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.