[FASH 49] More photos of student’s displays

Here are the rest of the photos from various weeks throughout the semester of the visual merchandising class:

Wedding theme: This display from Group 2 was too pretty for words!  All of the flowers were hand-made!

Sports theme: Group 1 did a fantastic job with their Men’s Health display considering the bad shape of the shelf unit.  They literally transformed it!  The stack of chairs on the side are helping to hold it up (lol)!

Fashion Designer theme:  This Tory Burch display is another example of how a few dollars and a lot of man hours can go a long way.  The fabulous floral logo was all done by hand! – Group 4

Fashion Designer theme:  Here’s a table display in progress from Group 1.  That bust form is amazing, it is almost an exact replica of what The Blonds created for their runway show!

Green/Eco-friendly theme:  Here’s a completed cube presentation from Group 5.  I love that they chose to provide signage above the display and not just on the table.  It frames the  presentation and makes it complete.  I could see this in a LUSH store for sure!

“Pick a City” theme:  This was such a fun display from Group 4!  Pick a city meant the teams could choose any city they wanted to build a display around.

Music theme:  Group 1 had the challenge this week of working on the beaten up shelving unit, but the way they transformed it, you can hardly tell!  This was a delicious display ,and notice the under-cabinet lighting they provided.   A very important and good detail!

Green/Eco-friendly theme:  This was the best window display this semester.  Group 2 reused a few flowers from their wall display.

Music theme: This Coachella display was perfect, from the lights they included around the ferris wheel backdrop, to the floral headband – Group 2 – I loved it!!!

Fashion Designer theme: Here’s another window that impressed.  Group 6, which were on a British kick for the class :),  chose famed milliner Philip Treacy as their designer to highlight.  Each student hand-made a hat to display in their overall design.  The big flower arrangement you see is a hat as well!

There were so many other projects that were good, but these are a few that really stood out to me.  They all learned that display work:

• Is not easy!!!
• Requires everyone’s assistance the day of installation
• You eventually have to settle on an idea and get to work
• You need to be organized and allow time ahead of the due date to purchase materials/supplies
• Paint needs time to dry  – or else you get it everywhere!
• Conditions are not always ideal, but you gotta deal with it and move ahead
• Sometimes you gotta improvise
• No one sees your mistakes unless you point them out
• COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE with your team!

Like I said before it was a great semester and I am so proud of the work my students have produced, you guys ROCK!

FASH 54A I haven’t forgotten about you guys.  I will be posting your fashion editorials and advertisements soon.  It’s just  A LOT of photos and model release forms to sort through.  But in the meantime I will post the photos from your very first project, where you had to “re-style” yourself in whatever outfit you choose to wear to class that day – remember that?  I know some of you are cringing right now (lol)!  I promised you they wouldn’t be seen by anyone else but me, but some of you did fabulous work that should be seen!

[FASH 49] – Final Group Projects

Each week students were tasked with designing and installing displays according to a theme I provided.  This semester’s class was larger than usual.  I had 52 students!!  Many hands do make for lighter work, but it can also get really crowded in our small classroom with everyone working on either a:

• Window display
• Cubes (had to present twice)
• Table display
• Wall display
• Shelving display

Here are a few pictures from some their work:

This is actually a display from Group 6.  It was the first week group projects launched.  The theme for this week was POP CULTURE.  I thought it was so clever that they used three very distinct time periods that Britain is known for – the Mod 60s, the Punk era, the Royals, which is reflected in the decoupage of their hand-made blocks inside the cubes.

 

 

 

The above display is from Group 2.  Their cube display for POP CULTURE week was inspired by the artist Yayoi Kusama as you can see in the book cover of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

 

 

Up above, Group 4 also looked to Great Britain for inspiration in the iconic image of the Beatles crossing the street. They actually continued the street on the table!  Nicely done!

 

 

 

Group 1 looked to the current fashion trend of studs as their POP CULTURE inspiration!  I loved everything about this display, it’s nicely balanced, clean, and they cross-merchandised.

Considering all the displays shown above was everyone’s first time at doing this type of work, I must say I was impressed!  Students are required to provided all materials and merchandise themselves, they get no outside help, besides each other!  Is it tough to work this way?  YES, but in the world of display one of the first things you must learn and really need to be is RESOURCEFUL.

Throughout the weeks I saw many groups recycling materials and props into other displays – without me having to tell them, they automatically realized that is basically what display is all about!  Stores don’t have unlimited budgets to spend on one-off props, so how do you take what’s used and make it look new again.  If you can do that you will have a long and prosperous career as a display artist!

