Start a Visual Merchandising Project
Visual merchandising falls on that sometimes blurry line between business and art. On many levels, a good visual merchandising project uses statistical information on what certain target groups consider beautiful. On other levels, a good visual merchandising project contains the artistic and visionary touch of someone who wants not only to sell products, but to affect customers in their trends. With so many choices, knowing where to start in a visual merchandising project can be overwhelming.
Instructions
1. Select a setting for your project, if the instructor or project manager did not give a setting. For example, you may want to select a popular setting, such as a cosmetic or teen clothing store. Alternatively, you may want to select a setting that allows for more personal creativity, such as a beloved local retailer.
2. Define your target market. For example, if you select MAC Cosmetics for your visual merchandising project, your target market does not include most 50-year-old men. On the opposite side, cigar stores do not market to those under the age of 18. Knowing your market allows you to narrow what visually excites your store's potential customer.
3. Create a project theme. Often times, the instructor gives you a project theme. If you can develop your own theme as part of the project, try to use a theme that grabs the attention of your target market. Trends develop from location, target market and media, so look to these places for your theme. When selecting your theme, focus on your major target group. For example, the sugar skull theme may bring in buyers in the American Southwest, but buyers in the Canadian Northeast might not relate to or recognize that theme.
4. Create a color palette. To do this, utilize a variety of sources, such as scientific and marketing studies on colors, displays from major competitors, visuals from companies that market to the same group that your company markets to, theme-related colors and anything else you can think of for color inspiration.
5. Create a visual layout, considering the layout of your store. Your visual layout should reflect the theme and highlight and market your product. Make sure that your visual layout includes the following elements, outlined by the Parkway School District's website: symmetrical and asymmetrical balance, drawing the eye to the necessary item (you don't want to emphasize shoes in a store that doesn't sell them), proportion, rhythm, harmony and visual effectiveness.
Tags: merchandising project, target market, project theme, visual layout, your target, your target market, your theme