JTATM - North Carolina State University

Mission Statement

To establish a high quality forum relevant to the needs of global industry and higher education that will provide leadership in the timely dissemination of information dealing with all aspects of textile and apparel, technology and management.

Creative Education - Teaching the Fundamentals
and Principles of Visual Merchandise Display
Cynthia Istook, Ph.D. and Michelle Jones, Ph.D.

Student Participants:
Ronald Allen, Melissa Murphy, Jessica Owens and April Simmons

Providing a creative alternative for students to learn textile and apparel related concepts is paramount as universities prepare students for the real world. By providing the real world experience in-house, students are able to receive guidance and feedback while understanding the rationale and purpose of the techniques, concepts and rules.

The Visual Merchandising course taught in the Department of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management was designed to introduce students to the fundamentals of Visual Merchandising including principles, such as balance, harmony, emphasis, rhythm and proportion. The course was administered in three phases: research and presentation on the topic of visual merchandising, visual displays in an academic setting, and a visual display for a local retailer. In addition to the instructors for the courses, the students' displays were rated by their peers, for the academic display, and store owners for the retailer displays.

Part of the project was to determine the level of creativity of the students. Thus, the students were charged with working with limited resources provided by the Department of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management. The mindset was that if the students can learn how to improvise in the early stages of understanding visual merchandising, then they would not become depended upon traditional merchandising tools to complete display assignments. This creative development is critical when working in retail. One reason is that creativity and improvisation is important to the innovation requirements needed to keep customers visually stimulated and to attract potential customers into to a store. Another reason for its importance is that budgets for visual merchandisers fluctuate according to the profitability of the company, in low budget seasons, a merchandiser has to improvise. Below is an excerpt from the students' report on the course:

Student Description of the Project

The visual merchandising independent study was created in order to provide students with an opportunity to learn visual merchandising principles and techniques. It also allows students to participate in the visual aspects of retail operations. The course included research and presentation of visual merchandising topics, such as "What is Visual Merchandising?" the elements of display and principles of design, necessary checklists and common errors in display. In addition, two visual display projects were required. These displays enabled the students to apply the techniques learned in the classroom at an educational site and a retail setting.

Visual Display #1

The First Display was for the Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center's Annual Conference, held in the College of Textile foyer. A sketch of the display was created based on ideas obtained during our brainstorming session. Also, a list of materials needed for the display was prepared in order to complete pre-planning activities. The display included nonwoven materials commonly used in both the medical filed and janitorial maintenance domains. Two mannequins were incorporated into the display, as well as several other components related to the two settings. The following are the props used in the display: medical stand, projection cart, hula hoop (suspended using fishing wire) and tile flooring.

Visual Display #2

The second visual display was constructed at Plato's Closet , a local second-hand boutique. Plato's Closet is a chain store that sells men and women's apparel, outerwear, accessories, and other merchandise, such as books, cd's, picture frames, and more. The store operates under a consignment theory, in which customers may either buy or sell merchandise at discounted prices. The merchandise must be gently used and fall under a list of specific brand names. The display created for Plato's Closet presented several obstacles that most retail segments do not encounter. One complication was that the store has a higher product turnover rate than most retail stores. Therefore, the displayed merchandise is not a representation of the merchandise offered. Another problem was that the store sells goods that are on display. Consequently, the items chosen for the display had the potential to be removed within the first day the display was viewed. Their one-of-a-kind merchandise made the establishment of a theme difficult. Therefore, the theme was selected based on the season and color schemes. The color scheme was blue (60%), brown (30%) and red (10%). No props were used to enhance the merchandise due to the fact that the display was presented on a slat wall behind the counter. Hooks and hanging stands were used to suspend the merchandise on the wall.

Knowledge Gained:

The importance of communicating visual merchandising in various setting
The identification of display techniques an the message each presents
The interpretation of basic concepts of displaying merchandise
The application of design principles to display design
Examining different types of displays
Practicing display characteristics in a retail setting
Examining merchandise presentation in retail setting

Contact Authors:

Cynthia L. Istook, Ph.D.
Department of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management
College of Textiles

Michelle R. Jones, Ph.D.
Department of Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management
College of Textiles

College of Textiles
P.O. Box 8301
Raleigh, NC 27695-8301
Telephone: (919) 515-6646
FAX: (919) 515-3733
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Last Site Revision:
October 3, 2002