two hour presentation reflection.

Part 1:

(1) Two hour presentation student assessment

I believe I deserve an AE because I met every requirement asked of me and I believe I went above and beyond by going very in-depth with my content and designing activities that applied everything I taught in an interesting and engaging way. The students demonstrated that they had learned from my presentation by applying it in the activities they participated in. Also, a ton of research went into this presentation because I had to learn all these new techniques on design and thoroughly understand how color affects people, along with consumer psychology and marketing. So many different aspects were covered in my research and I was able to incorporate that into my presentation.


(2) What are you most proud of in your 2 hour and why?

I am proud that I was actually able to pull off doing the presentation. Aside from that, though, I'm really proud of my activities and how the students were very engaged in them and that they retained all the information I taught them and used the techniques in their own activities.

Part 2:

(1) What did you think you did well on in the project? What could you have done better? Please explain.

I believe I did very well on my research. I consistently received a high grade on my binder, which helped me out for my exit interviews. The quality of the research was great and I was consistently praised for doing so well. Also, towards the end of the year, I started doing better on my components because everything started to fall into place for me. I believe I could have done science fair better. It was my lowest grade of all my components and maybe th execution or the presentation of it wasn't so great. I tried though. :(
(2) What is your EQ and what is the best answer to your EQ?

What is the most important aspect of a visual window display? Having a centralized theme.

(3) How has the last month of culminating events (e.g I-Search, Two-Hour, Exit etc) affected your answer to your EQ? Has it changed? Why or why not?

The last month of culminating events did not affect my answers to my EQ. Instead, they confirmed every answer that I already had, allowing me to feel confident with the content behind them. I was able to figure out what my answers were relatively early, all the way back in January. Those final components helped me understand my answers a lot more in depth and reminded me why I had chosen those aspects as important.
(4) What suggestions do you have in order to improve the senior project?


Some suggestions include:

• Having a more consistent grading style, especially on research.
• Reminding us of due dates.
• Make science fair an easier process. It was the first time many of us had done a science fair project, so throwing us into very unfamiliar territory was extremely difficult.
• Being more clear about what exactly is being looked for in our components, like independent study wasn't so clear to me until after I turned it in.

(5) Overall Senior Project Assessment 


AE. Every big component that I've worked on has gotten pretty good grades and I did so well on my service learning that I even got a job offer. :)
Also, the amount of time and depth I've put into this project was a lot, and I consistently did well and turned in all of my work on time, which shows that I was very diligent about the process.

service learning.

Literal:

Anchor Blue Service Learning:

The text reads: "To whom it may concern: Prior to our closing, during the fall/winter of 2010, Brittney Sass completed 15 hours of Service Learning at our corporate offices in Corona." Signed by Alina Lemoine.

 The Little Dress Shop Service Learning:

The hours read as followed:

• 1/21/11 - 3 hours
• 1/28/11 - 3 hours
• 2/11/11 - 4 hours
• 2/18/11 - 5 hours
• 2/25/11 - 2 hours
• 3/4/11 - 5 hours
• 3/18/11 - 5 hours
• 3/25/11 - 3 hours
• 4/8/11 - 4 hours
• 4/22/11 - 4 hours
• 4/29/11 - 3 hours

Contact: In regards to the Anchor Blue service learning, I lost contact with my original service learner, Christina Dorado and the HR lady, Alina Lemoine. However, I have Carrie Childers's cell phone number, who also helped with setting up my service learning and oversaw everything. You can also contact my mom who was always saw me go in for service learning since she worked there. Regarding The Little Dress Shop, you can contact my service learner, Marsha Valencia, at her store's number: (909) 626-2996. I know that she for sure comes in on Fridays, and just ask for Marsha. :)

Interpretive: I gained quite a bit from my service learning. Since I did not get to finish my total training at Anchor Blue, I only received a sliver of what I needed, however, the hours I put in were still valuable because I learned a lot. I learned the concept of an inspiration board and the processes that visual merchandisers take to get inspired for a theme. I also learned the more "office work" part of the job, organizing all planograms into a cohesive binder, since they need that for their records. At The Little Dress Shop, I learned about displays and what makes it work. I learned about how you have to move things around a lot until you finally achieve the look you were going for. It takes the right eye for color and product placement. I also learned how to use a cash register, which was pretty exciting. Everything I have learned I can take with me into the working world, especially for my age, getting a part time job at a retail store would allow me to show everything that I learned. 

