Tonight is the start of a 6 week e-learning course in Visual Merchandising & Store Layout which I am tutoring for The London College of Fashion. The students will be using the Mockshop Retail program to assist with their learning on this course.
We have a total of 6 students attending, who are based in the UK as well as international based students from Cape Town & Spain.
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Happy New Year to our blog readers !
Last week I ran a 2 day private course for Tyrers Department Store in St. Helens, near Liverpool. I was training the newly appointed Window Dresser, Debra who has previous experience within the Interior Design field.
It was a pleasure to teach Debra for the 2 days, we covered all the basic areas of Visual Merchandising & Window Dressing, combining lots of practical exercises with theory.
We have worked on a selection of window installations for Moet Hennessy for Christmas 2011. This window was installed during November at The City Beverage Company in Old Street, London.
The window was advertising the limited edition Belvedere Red bottle which has been launched for Christmas 2011. Moet Hennessy- owned Belvedere Vodka has teamed up with the charity ( RED) to launch a social media campaign that aims to raise AIDS awareness.
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We worked on many exciting display projects over this Christmas period however, my favourite has to be our project of working in-conjunction with the Marketing team at Longleat, Warminster. We were commissioned to dress Longleat House for the Christmas activities , each room in the house had a fairytale theme which was created by using props and Christmas decorations. The photos posted below show the Sleeping Beauty Bedroom, which was created by using lots of artificial ivy and rose garlands, which was draped over the beautiful antique furniture.
The house is open for Christmas tours all over the Christmas period and well worth a visit !
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We were commissioned by Moet Hennessy during November to design and install a display at Harvey Nichols in London. This was the first time Harvey Nichols have run a Cloudy Bay promotion , which marked the launch of their new gift pack.
I have attached the working drawing showing how the display looked in store, this drawing was put together by our Graphics Designer, Paul.
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We taught two E-learning courses to our first customer based in Moscow, Russia during November !
Olga is currently working as a freelance Window Dresser in Moscow and wanted to learn about key Visual Merchandising and Window Dressing techniques which are being used over in London.
Olga decided to take a private 1-2-1 courses, which are taught as live classroom sessions online. We used the fantastic Mockshop Retail program, which allows our students to design their own stores online and practice merchandising and product/store layout designs.
Olga was so impressed with the courses, she is now looking at booking a Visual Merchandising course for herself and her colleagues, which I also teach for The London College of Fashion, this course is based in London during 2012 !
Last week we worked on the creative installations and product merchandising for the new Harvey Nichols Pop Up Shop at the Westfield Shopping Centre at Stratford London. The shop was opened to the public on Monday and will run until after the Christmas period.
The shop follows the same creative installations that will be seen at the Harvey Nichols store in Knightsbridge. Well worth a visit !
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Last week I was dressing the windows at Steven Harris Opticians in Beckenham, London.
Steven Harris stocks some fantastic contemporary brands of optical frames and the pictures below show the windows displaying William Morris and Starck optical ranges. We wanted to create a strong central focal point using the POS graphics, to advertise these brands to the customers.
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Last week we were re-merchandising in the FoodMarket of Harvey Nichols, Knightsbridge London. We were working on highlighting some of the classic grocery brands which are available in the FoodMarket, at key locations within the 5th floor. Below shows some photos of the display of the classic Tuna brand, Ortiz. Where we created a focal point display in the centre , using dummy tins from Ortiz and some artifical seafood !
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We have just launched on our website the new Online E-Learning Visual Merchandising & Window Dressing Course. This is a 2 day intensive course for individuals, which can be booked on dates to suit your schedule. The classes are carried out via the internet by myself, in a virtual classroom using the program Go To Meeting. Using Go To Meeting allows me as the tutor to communicate with the student on a 1-2-1 basis and also allows the students to view my screen to present the course presentations.
Students will be able to register to the online Window Dressing program, No Need 4 Mirrors ( NN4M) and this program will allow the students to create their own Window Designs, which can then be presented into their portfolio’s.
This online course is a great opportunity for students from around the world to learn the key principles of Visual Merchandising & Window Dressing, without having to travel to London, UK. We also award all students with a completion certificate after they have completed the course.
Please see our E-Learning VMC Page on the website for more details or alternatively you can email me at info@visualmerchandisingcourses.co.uk
An example Window Design which has been created using the NN4M program.
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