In my next post I will show more photos of student group projects from the other themes of:

• Holiday/Wedding
• Sports/Music
• Fashion Designer
• “pick a City”
• Green (eco-friendly)

Someday My Prints Will Come

Former student Chelsea W. is doing amazing work at Bloomingdale’s.  I now take a special interest and make it a point to pass the mall windows every time I go to the mall, just because I know the young lady who does them!

Thanks for sending this in and please continue to do so!

(love the lips on the faceless mannies and frogs, cute ideas like this are Chelsea’s trademarks)

Group Projects: Pop Culture

One of my students recently told me I didn’t show the last of the group projects.  I didn’t forget.  I’ve just been super busy.  I really don’t understand how some people find the time to blog all day and hold down a full-time job, and try to have some semblance of a personal life.  How do they do it :)?

So here you go, sorry for the delay, I’ve been out-of-town a lot and working at my construction program.  We are running a summer session for the first time and since I manage the entire program, I had to start as soon as the spring semester ended with no break.

Group 1: Yayoi Kusama (cubes)

This is truly museum quality work, and the use of the balloon was clever!

Group 2: Breast Cancer Awareness (window)

Very shocking in a good way.  It really grabbed your attention when you went by.  The work could have been neater, but I loved the concept.

Group 3: ComicCon (table) display

This was such a fun table.  Group 3 really saved their best for last (ignore the wall display in the background, they were trying to re-do the wall display they didn’t finish the first time around).  Who said girls don’t like comic books!

Group 4: Vogue (shelf unit)

Not sure where I see this displays, a fancy news stand perhaps?  Nicely done, needed better signage, and someone mentioned more colors.  A beautiful bouquet of flowers would be a good way to introduce more color.

Group 5: OPI nail polish (other cubes)

Great work!

Group 6: Hello Kitty apple cart (wall)

Beautiful apple trees, but the overall display looks unfinished.  I wish it took up the whole wall, at least the whole width, and the wheels on the “cart” has the spokes.

 

The last of the class projects!  It has been a truly wonderful semester, I get so much joy out of teaching this class and doing displays, I really can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing than designing and building!

My new class in the fall: FASH 54A-Beginning Fashion Styling

 

Group Projects: Music

Here are the displays for the Music theme week:

Group 1 – Window

Clever idea to cut the musical note out, and I like the styling of the mannequin.  Like your classmates had mentioned, I too had wished the musical note had been constructed out of a different paper, something more colorful.

Group 2 – Table

Great job group 2!  I could see this display at the MAC makeup counter, and the colors you chose are perfectly on trend!

Group 3 – Shelving 

You’re on the right track with some of the iconic images you used for Jimi Hendrix.  The guitar is great, but the peace fabric is a little much.  Nonetheless this display would work in a store that sells vintage records, and it is truly representational of the artist.

Group 4 – Other Cubes

This was one of my favorite displays of the day.  I loved how you took the cubes and made them into a an old school boombox, yet you have a modern-day music player – genius!  My only critique is to nix the pipe cleaner musical notes.

Group 5 – Wall

The meet and greet display was fun, and who knew 20-somethings were such Beatles fans!  I enjoyed looking at the collage with the drum in the middle.  Great job!

Group 6 – Cubes

As simple as this might look, it took a lot of time to assemble.  You can tell Lady Gaga was just an inspiration for this display and not a direct representation of her. Shame the black contact paper didn’t cooperate, but regardless it is still an elegant display.

 

The final projects coming up are Pop Culture!

Bloomingdale’s Windows

My student Chelsea W. sent me these photos last week of her work, and I’ve been remiss in getting them up here.  She currently works at Bloomingdale’s and is one of my most creative and hardest working students.  I love her attention to detail and how meticulous she is in her work.

She told me at the beginning of the semester, that had it not been for this blog, she would not have known such a class existed!  I am not surprised, that throughout the course of this semester, she was able to land a job with Bloomies on their visual team.  No one deserved it more!

Her work speaks for itself:

Working in the studio: covering her mannequins with Astroturf :).

Props complete!

 

A job well done – these windows can be seen from the Mall entrance at Westfield!

Keep up the great work Chelsea!

Group Projects: Fashion Designer

Hi Class:

These past two weeks I’ve been out of the office at job sites or student interviews for my summer school program in construction.  Suffice it to say I am way behind on my work – namely getting all your wonderful worked posted here!

Theme for the week these projects were completed is Fashion Designer.

Group 1 – Table (Tiffany’s)

There was a lot of discussion amongst this group on whether or not this display needed flowers.  What do you think?