Applied: Service learning helped me answer my EQ because of the hands-on experience I had with the displays. Each important answer of my EQ was strongly evident in my service learning. In terms of having a centralized theme, Marsha always had me come up with a theme/assigned me a theme for the displays. Along with that, with Christina, when she had me make my inspiration board, she explained to me that this was the foundation for coming up with a theme. For applying fashion and color trends, I had to use knowledge of fashion and color trends while dressing my mannequin, otherwise people wouldn't look twice at the mannequin if it was outdated. Also, in my displays, knowledge of color trends and the color wheel helped me coordinate the displays better. Last, in terms of implementing appropriate props and signage, I learned about signage at Anchor Blue because she showed me different types of signs they have used and how to use them in a window and at The Little Dress Shop, I used props in all of my displays and saw how they enhanced the display.

two hour lesson plan rough draft.

Sponge activity:  

For my sponge activity I plan to have students note what everyone else is wearing in the classroom. Then I will have the class create a list of commonalities between attire and determine what seems most popular along with what colors are prevalent (except black/grey) and ask them questions on what they noticed.

Introduction:  

What is the most important aspect of a visual window display? 

most important aspect: what is essential

visual window display: a display in a window that showcases merchandise, appealing to people visually..

I chose this topic because I want to go into fashion merchandising as a fashion buyer, but I chose to focus on visual merchandising so that I can understand how products look from a visual display standpoint. My plan for the day is to teach my class not only the most important aspect of a visual window display but also the various techniques that go behind making a window display.

Foundation: 

Now that you know what you’re in for I’d like to give you some background and key components that you need to understand in order to do well in here today. First of all let’s take care of the elephant in the room: Visual merchandising. According to the book “The Role of a Visual Merchandiser”, Visual Merchandising is the art of increasing sales through visual cues. What I found in service learning was that visual merchandising also encompasses the use of looking into how appeal changes overtime and follows patterns in shopper behavior; we’ll be getting into that soon though. Before we go on I want to tell you want a window display is.  A window display is a display that showcases directly to the public. It is the frontline in a store’s arsenal of selling. Today we will cover what kind of visual merchandising elements go into designing and executing a great window display that will undoubtedly increase sales.  We’ll start by understanding what a theme is and how it is used in a visual context, then we will talk about trends in fashion and the importance of a precise and calculated use of color, after that we will talk about how signage and props can add another dimension to displays if used correctly, and finally I will reflect on my experiences in this project and tell you how this process has changed me. Think of today as a class, not a presentation, and be sure to pay close attention during the content so that you can win prizes in the activities!

Body:

Answer 1: Having a centralized theme. In order to drive the planning of the display, you must first have an appropriate theme. Otherwise, how could you plan a window display with no concept behind it? You would just be throwing random things into it and that will not grab the attention of people. 

1.      -----Activity 1: I will be talking about inspiration boards, so I will be having everyone make their own inspiration board but with a twist. I would list several themes from real-life examples or made up ones (i.e. My Life is a Runway from Torrid, or a garden party theme) and allow students to pick a theme they would like to follow and peruse through magazines, cutting out what inspires them for that theme specifically and pasting it onto the poster. I want this to be personal, thus why I'm allowing them to choose from a set of pre-selected themes, so that there is still direction, but they can at least choose what they want to do. Basically, this activity is the reverse of what an inspiration board is for, but it does combine the inspiration aspect along with having a theme to work with and putting in what applies to that.

Materials needed: magazines, scissors, glue sticks, little poster boards.

  

 Answer 2: Applying trends in fashion and color. In a window display, it is important to keep up with trends in fashion and color because people gravitate towards the windows that look stylish. If you use out of date trends, you will lose sales. As the visual merchandiser, it is your job to communicate what’s hot in fashion by showing consumers how to wear them, while the color aspect is what draws people in.

-----Activity 2:  I will have them dress a mannequin while I have several spring trends listed on my powerpoint along with color trends, and have everyone compete to see who has the most fashion forward look without being overtly trendy. People have to bring in their own clothes and accessories as I cannot provide it all. The prize for winning in this competition will be candy.

     Materials needed: clothes, accessories, mannequins.

Answer 3: Implementing appropriate props and signage. In a window display, the props and/or signage can make or break a window display. It is imperative that you use the right amount of props and signage and that it fits in with the theme. Keep in mind that you don’t always have to use both at the same time, they are interchangeable.

