What is Visual Merchandising Visual Merchandising is showing merchandise and concepts at their very best with the end purpose of making a sale Visual merchandising supports sales Presents more than merchandise shows the store image and fashion trendiness Impacts store design departmental merchandise placement and display and brand image Merchandise should be displayed so effectively that it can sell itself Successful stores have mission statements that describe how they will serve their target markets Total promotional mix is a combination of communication tools Advertising Visual merchandising In store marketing Special events Personal selling Brand Image is a combination of tangible and intangible factors that describe what a shopper thinks about his or her relationship with a store Most important factor is how effectively the retailer is able to get their message across to the customer Location of stores is also important when considering a store s brand What do the functions of displays include What does Visual Merchandising impact Store design Store signing Departmental merchandise placement and display Atmospherics Store brand image Know Principles and Elements of Design and understand what each one does Elements color texture proportion direction line shape size sequence and tension Principles unity harmony balance repetition rhythm emphasis contrast and surprise Color 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 create harmony Ex yellow with yellow green Complementary Schemes consist of two colors that are found opposite of each other on the color wheel They do not create close harmony but they bring out the intensity of each other Ex yellow and violet Split Complimentary Schemes consist of three colors one central color plus two on either side of its compliment Ex yellow with red violet and blue violet Double Complimentary Schemes consist of four colors two colors plus their compliments Ex Yellow with violet plus green and red Triadic Schemes consist of three colors that are equal distance from one another on the color wheel form a triangle Ex Orange green and violet Texture how a surface actually feels to the touch or how it appears it might feel if touched People buy things based on trial and touch Can affect the color of the merchandise They are suggestive Use of opposites may work effectively in promoting merchandise There should be a relationship of textures that work together in an ensemble Must be balanced in a display Can absorb and reflect light to help set the mood and help the shopper be invited to touch the merchandise Proportion Relationship of the size scale or weight of elements and between each element in the composition Can also describe the contrast in scale between large and small items in a dislay Direction leads the shopper s eye from one place to another Line guides the eye to a feature or linear element that sets a mood Line is a direction Vertical Line Join the floor and ceiling so the viewer gets the message of height strength pride and dignity Horizontal Line long low wide spreading lines that run across Suggest an easygoing restful quality All is calm and peaceful in a horizontal presentation Curved Line Personify grace charm femininity and can ease tension Diagonal Line implies action strength forceful strong and dynamic Suggests movement and excitement Shape a standard or universally recognized spatial form that helps the viewer identify objects Sequence is the order in which items are presented for viewing An example can be from small to large Rhythm sense of visual movement from item to item and element to element in a single display or presentation of an entire department Tension is an arrangement of elements that causes the viewer to wonder if opposing forces will disturb balance or equilibrium can make an image memorable Grouping of Merchandise Functional Grouping merchandise segmented by 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 color coordinated or color keyed product grouping that shows how to use a season s trend colors What elements are parts of the promotional mix Formal Balance vs Informal Balance 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 asymmetrically where a single larger object is counterbalanced by two or more smaller objects on the other side of the center point What is the biggest motivation for buying COLOR What colors are good to use for walls of a store NEUTRALS this is because they allow the merchandise itself to have full impact and do not compete with the merchandise on display This way you can showcase and compliment the merchandise Know the different store layouts and what type of stores you specifically see them in Grid Layout Linear design with fixtures arranged on parallel aisles Creates natural sight lines which lead to focal points at the ends of aisles Free Flow Layout Selling fixtures arranged in loosely grouped informal nonlinear formations to encourage browsing Racetrack Layout features a traffic aisle that loops around the stores perimeter Advantage gets the customer moving and gives isle exposure to a lot of departments Soft Aisle Layout fixtures are arranged into groups sometimes with a 5 foot aisle along merchandised wall sections Minimal Layout looks like a gallery almost because it is so simple Combination Floor Layout employs the best features of standard layouts in one overall plan that suits the retailer s specific strategy Permanent Layouts predictable and comfortable for repeat shoppers Non Permanent Layouts Are flexible and can change as the retailers merchandising needs change over a season Adjacencies when selling areas are laid out in logical progression Individual Department Layouts include Trend areas Test areas with feature fixtures Basics Key items Shops when similar types of merchandise are brought in depth Conventional Metal Floor Fixtures simple metal fixtures like round racks and T stands that have been used in retail stores throughout the 20th century Gondolas capacity feature fixture that holds a lot of merchandise on it Ex seen in supermarkets Conventional Floor Feature Fixture Two styles that