Important for the Exam Visual merchandising showing merchandise and concepts at their very best with the end purpose of making a sale Goal of visual merchandising is to make a sale Functions of visual display To educate customer on how to put items together Keep customers in the store Biggest motivation for buying color Use neutral colors for walls not white Understand design elements and principles of design Tension something that messes up the equilibrium Merchandise on opposite textures promotes the item Items of a promotional mix Advertising In store marketing Special events Personal selling Visual merchandising Formal and informal balance Know the color wheel Formal balance occurs when two items of equal size or optical weight are equidistant from a center point Also called symmetry Informal balance occurs when objects are positioned in an asymmetrical arrangement where a single larger object is counterbalanced by two or more smaller objects on the other side of the center point Monochromatic schemes one color in different values and intensities Ex navy blue with medium blue and light blue Analogous schemes two or more adjacent colors that reinforce each other and crete a close harmony Ex yellow with yellow green Complementary consist of two colors that are found opposite from each other on the color wheel They do not create close harmony they bring out the intensity of each other Ex yellow and violet Split complementary schemes consists of three colors one central color plus the two on either side of its compliment Ex yellow with red violet and blue violet Double complementary schemes consists of four colors two colors plus their complements Ex yellow with violet plus green and red Triadic schemes consists of three colors that are equal distance from one another on the color wheel they form a triangle Ex orange green and violet Difference between Direction and Line Direction refers to the design element that leads the shoppers eye from one place to another Line guides the eye to a feature or linear element that sets a mood Free flow fixtures scattered out Grid layout there s a main aisle and secondary aisles looks like a grid Racetrack has an aisle that loops around the store Soft aisle fixtures arranged in groups Key items could have a private label Are proven sellers that have been purchased in depth for department and offered at a competitive price They can be found in trend or basic areas as well as shops Presented on fixtures that can hold large quantities Are often the store s private label merchandise Basic items Basics are the bulk of the stock in any department and are usually the core merchandise These items can be placed toward the back of a store or selling department because shoppers looking for basics will move into the department to find what they want Capacity fixtures hold lots of merchandise Rounders Gondola Superquads Feature fixtures feature an item or outfit T stand Four way Bins from top Cubes from side Waterfall arm slants down Garment bar with cross bar holds more merchandise Grid wall vs slat wall Most common types of wall Feature fixtures are usually located on the aisle or front of the store Should be changed as frequently as possible Dollars per squarefoot Place best merchandise towards the front Least profitable towards the back Most important fixture is the tables Open sell where the customer can get to the merchandise Not in a show case Effect furniture Against a wall Window display Lead of a department Something with drawers and merchandise in it should be at eye level Don t hang pants over tops If you have left over merchandise from a wall put it on a fixture near the wall Don t cram Pants should never drag on the floor for walls and fixtures White space bare wall where there is few merchandise Bad Remember brand image while merchandising Mannequins with hair that cannot be changed Semirealistic Most realistic looking Realistic mannequin Display area where the height was limited low ceilings use a headless mannequin Comes in many colors Abstract mannequins Alternative mannequin in children s department soft sculpture Rhythm doesn t need mechanical animation Key Terms Design strategy a plan of action to achieve retail goals and create a welcoming place where shoppers will purchase goods and services Multiple sales transactions in which two or more items are purchased at one time Tertiary colors third level colors formed by mixing primary colors with secondary Primary colors red yellow and blue the starting points on the color wheel Secondary colors formed by combining the primaries colors Shade the darkening of a color by the addition of black or grey Tints the lightening of a color by adding white Value the apparent lightness or darkness in a color Hue a color family the reds blues browns and so on It is also used as a synonym to describe color Intensity the brightness purity and degree of saturation of a color Functional grouping segmented according to its end use Branded grouping merchandise from a single designer or manufacturer that is displayed together in an area set off on the selling floor Color story a color coordinated or color keyed product grouping that shows how to use a season s trend colors Texture how a surface actually feels to the touch or how it appears that it might feel if touched Proportion the relationship between the apparent size mass scale or optical weight of two or more objects Optical weight how important large or heavy an object appears to be versus how much it really weighs or how large it is in actual scale Direction the design element or tool that leads the shopper s eye from one place to another Lines guides the eye to a feature or linear element that sets a mood Shape a standard or universally recognized spatial form like a circle or a triangle that helps the viewer identify various objects Sequence the particular order in which items are presented for viewing Tension an arrangement of elements that causes the viewer to wonder if opposing forces will disturb the balance or equilibrium in a display Harmony an artful element creating visible unity Unity when all of the elements of a presentation combine to make a balanced Balance an equality of optical weight and relative importance that creates a unified harmonious complete whole presentation Repetition achieved when recurring design elements like size color or shape in a presentation create a special sense of visual rhythm Rhythm repetition of design