstable Images

We went out in our groups to collect primary research, the three boys asking the people of Dunstable to fill out the questionnaire's, and me and the two other girls took images of the bad and good areas in Dunstable. I annotated these images,  which will be added in a final document which includes  everyone's annotations.

We split our group into two to collect primary research, one half to do the questionnaire and the other half to take images in Dunstable of both good and bad features and how this effects the decline and footfall in the town Center. 

The Quadrant is one of the main attractions in Dunstable it offers a wide range of shops to relate a different types of people. I think this is a good part of Dunstable because it is where people come, from the questionnaire, most footfall is from the shops and supermarkets in Dunstable. However the design of the sign, which is what people look out for, is not very eye catching. It is small and uses dull, light colours, which could be missed or overlooked by people. Using a good advertising background will help increase the footfall and would appeal to people, making them WANT to visit the quadrant.  For example the Luton town center shopping mall is very popular because of the advertising it promotes on posters, buses and some social websites, the logo is a big bright pink M which is recognizable to people as the Luton shopping mall.

Here is seems that this shop is closed down, and it reflects that the area is not good in bringing in customers, if people do not know that all the game station have shut down, they would relate this as a non suspenseful town. one thing that would improve this in opening new shops, The Luton mall was quick to replace any closed shops with new and exciting ones.

This area is not full of closed down shops here you can see a store open for business and are advertising well, having stores such as Superdrug makes the area look positive and it brings colour into the area. Superdrug is seen as a high standard store and so will have a good effect on the area it's in. A good example of this is Oxford street in London. London is entertainment for all ages and this attracts a lot of people to visit and live in London.

This photo shows Dunstable can be classy and has potential to an upbeat town. The shops will help to bring in footfall. There aren't many activities available for teens, and shops are based for adults around this area. having a wide age range will bring in more people.

 It is goo that high standard retail shops are in the quadrant,such as New Look but this is only going to target specific people, here it looks like it would be females that are more likely to come into the quadrant.

I like the view from this point, the architecture is forgiving, the slim poles are modern and look cool. The area looks big so it could lead to exciting events, this tells me that there is potential. Using the architecture in the promotional motion graphics final outcome it would likely have a bigger effect to my target audience.

I think that Grove Corner is quite a successful part of Dunstable. It provides lots of different activities for young adults and younger children as well. The youth centre is used often, most week nights and weekends and I know quite a few people who enjoy going. I think it does increase footfall to the Dunstable area as it brings teenagers and younger children together to do something rather than being out on the streets.

I think Grove House Gardens are a very important and well used part of Dunstable. Grove gardens offer a large space for a family outing with a park, green space, theatre and restaurants. It is also right in the heart of Dunstable next to a big supermarket which will definitely increase footfall especially for families and parents.

I definitely think that Grove Theatre is a well-known attraction to Dunstable. As Dunstable doesn’t have a cinema, Grove Theatre offers a small cinema and theatre showing various shows most nights of the week, this therefore brings footfall to Dunstable and should be focused on.

Although Dunstable high street doesn’t bring much to Dunstable, it does have a fair few shops including: Peacocks, Iceland, Best Look, Subway, various banks and The Ivory Lounge. 

Even though Dunstable high street is very grey and bland with many shut downs shops, it is still brightened up with flower beds, which I think is something to focus on as it makes the town seem more eco-friendly if there is more greenery. 

The Old Sugar Loaf Inn is a well-known attraction in Dunstable. It is a pub that many of the locals tend to use and this increases footfall due to the regulars bringing their friends/family to the same pub that they go to. There are quite a few pubs in Dunstable to choose from which is good because this means people don’t have to venture into the country to find a nice pub, they could be passing through Dunstable and decide to stop in one of the various pubs that are there.

The Quadrant is one of the main shopping areas in Dunstable. From our survey we found that 14 out of 20 people come to Dunstable to visit the Quadrant, this is a significant amount. Although many of the shops in the Quadrant are shut down, there are still many shops still open and this is the main part of Dunstable where people go to shop.

