Dual City Courses - London Barcelona

Sue Fraser and Carmen Malvar

Who should attend?
Prospective or current students and professionals working in architecture, interior design, decoration, graphic designers and those working in retail.

Those who attend will preferably have a basic design background in order to apply their skills to presentation formats. For example, having a basic knowledge of Photoshop, Illustrator or Powerpoint will help with presenting your work. It would also be preferable if you have basic drawing skills. A digital camera and a laptop with design software is a help, but not essential. 

By the end of this course you should be able to:

• Evidence methods of gathering and collating data
• Engage in analytical and critical discussion
• Develop design ideas and inspiration
• Apply practical design skills to project work
• Produce practical design solutions
• Demonstrate appropriate presentation skills.

London (9 day course)

Monday 25 June to Thursday 5 July

In London, you will begin your learning journey into the practice and principles of visual merchandising in fashion and lifestyle retail sectors.

Teaching methods will include, lectures (including guest speakers), seminars, practical workshops, class discussion and analysis, group work, styling for a photo shoot; plus external visits to London retailers and manufacturers

Two major projects will be given, supplemented by a number of small tasks; which will teach students how to research, analyse and collate information and consolidate this data into visual presentation formats.

Project 1: Research, plan and design a window display
Project 2: Research, plan and design an in store first threshold display, promoting a seasonal trend/collection

Students will be introduced to the fundamentals and purpose of visual merchandising and how its practice aligns with the retail industry and brand tactics. We will start with external communication methods and then progress to in store strategies.

You will be introduced to the various design principles: grouping methods, developing themes and inspiration, the use of colour, form, texture, pattern, graphics, lighting and use of mannequins. These are essential skills harnessed in the planning and implementation of store windows and in store displays.

Internal communication strategies will include in store layout and thresholds, fixtures and fittings, product handling-categories, styling and trends.

You will be required to collate visual information into appropriate visual presentation formats. Students will present your final work in class and gain the critique of your peers. It is advisable that you bring a laptop and camera to help organize and present your visuals.

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Independent Travel (4 days)

Friday 6 July to Monday 9 July

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Barcelona (9 day course)

Tuesday 10 July to Friday 20 July

The course will then move to Barcelona where you will explore the retail world and all the actions that will get a customer hooked, from the incorporation of a new product in the mass-market to how it will appear at the points of sale and its effect on the commercial space. The classes will be organised as a series of lectures, workshops and tours of Barcelona to see real case studies. You will ask questions about how the advertising strategy affects the professional visual merchandiser? What constitutes commercial space and point of sale and the classification of these? You will learn about the physical elements of merchandising: types of points of sale, materials, construction details, technology and lighting. You will examine the role of the visual merchandiser in the mass market, the techniques of communication and promotion, strategies and policies in the planning of the merchandising, placement and rotation of products and implementing systems of information that will apply to the merchandising. You will undertake market research, develop the policies of merchandising of a retail establishment and examine how you get to know the manufacturers, their products and policies.

London - Sue Fraser, PGCERT, is a recognised professional from the retail visual merchandising industry working as a Training Consultant and Presenter at Earls Court with an industry background from Selfridges and Debenhams. Sue has taught at the University of Arts London on several occasions, delivering visual display design subjects incorporating creative thinking, brand influences and sensory visual merchandising. Sue has previously worked in the field as a specialist product handler implementing merchandise training for fashion and home products and has been a Visual Manager and Trainer in flagship stores in London and Manchester. Sue's work has contributed to global magazines writing about visual merchandising incorporating brand and vision as influence.   

Barcelona - Carmen Malvar is the principal of Atelier Carmen Malvar, specialized in all aspects of Commercial Design Environments and design for ephemeral spaces. Her credits included: Helena Rubinstein Store and Spa in Soho, New York, re-branding of Bodybell Cosmetics, Spain, Construction Management of Mango Flagship Stores in USA, CAMPER and TOUS expansion in USA. Responsible for the design and management of more than thirty stores worldwide. Adjunct Professor at Pratt Institute /New York, Director of Master Program in Retail Design Barcelona among others. Her work and academic achievements have been reviewed in a number of publications. Carmen practices Architecture and Design between Spain and USA.