-----Activity 3:  I will have the students break into groups of 5 and assign every group a "theme". Then I will have everyone set up their own display implementing props and/or signage. People would need to bring in their props though. Students will be competing for an E for the day (is that possible?).

     Materials needed:  props, posters, coloring supplies

Conclusion:

What is your best answer and why? My best answer is having a centralized theme. As evidenced by my presentation, the theme is the building block to the whole display. With a theme that tells a story, it can connect to the audience on a deeper level, leaving the impression of your store in their minds, which would make them come back and increase sales. The theme is what dictates what will go into the window and how everything will be set up.

What are  your 3 most important sources and why? My three most important sources are my interviews with Teresa Roarick because she gave me insight into the field of visual merchandising and gave me quality answers to everything I asked, Visual Merchandising by Tony Morgan because it was a textbook that taught me everything I needed to know about window displays and in-store displays, and my service learning with Marsha Valencia from The Little Dress Shop because I was able to apply everything I learned into physical products.

What is your product and why? My product is having a foundation in visual merchandising because my ultimate goal is to become a fashion buyer, and having knowledge in this field will allow me to be ahead in my studies and allow me to know how merchandise will translate into a display.

independent study two.

1. Log: 


Bergdorf Goodman - Christmas Display --- 30 minutes 
Personal In-Store Display --- 30 minutes 
A Lesson in Visual Merchandising: Groupings --- 30 minutes 
Hello August --- 1 hour 30 minutes 
Agent Provocateur --- 45 minutes 
Apple Store --- 30 minutes 
Anthropologie --- 45 minutes 
Partytime --- 1 hour 30 minutes 
A Lesson in Visual Merchandising: Balance --- 1 hour 
Personal Mannequins and Window --- 1 hour 30 minutes
A Lesson in Visual Merchandising: Emphasis --- 30 minutes 
Chanel Winter 2010 --- 30 minutes 
A Visual Merchandiser's Toolbox --- 45 minutes 
Springtime is Here --- 1 hour 15 minutes 
Anthropologie//January 2006 --- 1 hour 30 minutes 
A Lesson in Visual Merchandising: Rhythm --- 30 minutes 
Flashback --- 1 hour 45 minutes 
Color? COLOR! --- 2 hours 15 minutes 
Spring 2011 Fashion Trends --- 2 hours 
Lanvin - May 2008 --- 1 hour 
Nautical --- 1 hour 30 minutes 
Louis Vuitton - Funfair --- 1 hour 
A Lesson in Visual Merchandising: Promoting Impulse Sales --- 2 hours 
Cupcake Necklaces --- 30 minutes 
Someone Loves You --- 1 hour 30 minutes 
J. Crew - May 2009 --- 30 minutes 
Bergdorf Goodman - February 2008 --- 30 minutes 
Take Me To The Bay --- 1 hour 30 minutes  
Total: 30.5 hours


2. www.fyeahvisualmerchandising.tumblr.com (Also, Victor can affirm that I worked a long time on this blog. He sat there watching me, bored, haha. xD)


3. Literal: a) I, Brittney Morgan Sass, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work. 
b) For my independent study, I ran a blog about visual merchandising. It contains little lessons, window display dissections, some personal displays, fashion trends, and polyvore sets that demonstrate potential outfits and themes.


Interpretive: This blog clearly demonstrates what I have learned throughout my entire senior project. It shows that I applied what  learned by being able to explain other displays, show my own personal work, allow my own creativity to flourish with the Polyvore sets, and to be able to teach what I've learned to other readers of my blog, which by the way, is now up to 28. It's grown pretty fast for the short amount of time and I'm really proud of that. It demonstrates 30 hours of work because it is very time-consuming to run a blog. Looking up pictures, creating sets, writing out what I want to say and editing it, going through my research binder to figure out what my next topic is and consulting it to write lessons, uploading personal pictures and writing about my experiences, specific formatting of pictures and text...all of that combined takes up so much time and I literally timed myself each time, rounding down to the closest 15 minute interval. Of course, there is time not recorded on here, maybe for more subtle things, keeping up with the blog, making sure everything fits...and I wouldn't even say that this is JUST 30 hours. It's going to continue for I will be keeping up this blog (I seriously love Tumblr) and it makes me feel happy to have found a niche in the blogging community (also, I'm going to start a food blog with April :3).


