Brent Wilton

The University of Missouri has a student center that’s placed near the middle of

the campus. Inside the student center there are two main areas, The Mizzou Store and

the food court. The store allows students to shop for supplies that could come in handy

for any class or everyday need but also clothes for all seasons. The food court is an

area where you have a good handful of places to grab a quick meal or coffee for the go.

I was seated at a high top table that had three chairs at the corner of the dining area of

the food court. Taking one chair as a seat, I noticed that that the backing of the other

chairs had a tiger stripe esque pattern including the colors of a light brown and red. The

chairs backing also included two metal bars to help support the fabric piece, yet I found

it interesting how the top ends of the metal was chamfered instead of flushed. I

appreciated the color choice for both the tables and chairs, even in the cluster of

tabletops and chairs for diners, the colors didn’t stand out too much and create an

eyesore. The colors were subtle but distinct enough to where if people passing by

wouldn’t have to look at table and seat as if it were a free circus. People can pass by or

if they need a table to sit at, they can find it with ease.

Colors that surround the food court are executed great as well. The cafeteria

uses ivory/cream as the surrounding wall color and different shades as secondary

colors of the food stands and coffee outlet. The ivory/cream also radiated the feeling of

comfort, soft, and smooth. Which fits the role of a student center quite well in my
support. Not only do the walls and surrounding food/drink stands have this ivory/cream

color but the tiles on the floor and ceiling also adopted a closely similar color. Although,

the ceiling has a tinted ivory/cream while the floor is shaded. I also noticed how the

primary colors of the cafeteria outlets had bold primary colors. The coffee shop,

Infusion, highlights the color purple to give a spontaneous feel to passersby and

influence them to come up to their drink stand and purchase a beverage.

The student center also appears to use a mix between bulbs and fluorescent

lights in the food court section, both lights combine to offer a warm and comfortable

feeling. Yet the lights in The Mizzou Store and Infusion coffee shop implement the use

of led lights. In comparison to the fluorescent and bulb lights, the led lights seem to

illuminate brighter even if it is by a very small margin. Although, I found it interesting

how the food/drink stands used the led lights along the inner perimeter of the outlets.

Having the led lights along the inner perimeter really emphasizes the placement of the

stands, even the displayed items from the menu were in a spotlight. Feeling as though

the baked goods, side dishes, and drinks were conveying you to buy every item under

the led spotlight. A similar effect is at play with The Mizzou Store, except the led lights

are bigger, brighter, and more white to the color. Although there are more led lights

overall in the store, The Mizzou Store uses dimmer light bulbs to counteract the

intensity of the led bulbs in places, along with fluorescent lighting. Its creative to see the

thought that went into the lighting placement in the student center altogether because it

has a certain psychological pull to it. How the main cafeteria area includes slightly
dimmer lights to provide a consistent feeling of comfort but The Mizzou Store and

food/drink stands use slightly more intense lighting to pull people to a quick meal/drink

or out of the main area of circulation to entice you to buy their supplies or merchandise.