This statue is placed outside of Asda in Dunstable. It is quite a modern sculpture, therefore it makes Dunstable seem more of a modern place to be. It is a well known landmark of Dunstable as many people who come here pass it on a daily basis whether driving through or walking.

'Welcome to Dunstable' signs are placed in and around Dunstable. They all have a small amount of information about Dunstable and are all different. I think these are a really good idea as they give historical information on Dunstable.

Asda is placed right in the heart of Dunstable, it is the largest used supermarket in Dunstable and this makes a lot of people visit the town.

This is the first image which is of the Central Bedfordshire college, it looks very plain and dull at the moment which wont appeal to passers by, it isn't the main reason why people don’t come to Dunstable but has an affect none the less, if the buildings were more attractive then it definitely would improve footfall. 

Greggs the bakery, is an attractive shop because of the complimentary colours but one appealing shop isn't enough to improve the costumer rate. Next to Greggs is half of a photographic shop which brings the quadrant down slightly with the colours used, the green and white is good to use but it doesn't look professional.

This image shows the retail shop Holland & Barrett, this shop isn't a very attractive shop, the dark green and light green makes it look old and boring, also the buildings above look like they have been there for quite a while and need to be renovated into a newer and more innovative way, like changing the colours slightly or even changing the shop completely.

The old sugar loaf, this building is derelict and is in need of a drastic renovation, places like this are part of the reason of Dunstable’s downfall and the lack of footfall. If maybe they knocked it down and built it again so it looks modern and professional, it might improve the general footfall in Dunstable.

The Dunstable library looks dull and old fashioned and is obviously not attracting customers as much as it needs to be. The building next to it makes the area and the library look tacky and could be knocked down to make way for something that could be useful and that make Dunstable more attractive.

Go bowling, is a bowling/arcade establishment, and we can see the car park outside, on the left we can see some railings that have been damaged and not repaired which won't be very presentable to people in Dunstable. The go bowling building looks like it was built in the 80’s, which wont appeal to the target audience and it looks tacky and if it was taken down, it could make way for a market of some sort.

This is an image of the grove area, by the Gary Cooper bar and restaurant. I would see this as a good place in Dunstable, making it look better to the audience. The large field area is very good for families, children and teenagers to hang about, have picnics and play fun games when the weather is nice. However, the grass gets pretty muddy, making the area looking dull and gloomy, when the weather is worse. This can put people off from visiting the area, decreasing the footfall. To increase the footfall, Dunstable could add flower bushes, low boxes or a seating area around the field area. This way it would make it seem and look more brighter, fun and a great, bubbly place to relax. I feel that the whole view of this area does have a big affect on the view of Dunstable as it is a very wide-open space for various aged people to meet and relax with each other. It is also next to quite a few popular places in Dunstable town centre, such as Asda, Go Bowling, the leisure centre, Cookies and Cream and the Gary Coopers bar, making it regularly seen and noticed.  

This image is of two small food orientated restaurants, that have both been closed down, due to lack of footfall and business in the area. I feel that because they are situated in the corner of Grove, with shiny, black windows, making it harder to see inside the restaurants, and showing the visitors what they have to offer. I definitely feel that they show a bad view to the visitors about Dunstable, as they show no bright enthusiasm shown or colours to make it seem inviting. I feel that by swapping the black windows to clear, adding funky posters and banners and paint, they will definitely attract customers. By raising money, by doing things such as cake stalls and car-boot sales and mini taster sessions, the owners would be able to work towards a brighter future for the restaurants.   

This is the Grove Theatre, which I feel is a good aspect for Dunstable, as it is easily accessible and great for all ages. However, it does not appeal to the visitors at all, as there is no fun to the outside of the building, making it look dreary. I feel that by adding beautiful flowers around the outside, it would already look inviting. By making the inside look colourful and funky, yet relaxing, then this would be seen from the outside from the clear windows, making the visitors interesting and intrigued. They will be finding themselves wandering into the theatre, mainly because it caught their eye. I do not live in Dunstable, so when I came across this area, I had no idea it existed. I was quite disappointed as it wasn't inviting in any way, They had posters in the corners of the windows, mainly falling off anyway, making me less intrigued than I would have been. There is no colour or fun dynamics, instantly putting me off as it doesn't look inviting and gives me the impression that it isn't really that important.  