Applied: This blog helped me answer my EQ because I had to look at windows to see what made them good, which helped me with my best answer to my EQ, which is having a centralized theme. Every single display I put in there had some sort of theme to it, which helped make the windows breathtaking because the right props/clothes/signage were put in there to enhance that theme, which really made you go, "Wow," because it was a work of art. I also figured that fashion trends and colors were important because it helped make the windows pop and made you want to buy their products because they showed the right way to wear something. My last answer, implementing appropriate props and signage was answered because in these displays, I saw how props and signs really added flair to the displays. For example, the Louis Vuitton fair window really demonstrates this, because it had a solid, interesting theme, with a trendy consistent color palette and fashionable clothing, while having the amazing props of ferris wheels and a roller coaster! With my Polyvore sets, I explored two different answers, which were theme and fashion trends and color trends. For example, my set called Hello August was an example of this, because it had a lot of fashion trends in it, with appropriate use of color trends, while still having a theme behind it, which helped give the outfit more impact and created a feeling with it. In my little lessons, it helped me review what I learned, and every time I talked about my lessons, they mentioned having some sort of theme in order to make displays work well, but it also let me explore other potential avenues to see if other aspects of a display are the most important. My personal displays that I posted, although granted they were done in service learning, allowed me to write and reflect upon my experience at the Little Dress Shop in Claremont, for example, in my mannequins and window post, it made me so happy that I helped drive sales for her in that one day. It made me think, "Dang, I have some skill." I'm not quite sure what drove me to do these particular types of posts, but I just brainstormed any possibilities and started working on my blog to see what types of posts will work for me and what won't. Anyways, this blog as a whole was very important in my senior project because it gave me insight into my topic as well as my EQ. And now...I have a fashion blog, which will help me when I go out and be the fashion buyer that I want to be one day. :3


Edit: It's now 31 people who follow my blog! :3

art rationale.

Why do it this way?


Well, I decided to make my own mannequin and then paint it with whatever represents visual merchandising to me. I made the mannequin with tape, and then I plan on paper mache-ing it. After that, I would paint it with acrylic paint. Why do it this way though? I've learned throughout my research and service learning that you need to be resourceful as a visual merchandiser, trying to keep within your budget. Making a mannequin is super cheap. All you need to do is buy about 3 rolls of tape, some paint, lots of paper, glue, and have an old shirt lying around. Along with junk mail or newspapers or something to stuff your mannequin with. It all costs less than $20. Considering that a body form of the torso/bust area is about $50, that extra $30 can be used for other purposes within the display. Or to even save it for next time. Also, as a visual merchandiser, you need to be creative, so making one is a pretty interesting way to save money. Of course though, I wanted to go beyond just MAKING one, I wanted to put a more artistic touch to it, thus the painting. I wanted it to be personal.

creative expression ideas.

Some ideas include:

• painting a mannequin form with my interpretation of visual merchandising.
• creating a display?
• creating props for a display.
• sketching out window displays.

This ties into my EQ because it allows me to delve deep into the creative side of visual merchandising. They all explore the ideas of having a theme/concept, props and signage, or smart use of color/knowing trends in fashion.

interview four questions.

1. What is the hardest product category to design a window scheme for?
2. How important is store design, does it help sell products?
3. How does the store design help the visual merchandiser? 
4. How important are signage and graphics both in store and windows?
5. Is good lighting both in store and windows key?
6. Do you have any tips for in-store visual merchandising and windows?
7.How important is the design concept of a window?
8. How important is it to consider the product when designing and planning the store?
9. What helps highlight merchandise in the windows?
10. In terms of sign in the window, what has been most successful for bringing in customers (i.e. putting prices, photographs, catchy slogans)?
11. Does having a solid theme or concept help make the planning of a window easier?
12. What is more important in a window display: having an underlying theme/concept or signage?
13. What is more important in a window display: signage or smart use of color?
14. What is more important in a window display: smart use of color or and underlying theme/concept?
15. What are some techniques you use when designing or installing a window display?
16. How much time goes into making a window?
17. In terms of window display themes, does much research go into it or is it mostly inspiration?
18. What is the easiest product category to design a window scheme for?
19. How do you best target your audience in window displays?
20. What is one piece of advice that you find most valuable to starting out in this field?