Group 2 – Shelving (Betsey Johnson)

It does look like something you would see in a Betsey Johnson store!

Group 3 – Other Cubes (Tiffany’s)

The photo doesn’t capture how light and delicate this display looked.  It was really well done.

Group 4 – Wall (Jean Paul Gaultier)

The elements are there, just not the execution.  I needed bigger and bolder.

Group 5 – Cubes (Marc Jacobs)

They did a trio of cubes.  I liked this one the best.  It was great that a student hand-painted the Marc Jacobs wrapping paper to match the inside lining of the bag!

Group 6 – Window (Marc Jacobs)

Well done!

I have very little to criticize and so much to praise.  Great job students!

 

Pretty and Pink Bust Form

Here’s a bust form done right!

Controversial Windows

I don’t make my students shy away from doing displays that are provocative or controversial.  I say push the boundaries!  But when I came across this article in the Daily Mail, on the windows skin-care retailer LUSH did, I wondered if they crossed the line?

Although I do not find what they did offensive, it does turn my stomach a bit and does not make me want to go in their store.  Which completely defeats the purpose of visual merchandising!

I applaud their efforts to bring animal cruelty in the cosmetic industry to the public’s attention, but when I hear the word LUSH and think of skin-care, I envision beauty and goodness.

What do you think?  I’m interested to hear your thoughts on this.

Here are a few pictures from the full article, although read the article so the photos are not taken out of context.

Group Projects: Food

Here are the photos from last week’s displays.  The theme was food.  I’m finding the displays are getting better and better each week, as the students are refining their skills and taking more chances.  The comments in class, as they critique each other’s work, is also in line with what I’m thinking.  This is a testament to their growth as visual merchandisers and how their eyes are now trained to pick up on slight details that used to be overlooked.  My hat is off to all of you!

Group 1 – Shelving Unit

Looks yummy group 1! – I thought they did a great job with this one.  I could see this as a free-standing display in a bakery or even in a window.  The background matched the sprinkles on the cupcakes, and the coloring of the cupcake prop is not too overpowering, which makes it a perfect complement for the merchandise.  They even added under-cabinet lighting.  Great job and thanks for sharing all the treats at the end of class :)!!!

Group 2 – Cubes

Group 2 chose candy as their product to feature.  This project was good in theory but did not deliver in execution.

This cube is suppose to be cotton candy.  The pieces of cotton candy on the bottom of the cube didn’t work, as the sugar began to crystallize.  There is too much negative space within the cube.  I wish the tree branches had been painted a color, and instead of cotton candy, they could have used cotton batting, or stretched out cotton balls.  Learning to improvise, or creating what you want out of something else is the name of our game!  Plus the cotton will last longer than the cotton candy.

The candy mosaic on the bottom of this cube turned out nice.  They used mint flavored dental floss to hang the candy (kinda’ ironic)!  Again, I wish they had painted the branch, although, the unpainted branches was their intent, as they were inspired from another display that used branches.

I like the last cube showing the jawbreakers and gummy bears.  Now, if only they didn’t add any branches to this cube, it would’ve have been perfect.  Their reasoning was, the other cubes had the branches; they wanted to be consistent and have a cohesive look.  Do you agree?

Group 3 – Wall

Unfortunately group 3 did not finish their display in the allotted time.  It’s a shame because they had a cute idea, and from what I saw on their design plan, this would have been a great wall display!

Group 4 – Cubes

I loved this look!  I wish our cube stands where in better condition, or better yet, they had placed the cubes on tables.  The old stands take away from their work.

They almost went overboard on this project, by placing cupcakes on top of the cube!  Glad they scaled back.

The “Heaven and Hell” theme comes across clearly in the overall display.

Group 5-Window

This display is a great example of when the store display follows along with the marketing campaign.  Every week we receive newspaper fliers in the mail advertising a store’s sales, holidays, hot ticket items, etc….this display would go along perfectly with that.  The slogan they choose “on the go” with quick and easy food products, for when you are “on the go”, would go perfectly with an advertising campaign along these same lines.  [VONS is a large grocery store chain in Southern California.  They are the equivalent to the Safeway chain we have here in Northern California]

Group 6 – Table

Group 6 never disappoints!  They do clean, professional looking work every time.  What can I say, the display speaks for itself.  I like that they added lots of different heights to the table.  Very important and visually interesting, as it keeps it from looking flat.

As I mentioned in class, the projects are getting better and better each week.  I’m finding less to criticize and more to praise.  Keep up the great work and I can’t wait to see what you do next week with our theme of FASHION DESIGNER!