These are the statues that are at the other end of Grove from the Theatre. They were created to give the visitors information on the history of the area. I feel that they show the history of the area in a creative manner, although they don't really appeal to the public as they are not very bright or bring enthusiasm to the park and grove area. Therefore, it is a good aspect for the area as the visitors can learn about the history and take images, however they could be more colourful and exciting to make the visitors get inspired by the statues. This could be done by adding fun, colourful flower boxes around the statues, maybe creating a pathway to attract the younger audience. I think that by making this effort by adding fun colours and fun aspects to the area, it would bring more people in, not just for the park area, but to learn about the history of that part of Dunstable. 

The bandstand is a good aspect of Dunstable as it intrigues the teenage audience, as the dynamics and funky shape definitely looks inviting. The colour is bright, bringing both the male and female audience, which means bringing on the community. This definitely makes it an inviting area to chill and meet with friends. However, the colour blue can be seen as a dreamy, lazy, even sad colour, which means that the audience may feel that they don't want to be surrounded by a sad atmosphere. This could be improved by adding (not changing) more colours to the outside of the wooden stand, and on the floor area - making it a more funky, exciting place for the teenage audience to chill, eat and even get inspired by what surrounds them. The bandstand is mainly recognised for the gigs that they show in the summer, which is a great aspect to Dunstable as it brings the community together, having a good time. I think that by advertising this more on billboards and posters etc, the community is able to acknowledge the good events that are being offered. 

This is the recycle bins, just aside the bandstand.This definitely shows one of the bad aspects of Dunstable, as this person couldn't be bothered to place the glass bottle in the bin, but instead on top of the bin, making it look dirty and a waste of space. I could suggest that by adding bigger signs to show where the bins are would be helpful, making the bins larger and possibly taller so that there is no waste surrounding the area. However, I do feel that the bins provided are already standard, so the community needs to work together to make Dunstable a cleaner, better place to live.

These two images are of the squirrels and pigeons in and around the Grove area. The squirrels are cute, however they can make a mess by rummaging around in the rubbish bins, which makes the area seem more messy than the public are making. This shows that little animals and pigeons can annoy the public, which leads to the public not visiting the area, resulting in a decrease in footfall. To overcome this, I feel that the bins could have lids on them - which means that the squirrels do not have access to the rubbish. However, this does also mean that the public are less likely to use the bins, as I have noticed that most people throw their rubbish in the bins, and if missing they don't go out their way to pick it up. This can be a downfall in this area. However, the small animals around the Grove area show the public that they do encourage nature, which shows that the community is well natured and looks after the nature in a good manner.

This is the Central Beds College Store, which shows that the education in Dunstable is easily accessible and that they offer more various opportunities. This definitely shows that Dunstable can offer good education, which needs to be shown to the visitors of Dunstable and the target audience outside of Dunstable as most people see this area as a rough place to live/visit. I feel that to gain footfall in this area, the store could create leaflets to hand out, posters and professional looking banners to gain their attention and advertise in a range of newspapers. Social Networking is also a great way to advertise the education as most people use these sites, in and outside of Dunstable. This would gain footfall and change the negative perception of Dunstable that most of the public have.

The image below is the Dunstable Leisure Centre, which is good for the community as they can meet up, chat and exercise. However, I feel that it isn't well advertised and put across to the public as it is in the corner, making it less noticeable to the public. The centre could create funky ways to increase the knowledge of where it is situated to the public eye, such as painted footsteps on the floor tiles to make the public intrigued, wanting to explore what is over there and what they provide, professional looking banners and posters/leaflets and hold various shows to show what they provide. This will also  show that Dunstable offers good education, intriguing the public to take a look at what they offer, and explore more of the area. 

Overall our group has captured a good variety of the good and bad areas of Dunstable and some of the causes to why the footfall is low. These images will assist us through our developments throughout the brief and inspire us with possible ideas we can carry into our final designs.